The South West Academic Health Science Network is one of 15 AHSNs across the country set up by the NHS England in 2013. Their work connects academic organisations, local authorities, the third sector and industry to drive the adoption and spread of innovative ideas and systemic improvements in the quality of health and care across the South West and beyond.
Drive Creative Studio has been working with the South West AHSN communications team for many years, having iteratively developed and gradually modernised over time the inherited visual identity while producing all manner of communications materials, from annual reviews, social posts, presentations and display graphics to ebooks and animations.
To coincide with organisational changes and an office relocation, Drive were commissioned to formally consolidate and refresh the South West AHSN brand, beginning with a research and immersion phase of a comprehensive brand strategy and identity revitalisation project. The relaunch marks a renewed vision for the South West AHSN, with an emphasis on health equity and a clarified mission to transform lives through innovation in health and care, along with a more approachable, revitalised look that reflects the company’s more accessible, outward-facing approach.
In tandem with the South West AHSN communications team, the project involved brand audits of message, image and offering, the formulation of a new vision and proposition, and a new brand scheme, including logo identity and sub-branding, illustration and photography. This culminated in a restyled Annual Review, key marketing and promotional materials both on and offline, and tool-kit of assets and illustrations and a vibrant new website.
The ‘AA’ accessibility standard website has been structured towards better explaining the South West AHSN’s reason for being and communicating the important work it does in its programmes, research, and building capability in other organisations. Sub-branding and iconography from the identity work is applied to great effect to distinguish organisational capabilities, activities and outcomes.
