National health charity Brook wanted a bold and vibrant brand identity that was more assertive than its predecessor and helped position them as a challenger to the status quo of healthcare in the UK, aiding their mission of ‘Fighting for Healthy Lives’.
Keeping pace with the mission
The aim was to bring the brand in line with their new strategy and “…loud, brave vision”. Changes in their service provision and target demographics meant that the identity had to evolve to better represent their new and future outlook. The brand also had to be highly accessible, emphasising the inclusive nature of their service and ethos. All of this had to be achieved without sacrificing the expert and caring approach that has become synonymous with everything that Brook does.
Delivering the brand
We began with evaluating the existing brand and roadmapping its development. A workshop with key stakeholders highlighted elements of the brand that needed to be retained or evolved to meet the brief. The tone of voice and house style were developed around emboldening the brand, with accessibility informing key choices around typefaces, colours and graphical language. The brand had to appeal to a wider age range so elements of the existing style were replaced with more mature, but still playful choices. User testing surveys gauged the effectiveness and accessibility of the brand with the target demographic, which informed website development.
The project culminated in a formal event to announce the refreshed brand and new strategic plan. Printed collateral and the digital strategic plan helping to facilitate it. The Brook team were provided with comprehensive guidelines and a suite of assets for promotional and operational use, such as social media stickers, Powerpoint presentation templates, charity website and printed stationery.
Strong collaboration with the Brook team really helped us get under the skin of the brand and make the project a success.
Creating an intuitive and inclusive online experience
A major objective of our work with Brook has been to develop an accessible, engaging and supportive user experience. A powerful search tool and landing pages for each topic make it easy for users to find the content they need quickly and easily. The search tool recognises typos and synonyms, so if someone types in ‘johnny’, the condom page would appear. Features like this were really important to make it more usable for the young audience, and a mobile-first approach was taken on the design as the majority of users access the site via phone. Quick guides and resources made content easy to digest and a donation facility was added to enable people to support the charity.
We’ve also helped users to find their nearest service provider through the development of the ‘Find a Service’ tool, which is a key component of the Brook site and works with the NHS API to provide people with up-to-date details about their local health services. Information about how to access essential care has become increasingly tricky to locate and navigate online, so Brook wanted to develop the Find a Service tool to create a better way to provide people with up-to-date details about their local sexual health services. Beyond that, opportunities couldn’t be missed to direct people to alternative sources of help and support or to help them identify suitable self-care options.
After identifying pain points and challenges faced by users, we looked at how a more advanced digital tool could deliver and streamline contact with services. We drew inspiration from booking sites like Airbnb and dating apps like Tinder, to look at how people prefer to interact with complex information and processes online. The resulting prototype was put through rigorous testing and the feedback, gathered from Brook staff and external user testing, was incorporated into designs.
The outcome was a customisable journey that not only allows users to search for what they need, and want, to know about accessing sexual health care. It guides users to consider all of their options for support, helping them make informed decisions about how to get the help they need and clearly signposting them to take appropriate action. Take a look at the tool here
6rs took a brief and creatively executed it – to real results. In less than a week, 10% of our fundraising target had been met and we’ve had brilliant feedback. I feel so lucky that we have found 6rs and have the relationship with them that we do.” — Laura Hamzic, Director of Digital @ Brook
Our staff say it 'feels more like Brook' and our service users say it's 'warm, approachable, and shows we operate from a place of care' as well as being 'brave, bold and confident'.” — Isabel Inman, Media & Communications Manager @ Brook
