VIRGIN CARE
Can healthcare branding be engaging and joyful?
Virgin Care, set up by the Virgin Group, operated health and social care services in partnership with NHS England. They spent more than a decade helping millions of people up and down England, improving services and delivering positive patient experiences.
Virgin as a master brand is known for doing things differently, challenging conventions and elevating customer experience. Easier when branding an airline or gyms, much harder in healthcare.
And designing for healthcare is not without its challenges where you have the unavoidable regulatory requirements, lengthy, must have copy, and information that needs to be accessible to all. Feeling blue? So does all of healthcare. It’s the colour that’s associated with credibility, trust, knowledge, professionalism, cleanliness, among a number of other things.
VIRGIN CARE BRAND AUDIT.
As the partnership with NHS grew to more health services all around the country, covering children, to adults and the elderly, it was clear that Virgin Care needed an identity that could speak differently in each, and to all. It needed to flex from playful to clinical where appropriate, yet be kind, warm and welcoming at all times.
From the get go, we set out to move away from the traditional, clinical approach and designs that more often than not, feel distinctly un-human, and instead create something that is truly unique and meaningful.
The unique world of Virgin Care.
While people may be going to a hospital for the most serious reasons, it shouldn't mean you can’t be approachable, engaging, and use creative intelligently to stand out and brighten up what might be a difficult time.
Using an all-illustration approach did not only mitigate the use of the same same healthcare imagery that wouldn't distinguish Virgin Care from the rest, but it allowed us to create a visual identity that was filled with character, charm and optimism, even when communicating the real and often complex problems that often define our lives. And when communicating positive messages, you could do it with a cheeky twist that would no doubt bring a smile to your face.
Every character, item, building or item was modular and easily adaptable, meaning no one image or scene looked alike and nothing is what you'd expect. In the world of Virgin Care, and the people and communities they represent, anything is possible.
