After a lot of hard work in the background, and as we start to refresh our look in general, we are excited to announce that we are launching a new logo. We loved our old logo, and know many felt the same. And yet, here we are to explain why we decided to evolve it.

Firstly, it’s not change for the sake of change. That said, change is inevitable, and something to be embraced, but that’s not a good enough reason to change a logo. A good reason to change a logo is that it’s not doing the job you want it to do – and because a simpler, more distinctive evolution of it could do that job better.

Our first logo was created when we launched. It was distinctive, and bold. What we didn’t expect was for a national chain, The Co-Op, to change their logo to be similar to ours. (Although it was a massive compliment.)

It did mean however that it became extremely easy to confuse both our logos especially on people’s T-shirts. This started our discussion of change.

HCCN is here to help at one of the hardest times in your life, to support you, and help you navigate your cancer journey, whatever it may look like.

With over 10,000 people in Huntingdonshire with a cancer diagnosis, it is our aim to stop becoming our areas best kept secret, and instead step further forward and be seen, so more people can benefit from our services.

We can do this by raising our heads higher in local press (something many of our supporters are already helping us to do – thank you), attracting a larger demographic, attending more events (something we hope a larger demographic will be able to help with), increase our support capabilities for those fundraising for us (with the help of fundraising packs and man power)… to be honest the list is endless.

So here we are. After LOTS of conversations and changing minds back and forth about what is the right thing for HCCN going forward, the Trustees and heads of departments, have agreed that a new logo could really help us moving forward and could help us attract a larger demographic. However, the biggest barrier to this change was finance.

It is no secret that in order to provide the services we do, it costs an awful lot of money, and as a charity we are currently at a point where fundraising is vital to our longevity. So, the decision about implementing a new logo couldn’t be haphazard. Nor could it be something that someone just cobbled together. It needed to be strong and represent who we are, and help us in our mission to attract a larger demographic, and hopefully increased fundraising power.

We were eventually lucky enough to be put in contact with local marketing company, Velocity Design and Marketing. This amazing company already knew who we were. They are already connected to us via a family link to some of our members (something we discovered later down the line), and were instantly so passionate about us and wanting to help, that they offered their services completely free of charge! They put their entire team on the case for us, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

We were clear about what we wanted – to update our logo but still be identifiable as us – a hard task. But they did it! It uses the same colour blue that everyone loves and recognises. It’s an evolution of our old logo, but is friendlier and emphasis that at HCCN you are seen as you, and that in itself almost feels like a hug.

In their words. “Amy the lead designer wanted to capture the good positive support that HCCN provides, and this was captured in the ‘smile’ which underlines the lettering. The chosen font is warm, friendly and welcoming. The previous logo was very square and quite harsh with sharp corners, so we wanted to soften it down. There is a slight gradient in the logo, from left to right, which represents the journey a patient will undertake through their illness. It is intentionally going from darker to lighter (and back again).”

We love our new logo, but as you will no doubt highlight this is only half of the problem, what about the cost it will take to implement?

We want to reassure you that as a charity we have spent a lot of time in future planning, and ensuring that we don’t waste money. Our new logo has come at the best time. We are being asked for new and updated posters and leaflets, new roller banners with different designs, business cards etc. etc. Knowing what we hoped would happen, we held back. We didn’t order any new items, and now we can order the items that were already required, but with the new logo. Over this year, you’ll see all the other visuals around HCCN aligning around this new direction: on the website, in marketing… It’s still us. We are still HCCN. But more consistent and, we hope, more instantly recognisable. However, unless we get sponsorship, please be patient as implementing new items not yet required for replacing will take time.

If you would like to see how our new logo and branding will look going forward, you can see a sneak peak of our HCCN BIG Afternoon tea fundraising items here.

Our main launch will be taking place at this years HCCN Spring Conference. To attend please book here. We are delighted that a representative from Velocity will be there on the day to help launch it officially.

So without further ado say hello to our new logo!