{"id":177,"date":"2004-02-19T14:40:54","date_gmt":"2004-02-19T14:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.quintessential.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=177"},"modified":"2013-11-08T18:05:14","modified_gmt":"2013-11-08T18:05:14","slug":"brand-designs-the-nhs-logo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/brand-designs-the-nhs-logo\/","title":{"rendered":"Brand designs: the NHS logo"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in Health Service Journal, 19 February 2004<\/em><\/p>\n

Draw a rectangle 2.4 times as wide as it is high and fill it with a colour known as Pantone Blue 300. Then, using the Frutiger Bold Italic font, fill it with the three capital initial letters of Europe\u2019s biggest employer. Voila: a logo found on signs, stationery, vehicles, identity cards and uniforms across the country \u2013 and reproduced 144 times in a recent copy of this magazine.
\n
\nThe NHS logo, also known as \u2018the blue lozenge\u2019, was ordered for use by the now-defunct NHS management executive in March 1990. It was one among dozens of logos used by health service organisations, as they competed in the internal market. But in April 1999, with the internal market dead, the Department of Health told all NHS organisations to replace these with the single NHS logo within two years. They did not need instructions: indeed, according to the guidelines<\/a>, redrawing is forbidden. Every organisation has its logotype \u2013 the logo, plus the namestyle of the individual body \u2013 generated by the DoH. The only bit of latitude is that \u2018NHS blue\u2019 can be replaced by black.<\/p>\n

The move was pushed by then health secretary Frank Dobson. One source tells a story of how St Thomas\u2019 hospital, within view of DoH\u2019s headquarters, placed its refreshed logo on a big new sign without the NHS logo: \u201cThey were tartly reminded about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hoardings around all the private finance initiative hospital building projects also included the single logo \u2013 suggesting things were indeed getting better under New Labour. But away from spin, it created the potential for bulk purchases of branded goods, such as uniforms. And it stopped newly-created organisations, including hundreds of primary care trusts, commissioning brand identities at public expense, while providing a sense of continuity during the reorganisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NHS branding made it very clear it was the NHS, regardless of the organisation,\u201d says Nick Samuels, director of communications at Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals trust. \u201cThe NHS is the reassuring and the confirmatory factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The single logo arrived in time to be used by new nationally available services, such as NHS Direct. Last July, a DoH paper suggested it may be extended to pharmacies.<\/p>\n

Nottingham University lecturer in pharmacy practice Dr Nicola Gray has conducted research on how 11-19 year olds find health information online. Whereas those in the US searched for media brands such as TV channel Discovery Health or Encyclopaedia Britannica, many in the UK looked for the NHS.<\/p>\n

Dr Gray thinks this may well have more to do with her subjects knowing members of NHS staff than any branding. But one teenager claimed: \u201cWith health, if it has a logo, you know that you can trust it.\u201d Having said that, he also believed that calls to NHS Direct costs \u00a31 a minute.<\/p>\n

How good is the logo? Saffron Brand Consultants chair Wally Olins is lukewarm: \u201cI don\u2019t think much of it, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that important. Even if it was a good piece of work, it wouldn\u2019t make any difference. It\u2019s not a bad piece of work, it\u2019s mediocre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Olins believes that rebranding must be accompanied by actual changes. \u201cIt makes sense to rebrand when you know things are getting better, and then a rebrand can help them get better still,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I worked on the rebrand of BT [in the 1980s], the service was improving. It had the impact that people felt BT was trying, and changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the NHS rebranded too early. \u201cThe overwhelming issue is not what the symbol looks like, but what the reality looks like,\u201d says Mr Olins.<\/p>\n

Design Council research and knowledge manager Andrea Cooper believes that rebranding can prompt change. \u201cThe NHS logo is a fresh new symbol of the organisation as a whole,\u201d she says. \u201cAs design can be a catalyst for change, a new identity can simply be the first step towards ensuring consistently high standards in NHS buildings, furniture, signage \u2013 and ultimately service quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Group deputy chair of brand consultancy Interbrand Tom Blackett describes the blue lozenge as \u201ca good, solid, middle-of-the-road mark\u201d. But he sees more significance in a single logo replacing many. \u201cThe move from 1,001 to one implies a focus and determination to develop a consistent service,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Mr Blackett says branding is crucial in attracting staff to organisations requiring a large number of highly trained staff. Interbrand worked on the merger of accountancy firms Price Waterhouse and Coopers and Lybrand, which resulted in the name PricewaterhouseCoopers. The new firm saw its popularity in surveys of job-seeking graduates rise from the mid-20s for each separate firms, to eighth when combined. \u201cAttracting talent to the NHS will improve what you provide to your constituency of sick people,\u201d says Mr Blackett.<\/p>\n

English health service organisations are sticking tightly to the rules. Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children trust has used its famous teardrop baby logo for charity\/fund-raising work. However, it is not the trust\u2019s logo itself and makes only a small appearance on the trust\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Whittington Hospital trust in north-east London is one of very few to retain some visual individuality. It uses the standard NHS logo and namestyle, but its job advertisements and website also feature Dick Whittington\u2019s cat, which served as the trust\u2019s logo until the DoH imposed the blue lozenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal people know what the black cat means,\u201d says trust chair Michael Abrams. \u201cIt stirs folk memories, and people like that. They tell us, whatever you do, don\u2019t drop it.\u201d It also helps distinguish the trust\u2019s job ads, he says.
\nShould other trusts introduce, or reintroduce, distinguishing badges? \u201cI think there are arguments both ways,\u201d Mr Abrams says. \u201cIf you want to a make it clear that it\u2019s one big NHS, it\u2019s good to have one logo. But if you are looking to develop your own personality, you don\u2019t want to be the same as everyone else. I think it\u2019s a straight choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

But things are different in Wales and Scotland. Both retain the NHS name, despite having local control of health, but both have introduced entirely different logos.<\/p>\n

To further muddy things, Wales provides an NHS Direct service using the same 0845 4647 phone number as England \u2013 and the same logotype, including the blue lozenge. For good measure, it has a Welsh language version (www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk), with \u201cIECHYD\u201d replacing \u201cNHS\u201d in a rather wider-than-usual rectangle.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a brand point of view, it\u2019s bad practice,\u201d says Interbrand\u2019s Tom Blackett. \u201cPeople know what to expect of Coca-Cola, whether its in London or Nanking. If there are different versions, you might recognise the name, but you wonder if you will get the same service if you pitch up in Cardiff or Edinburgh. If it operates in the same way, a brand consultant would say, make it look the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright SA Mathieson 2004<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First published in Health Service Journal, 19 February 2004 Draw a rectangle 2.4 times as wide as it is high and fill it with a colour known as Pantone Blue 300. Then, using the Frutiger Bold Italic font, fill it with the three capital initial letters of Europe\u2019s biggest employer. Voila: a logo found on … Continue reading “Brand designs: the NHS logo”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,6,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-healthcare","category-media"],"yoast_head":"\nBrand designs: the NHS logo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The blue lozenge NHS logo appeared in 1990, became compulsory in 1999 but is 'mediocre' according to BT's rebrander: a 2004 Health Service Journal article\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/brand-designs-the-nhs-logo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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