DNCO 20 / 20

Branding Royal Docks — how to build a purposeful place brand with Dan Bridge

Joy Nazzari reunites with Dan Bridge, Royal Docks Project Director, to revisit the place brand for the Mayor of London's largest land-led regeneration project — six neighbourhoods, two mayors and a community tired of being sold visions. They discuss the early engagement that shifted the brief, with one resident's verdict capturing the challenge: "it's BS, we don't believe you". Why the visual identity sits in stark black and white, and what a place brand has to do to last.

Branding & Wayfinding National Galleries of Scotland — how to make a national collection truly belong to everyone with Leanne Mabberley

Patrick Eley reunites with Leanne Mabberley, Head of Marketing and Communications at National Galleries of Scotland, to reflect on a rebrand and wayfinding overhaul of one of Scotland's most complex cultural institutions — three galleries, four separate identities, and visitor research telling them they were seen as boring, stuffy, and elitist. They discuss how audience insight unlocked a brand built around "yours to discover," how the same project produced a wayfinding system that changed the language of the galleries from the inside out, and what it takes to shift how a national institution sees itself — and how the public sees it.

Naming the London Overground — how to engage a whole city with Sumaiyah Moolla

Simon Yewdall sits down with Sumaiyah Moolla, Customer Experience Lead at TfL, to reflect on naming the six London Overground lines — a brief that had to be both deeply functional and genuinely representative of the diverse stories of London and Londoners. Sumaiyah reveals what it took to consult an entire city, why approaching the task with curiosity and an open mind was crucial, how clear naming criteria kept a complex stakeholder process on track, and what it feels like to leave a historic mark on a world capital.

Branding Here East — how to win at Olympic legacy transformation with Gavin Poole

Joy Nazzari reunites with Gavin Poole, CEO of Here East, to discuss how branding helped transform over a million sq ft of the London Olympics legacy buildings into a leading innovation campus. He unpacks the power of reflection in the branding process, why SXSW was the perfect launchpad, and why staying anchored to your original ambition is what makes a place endure.

Rebranding Museum of the Home — how to be brave with Sonia Solicari

Simon Yewdall sits down with Sonia Solicari, CEO of Museum of the Home, to discuss rebranding the Geffrye Museum from East London’s ‘museum of dusty furniture’ into a place of debate. She shares what it took to convince a nervous board to change the name entirely, and how building the brand around illumination and the question "what does home mean to you?" unlocked something far bigger than a name change.