What it had to solve
The newly united charity needed a new story and an identity to back it up, representing both research and care, for people at every point of breast cancer — including those who will not survive it.
The idea
An incomplete 'o' in the logo — a journey with no start or end that each viewer completes: a breast, a reassuring embrace or a halo
How it works
A palette of pink, yellow, orange and purple nods to both charities' previous branding while avoiding the sector's 'pink fog': dialled up bold for campaign voices, dialled down for conversations with the newly diagnosed. The 'embrace' symbol renders in 3D that rotates to show different angles, like lives lived with cancer; extensive research preceded the design.
What it did
Launched at the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2019 as the first visual identity of the united organisation; no metrics were reported.
Background
In October 2019, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, UK charity Breast Cancer Now revealed a new visual identity by Wolff Olins — the first for the organisation since its April merger with Breast Cancer Care.
Creative director Emma Barratt said the charity 'basically needed a new story, and a new identity to back up that story', and that the team was mindful to include the DNA of both charities. The palette of pink, yellow, orange and purple reflects the merged mission of research and care while avoiding the 'pink fog' of similar charities — bold enough for standout campaign voices, dial-downable for people who have just been diagnosed or will not survive the illness.
At the centre is the 'embrace' symbol: the logo's incomplete 'o', open to interpretation as a breast, a reassuring embrace or a halo, and rendered extensively in 3D — when it moves and rotates it shows different angles, the way individuals living with cancer have different angles on their lives. Communications director Fiona Hazell tied the symbol to the work still to do: breast cancer remains the most common cancer in the UK, with 11,500 women and 80 men dying every year.
Why it lands
One identity had to carry both a research charity's tenacity and a care charity's warmth, or the merger would read as a takeover.
The open 'o' gives supporters and patients a symbol they complete with their own meaning, which is why it survives contact with both audiences.
A palette that can dial up for campaigns and down for diagnosis conversations solves the tone problem most pink-ribbon brands ignore.
3D rotation turns a static logo into a metaphor for individual journeys, giving the system motion content for free.
What you can take
A symbol left deliberately unfinished lets one mark hold research and care, boldness and gentleness, without splitting the brand in two.
Since then
The identity launched across the united charity's touchpoints from Awareness Month 2019; Design Week reported no metrics.
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