Moya Cole Hospice.
We’re thrilled to share our rebranding work with Moya Cole Hospice, which launched on Wednesday, 1st October.
Founded in 1971 as ‘St Ann’s Hospice’, the organisation supports patients and families across Greater Manchester living with life-limiting illness. 50 years on, the hospice has two centres in Greater Manchester, numerous community outreach services and a new state-of-the-art centre in progress on the existing site.
Although named simply after the street its original site resides on, the name ‘St Ann’s Hospice’ has led to misconceptions as a religious charity linked to Christianity. As diversity has shifted in communities across Greater Manchester, St Ann’s recognised that the brand needed to evolve with this, so that people of other faiths and cultural beliefs would begin accessing its care.
It was in this context that St Ann’s briefed us to consolidate its brand proposition, with a new identity that would truly reflect its world-leading proposition.
Services:
Naming Conventions
Brand Identity
Tone of Voice
Guidelines
Wayfinding and Interior Branding.
Moya Cole Hospice
When looking to rename the hospice, we realised the importance of looking to the past to inspire St Ann’s future – more specifically, its founder.
Dr Mary Patricia ‘Moya’ Cole OBE was a trailblazer in science, obtaining her master’s degree in Physics in 1940, going on to become a Doctor in the late 1940s. Later working at the Christie, Dr Moya Cole led the trials for Tamoxifen, the global drug now used to treat breast cancer patients. In 1971, after months of lobbying for support from local businesses and the public, Dr Cole and the Bishop of Manchester, Rt Rev Dr William Greer, worked together to open the hospice on St Ann’s Road in Heald Green, Stockport.
Dr Moya Cole’s compassion, forward-thinking and influential research has saved millions of lives worldwide, and it was this legacy that we aimed to celebrate in the new brand.
The new brand
Prompted by feedback that the current brand was too clinical, St Ann’s understood the importance of connecting with its audience from their very first interaction with the brand. It’s with this in mind that the Moya Cole branding is a lot more softened than the previous brand.
The bespoke typography of the brand mark, inspired by human handwriting, was designed to keep Moya as a person at the forefront of the brand, keeping a personal and human touch. This, combined with the brighter colour palette and a warmer tone of voice inspired by Moya herself, creates a clear divergence from the clinical, religious associations of ‘St Ann’s Hospice’.
Moya Cole Hospice launched to the public on Wednesday 1st October. Ahead of this, we caught up with Rachel McMillan, Chief Executive, about the rebranding project, the meaning behind it, and how she hopes it will shape the future of the hospice.
Watch the full interview below…