Last month, a range of cupcakes featuring STDs went on sale at a London museum. This month, there are not one, but two rebrands of medical research clinics. It’s almost as if pathogens are cool again.

The Bloomsbury Institute for Pathogen Research – a joint UCL and London School of Hygiene endeavour established in 2011 – unveiled new branding by Igloo. The logo, which has a variety of individual looks, is designed to represent bacteria, viruses and parasites. The fun, colourful variations of the BIPR logo are like STD cupcakes – delicious, in this case, visually, but also based on a somewhat off-putting concept. Regardless, the bold identity revamp may help spread awareness of the BIPR.

On the other side of the world, the 11-year-old Vietnam-based Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, completely overhauled its branding and introduced a colourful new palette. The rebrand, carried out by designer Scott Lambert, developed a graphic and colour-based alphabet for use by the multilingual clinic. Each letter is represented by colour-coded shapes that evoke cellular structure.

Lambert says the alphabet symbols have multiple influences, “They can be viewed as a sequence of chromosomes, a course of medical treatment, or a group of bacteria, even people. They may simply be a colorful respite in a sterile environment.”

These science-inspired rebrands are not alone, however. Recently, the Institute for Cancer Research introduced branding based on the Fibonacci sequence.

To discuss this and other rebrands, visit our LinkedIn group. The 2013 Transform Awards are open for entry, for more information, click here.