DNCO 20 / 20

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Joy Nazzari sits down with Nick Searl, former Director at Related Argent, to discuss the Brent Cross Town rebrand — a 180-acre masterplan three times the size of King's Cross. He shares his thoughts on positioning the project around "play", how to prove developer commitments aren't just marketing, and what it really means to create identity for a place suffering from ‘placelessness’.

We’re launching DNCO 20/20 — a podcast marking our 20 years. We take an in-depth look at 20 of our most consequential place brand projects in conversation with clients to uncover the invaluable lessons you only learn in hindsight.