Renaming and rebranding Genomics England’s podcast

Branding and logos

Designing for discovery: helping Genomics England explain the future of healthcare through bold, accessible digital storytelling.

Podcast episode visual for Genomics England featuring guest speakers Dr Ana Lisa Tavares, Anne Lennox, and Dr Meriel McEntagart. The title reads 'Can patient collaboration shape the future for rare conditions?' with circular speaker portraits, colourful waveform branding, and a 46-minute audio player interface on a dark background.

The challenge

Genomics England works in partnership with the NHS to harness the power of genomic technology and science to improve the health of our population by delivering whole genome sequencing to patients via the NHS Genomic Medicine Service as part of routine care.

The name of the Genomics England podcast – The G Word – presented a challenge, as it did not accurately reflect the content and carried negative connotations. Additionally, the podcast’s focus was set to shift towards more accessible, everyday topics to engage a broader lay audience.

The brief was to develop a new name and visual rebrand that would differentiate the podcast from competitors while seamlessly aligning with Genomics England’s brand architecture.

The background

Outdated podcast name
Negative name connotations
Shift to broader audience
Need for standout identity
Brand alignment essential

Requirements

Memorable new name
Distinctive visual identity
Seamless brand fit
Flexible across platforms
Stronger audience appeal

Genomics England ‘Behind the Genes’ podcast promotional tiles featuring guest speakers Dr. Jasper Whitmore and Dr. Eleanor Winslow. The graphic uses a bold, modern design with waveform visuals, contrasting background colours, and rounded yellow highlights to visually emphasise speaker portraits and reinforce the podcast's scientific identity.

The creative

The initial stages of the project focused on audience insights, with a survey targeting staff, clinicians, patients, academics, and other industry professionals. By asking questions about their preferences for similar and science-based podcasts, we gained valuable insight into what appealed most, whether it was the name, visual appearance, or publisher. Analysing their favourites and the reasons behind their choices allowed us to map the podcast landscape and create a clear creative brief. This brief was grounded in insight, providing direction for naming, visual identity development, and ensuring alignment with the podcast’s foundational “Genomics 101” episodes.

Graphic pattern for Genomics England’s ‘Behind the Genes’ podcast branding. Features a bold, abstract design using rounded geometric shapes in shades of blue and yellow on a dark background. The design echoes soundwave and genome sequencing visuals, reinforcing the podcast’s identity and scientific theme.

We brainstormed a variety of names, ultimately selecting Behind the Genes as the winner. The name is catchy, memorable, and humorous, playing on words to suggest delving deeper into genomics.

For the visual identity, we utilised Genomics England’s flexible ‘gene’ graphic toolkit. The lozenge shapes were positioned to resemble sound bars, reinforcing the podcast’s conversational nature while maintaining the strength of the existing brand identity. To stand out from competitor podcasts, we opted for a dark background accented with bright pops of yellow and blue.

Genomics England 'Behind the Genes' podcast graphics. Left panel features Dr Daniela Healy with a quote: 'Some individuals might never receive a diagnosis.' Right panel displays the question 'How can we unlock the potential of large-scale health datasets?' with colourful DNA-inspired waveform branding on a dark background.

We extended this visual language across additional templates for the website, podcast platforms, and speaker profiles. Each design maintained a consistent look and feel, adapting the visual style to suit different scales and seamlessly integrating imagery to enhance the overall impact.

Would you like to see results like these for your organisation?

If you’re interested in finding out more about how we could work together, send us a message and we’ll get back to you.

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Designing for discovery: helping Genomics England explain the future of healthcare through bold, accessible digital storytelling