When we joined the Cancer Research UK rebrand, the logo wasn’t ready. The design was still being refined and the internal launch date couldn’t move. For most teams, that would sound impossible. But it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened.
With no logo to lean on, we had to find other ways to express what the brand really stood for. We had colours, a typeface, and a new positioning, pioneering our tomorrows, but the rest had to come from belief, not design.
So, we started with people. We covered office walls with hand-drawn illustrations, painted messages of hope in meeting rooms, and used temporary installations to tell the story of change. We helped staff see that a brand is not a mark on a letterhead, it’s the feeling you create in every conversation, every decision, every act of care.
Those early days set the tone for everything that followed. When the new identity was finally revealed, people already understood it. They’d lived it before they’d seen it.
Three lessons from a brand without a logo
- Start with belief. If your team doesn’t understand the story, no logo will save it.
- Be creative with what you have. Limited tools can lead to stronger ideas.
- Make people feel it first. Emotion builds alignment long before guidelines do.
Because a brand isn’t the logo. The logo is just the signature.
Read the full Cancer Research UK case study here
