Nuffield rebrand by SomeOne features motion graphics built on “sensations”

Design agency SomeOne has rebranded the UK’s largest healthcare charity Nuffield Health, developing a new strategic focus that translates into a “new visual and verbal brand world” that agency founder Simon Manchipp says “flies in the face of convention”. The charity runs a network of gyms and hospitals, however, most people know it for one or the other, so SomeOne’s job was to unite the two and communicate its mission across both. Its logo and word mark hasn’t changed, because “there was nothing wrong with the existing symbol,” explains Manchipp. “[The logo] is well recognised in and out of the sector, and the signature green stood out well against the competitors. So we built from there.”

Working with Colophon, the typeface has been re-cut in a range of new weights with an extended set of glyphs, and re-crafted to work better in digital and print. SomeOne has also created a set of infographic icons to enable statistics and data to be more easily digested at speed, designed to work in tandem with the typeface.

Also considering the digital sphere, the agency created motion graphics as part of the identity which aim to jump out on screens large and small. “Brands that engage more deeply, move,” Manchipp says. These animations were borne from in-depth research identifying three “states” customers experience in a Nuffield Health location: Excite, Balance and Recover. Excite could relate to the gym, swimming or spin class, for example, where Balance is felt at a physio, nutrition or emotional wellbeing session, or even a GP appointment. Recover can be experienced after a treatment, whether it’s for beauty or a medical operation. SomeOne’s design director Cosmo Jameson says this aspect of the project breaks new ground in the healthcare sector, with animated sequences “built on sensations, not just sight… that tingle you feel after a workout, the ache the next day, the focus you experience.”

These three states, Manchipp explains, are now reflected in the brand design, and can be adapted according to the environment – for instance, the branding in a gym has to feel very different to a hospital, yet still fit under the umbrella of Nuffield Health’s identity. This so-called “tonal flex” is supported by a suite of patterns the agency also designed, which can be applied at varying scale and significance to alter the tone of the output.

“Through the creation of many assets, we’re branding spaces, places and surfaces without the need for repetitive logo-centric options,” Manchipp summarises. As customers are seeing the branding frequently at the gym or hospital, it is useful, he says, to have “more than just a logo to help remind people where they are and who they are being looked after by. A more involving and varied visual brand experience better endures repeated views.”

SomeOne’s work spans external and internal branding, from Nuffield Health’s headquarters to its nationwide locations, customer-facing and behind the scenes, and is part of an all-encompassing online brand guideline system for the charity.