tagline,“ Cures start here,” from one of the employees during a town hall gathering. That line embodies the essence of Fred Hutch, and it created new meaning for the design team, taking them out of the competitive mentality to one of a supporter for an overall cause. Kribbs explains,“ We rallied around,‘ A win is a win for all’ mentality. There was now a platform that really got us running to develop copy and visuals.”
The logo design initially explored many visual territories using DNA and genetic codes as design cues. As it progressed, the team explored the idea of cells dividing.“ Essentially a cancer researcher looks for something different— that moment of change. Cancer cells look different from regular cells, and that’ s what we were trying to get through in the logo design,” Kribbs says.
Color was another major factor in the design. Blues and greens are dominant in the scientifi c world, and they are also subtle references to the Seattle landscape. Other color palettes were explored, including warm colors like reds and oranges, but Kribbs notes,“ You start to see blood and other related imagery, and it feels too real.”
The fi nal logo and identity was really well received by employees, and Fred Hutch is experiencing a new level of exposure locally and nationally as banners roll out citywide and ads pop up in publications like Wired, Forbes, The New Yorker, and Entrepreneur magazines.
“ For the next round, we tried to sharpen the visual language of the mark by refi ning details and exploring rendering techniques such as textures, realism and incorporating the H as a way to integrate Hutch. One of the researchers from our interviews had mentioned that looking for cancer is looking for a moment of change— when cells begin to behave differently than they should,” Kribbs notes.“ Since we had conducted lots of creative exploration already, this was the key that made it all click together. The joiner between the two stems of the H became the catalyst moment that ultimately brought the mark to its fi nal state.”
“ The reception has been wonderful. Everyone was understandably a little nervous about how it would be received, but the Fred Hutch employees identify with the new brand identity and embrace it as their own,” Kribbs says.
This sequence shows how the logo progressed from the initial concept to its fi nal state.
“ We ultimately presented three marks that represented very different takes on research. Each had a compelling narrative linked directly to the strategy,” Kribbs explains.“ Having this conceptual foundation in place helps our clients talk about the logo beyond aesthetics and gives any nonvisual stakeholders information to respond to. The logo that became the front-runner appears as if you were observing a cell culture through a microscope. The dots and dashes can also read as data and a modern approach to research. Some also saw a globe, cueing the global impact that Fred Hutch has on the world.”
Final logo design.
14 LogoLounge 9 Case Studies