AMERSHAM: Thinking inside the box

A use of identity, by a leader

New: Shortened Amersham name (formerly Nycomed Amersham), and the 'nine dot matrix' logo

Launched: October 15, 2001

Story in brief:
Amersham plc (UK) had sold its interest in Nycomed (DK), had to change its corporate name, and chose to focus on building the Amersham brand. The symbol represents the "framework" the Amersham parent provides to its units, formerly...
- Nycomed Amersham Imaging
- Amersham Pharmacia Biotech
each of which now adds a symbol and color of its own within the nine dot framework.

Credits:
C.E.O. - Sir William Castell
Identity planning and design - Wolff Olins (London), now an Omnicom subsidiary.

First Impressions:
Neat system, neat symbol. I appreciate the modest 'merely a corporate framework, the businesses are the heroes;' but these nine dots make a strong visual impression, and it is a commanding framework.
I also enjoy Wolf-Olins's use here of the box famous for the challenge to 'connect all nine dots with four straight lines, without lifting your pencil,' whose solution is the source of the phrase "thinking outside the box." Maybe the third unit's symbol will play this game.

If I have quibble, it's the addition of color coding to units differentiated already by name and symbol... perhaps one step too far away from the common culture the corporate brand should represent, and with no particular relevance or functionality. Keep adding colors (sorry... colours) and you'll soon look chaotic.