DESIGN /// H O R N A L L A N D E R S O N
CLIENT /// F R E D H U T C H I N S O N C A N C E R RESEARCH CENTER
CATEGORY /// INITIALS
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, is a world-renowned cancer research organization. Its scientists and researchers have developed life-changing breakthroughs like HPV vaccines and bone marrow transplants. However, much of this work is done with little fanfare. Most people don’ t understand the signifi cance of what the center does and how its research potentially impacts the lives of people who have cancer.
Hornall Anderson was charged with rebranding the institution from top to bottom— not an easy task, considering the obstacles the center has faced. The new brand needed to resonate with“ Hutch” employees, many of whom were wary of coming across as inauthentic, and it needed to clearly and quickly communicate the organization’ s role to potential donors.“ The fi ght for federal research grants and private money is getting more competitive. Institutions are becoming much more sophisticated in communicating what they do. Over the years, Fred Hutch faced an increased challenge in getting the attention they needed,” says Andy Kribbs, design director at Hornall Anderson.
The original identity for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center lacked character and said nothing about the research center.
“ The Fred Hutch team is quite sophisticated and experienced, so we had really good conversations with them in the early stages to get a clear understanding of what the organization stood for and what they believed in,” Kribbs notes. They then held a series of town hall meetings, inviting everyone on campus to come and participate in the brand discussion.“ This effort couldn’ t just be plopped in the lap of all these researchers. They have to know where it came from and what it means,” he says.“ You can have the most beautiful and well intentioned mark, but it means nothing if you don’ t bring them along in the process.”
The design team really got a sense of what goes on day-to-day at Fred Hutch by listening to the organization’ s members. They also got the
Andy Kribbs and his design team interviewed employees and hosted town hall events in order to develop the brand platform. Through this process it became clear that the logo needed to communicate that Fred Hutch does the scientifi c research and development that leads to cures. He says,“ This opened up vast creative opportunities within scientifi c and research territories for us to explore.”
“ They needed to clearly communicate what they do and their role in the fight against cancer externally and equally energize the institution itself.”
— Andy Kribbs
Case Studies 13