Expanding Understanding of How Neuroscience Intersects with Society

To realize Dana Foundation’s ambitious vision for its new Neuroscience & Society strategy—and channel it through a new brand and website—we led a research and discovery phase to learn more about its history, programs, strategic plan, audiences, and more. First, stakeholder interviews helped inform how audiences, both inside and outside the organization, viewed the Foundation and its future. We then conducted collaborative brand workshops to define the Foundation’s aspirations, values, and organizational roles, as well as their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities, and their strategic differentiators and audience relationships. We then applied what we learned through research to help Dana Foundation connect people within the neuroscience field and experts in other social disciplines—and, in doing so, occupy a special space for the global good.

Our brand strategy identified nine core themes that were foundational to Dana Foundation’s credibility and ability to lead a new field of science it was establishing. Themes such as “Transcending the Sciences, “Advocacy vs Objectivity,” and “Neuroscience for People” connected Dana’s rich history and impact to its strategic direction. We then positioned the brand to realize the potential in exploring a new neuroscience that benefits all people. Dana Foundation’s new narrative is expressed with depth and detail through strategic brand messaging that articulates its purpose and mission, its vision for the future, the values that guide it, its differentiating value propositions, and its audience relationships. The resulting platform equips Dana’s team with a communications toolkit to engage their audience and invite a new generation into the field.

With verbal branding clearly articulating Dana Foundation’s purpose and vision, it was time to design a new visual identity to embody their commitment to establishing and growing the field of Neuroscience & Society. We explored different designs with Dana’s team to create a logo and design system that expresses the brand’s dynamic energy, scientific sophistication, and creative exploration. Dana Foundation’s logo is a fluid loop that creates movement, intersects, and interconnects; wave patterns provide texture for backgrounds while signifying brain activity; saturated colors and gradients represent the Foundation’s diverse and nuanced scientific inquiry, and typography is streamlined and objective, reflecting the evidence-based nature of their work.

It was now time to bring the brand to life online—translating the visual and verbal branding that are the foundation for how Dana Foundation shows up in the world into a website that engages, excites, and educates a diversity of audiences with their mission. We designed the online brand experience to embody the collaborative optimism in Dana Foundation’s mission—inviting audiences in with a vibrant, colorful, and future-facing aesthetic that connects the work of today with what’s possible tomorrow.

To establish an entirely new field of multidisciplinary science, both expert and lay audiences are likely to need education on both its purpose and potential. To make sure that everyone, from elementary school students to social scientists, could explore and engage with this new way of thinking about neuroscience, the Dana Foundation’s new website both introduces the ideas behind Neuroscience & Society and connects it to broader society. From impact stories to a glossary of relevant terms, Dana Foundation’s website makes new concepts accessible and connects them to activities to advance the field around the world.

Mobilizing knowledge—from grade school classrooms to boardrooms—is central to Dana Foundation’s work. To activate Dana Foundation’s Neuroscience & Society mission, champion neuroscience exploration, and make participation more diverse and intergenerational, we developed an expansive digital knowledge library. Filled with resources and filterable by topic, audience, and resource type, Dana Foundation’s new website makes articles, infographics, curricular materials, and more accessible to a range of audiences interested in exploring Neuroscience & Society.

Two core drivers in the Dana Foundation’s new mission and strategic direction are to expand access to the field of neuroscience and make it more diverse, and to ensure that neuroscience work is both informed by and responsive to all people in a diverse society. To ensure that the foundation’s reach extended beyond its new website, partner network, and events, to engage the broader public, we designed a multi-platform system of social media marketing assets. The suite of templates enables Dana to attract interest with eye-opening insights, invite audiences to digital and live events, and share resources and opportunities.