No big deal, just a rebrand and relaunch for the portfolio containing the world’s leading science journal… As in-house brand lead, I ran the project to relaunch Nature Portfolio (formerly Nature Publishing Group) starting with a new brand mission, vision and values. We (me and my team of two) created a full suite of new guidelines; including tone of voice, brand architecture and governance criteria, and a bespoke visual identity to underpin brand messaging. In partnership with the Editorial and Marketing design teams, we made brand presentation consistent across all platforms and channels, including the flagship scientific publishing website nature.com.

Workshops with stakeholders from across the business formed the foundation of the work, allowing the opinions and requirements from all departments to be heard in a shared forum and prioritised. Using these interactive sessions alongside market research as we showcased the proposed elements of the new brand made sure we had buy-in from colleagues and customers – belief that the brand story is authentic and compelling.

A refreshed visual identity was created – bringing the brand up-to-date and creating a full design guide, and image and asset bank. Templates were commissioned to support marketing work, and a collaborative project brought all the visual design elements together across print, platform and marketing activity. Very proud of this one, I won’t lie!

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“Although Nature and the Nature Portfolio are among the most renowned brands in scientific publishing, before Nicky there hadn’t been much attention paid to really shaping and cultivating the critical details surrounding brand – brand design, brand architecture, tone of voice and many other elements had all risen independently and had never been really considered holistically. As the Nature Portfolio’s first Brand Director, Nicky conceived and led a multi-year effort to create real order, discipline and meaning across all aspects of the brand. She succeeded spectacularly by being an unlikely combination of perceptive brand analyst, first-class designer, and effective cat-herder. The importance of that last part is hard to overestimate: In her own good-humored but unmistakably tenacious way, Nicky managed to finish the project and achieve her objectives despite a highly complex organization and stakeholder structure. I wouldn’t hesitate for even a split second to entrust her with another important brand project.”

– Dean Sanderson, Chief Strategy Officer, AIP Publishing (previously Managing Director, Nature Research Group)