Sands
Reimagining Sands: A Brand as Compassionate and Strong as Their Community.
The Context
It’s estimated that one in two people will experience the loss of a pregnancy or the death of a baby, or know someone who has.
Founded in 1978 by a small group of bereaved parents, Sands plays a vital role across the UK by raising public awareness of baby loss. They support thousands of bereaved parents, and families, and lead work with the NHS and healthcare professionals to improve bereavement care. Through research, training and campaigning they work to save babies’ lives, always including the voice of parents to build better understanding and learn from every tragedy.
The Challenge
Despite the vital work Sands was doing, a significant challenge remained: roughly a quarter of people (24%) who had experienced pregnancy or baby loss weren’t aware of any supporting charities.
Their goal was multifaceted: to strengthen their brand, raise awareness, and inspire action around their crucial work to both support bereaved parents and families, and save babies’ lives. A critical component of this refresh also involved updating the brand to meet modern accessibility standards, ensuring the charity was truly open and welcoming to everyone.
Furthermore, Sands recognised a need to evolve their visual identity and tone of voice. Feedback indicated it was often perceived as professional and formal, but notably lacked compassion and humanity, which was crucial for connecting with those experiencing such profound loss.
Our Approach
We began with extensive market research, which we used to inform the creation of a comprehensive visual identity system.
We recognised that the people who make up Sands are the heart and soul of the charity and so it was important they became the heart and soul of the brand. The charity’s strong sense of community became central to its purpose and story. This led us to add “Real & Human” to the brand’s personality, ensuring the visual identity and tone of voice consistently reflected these qualities.
We also identified a key differentiator: not just that Sands offers both bereavement support and works to save babies’ lives, but the powerful connection between these two aspects. The idea that the voices of their community, particularly bereaved parents, translate understanding into action became a core part of the brand’s narrative.
Daniel Brett-Schneider. Director of Income & Engagement, SandsThis was more than a brand refresh — it was an important opportunity to deepen the connection with the heart of Sands: our community. We set out to create a strengthened brand that put bereaved families at its core, while equipping us with the tools to reach further, speak louder and drive greater impact. I’m incredibly proud of the way we all approached this project — rooted in evidence, shaped through inclusion and delivered by genuine collaboration.
The new brand reflects who Sands is: real and human, bold and compassionate. It brings together the warmth and strength of our community with a confident, modern identity — one that will help us reach more families and save more babies’ lives. Being a part of this journey has been a privilege, and I’m deeply grateful to The Team and everyone who contributed along the way.
The Work
To embody this, we redesigned the logo to convey hope and positivity while retaining a human touch. The new logo is a versatile line drawing that can be interpreted in several ways: a baby, a hug, a heart, or even a speech bubble. This adaptability allows it to resonate with a diverse audience, no matter where they are on their journey, representing both empathy and strength.
In terms of colour, we kept a brighter shade of orange alongside a darker purple for contrast. A secondary palette of bright and pale shades was introduced to give Sands more flexibility in their communications. We also incorporated the pink and blue colours associated with the Baby Loss Awareness Week campaign that Sands leads.
It will come as no surprise that the photography celebrates all the people who make up the Sands community. Photography of babies are sensitively used, with close-up crops of details and environments, acknowledging that photography of babies might be triggering for someone who has experienced pregnancy and baby loss.
Beyond the visual identity, The Team also developed a new tone of voice guide and message matrix, emphasising inclusive and compassionate language across all communications.
Gill Owen, Head of Communications and Engagement, SandsMaking changes to any brand can be a daunting task, but the Sands brand is particularly unique. For many in the Sands community the brand is deeply connected to their experience of pregnancy and baby loss; and is entwined in their journey as they grow around their grief. The Team worked with Sands to really listen to the different audiences who make up the Sands community, so we could live our values of being person-centred and evidence-led throughout the project.
The strengthened brand both captures our heritage, and allows us to show how real and human Sands is, putting our community of changemakers at its heart. The brand is going to help us to further grow Sands, connecting more people across all four nations who want to join us to speak up about baby loss, making sure we can save more babies’ lives and support bereaved parents and families, always.
Results
The Team successfully applied the new visual identity and tone of voice across all of Sands’ work and communication channels.,
The marketing and communications team at Sands have been rolling out the brand internally during the Spring prior to a public launch in the Summer, with a series of events in person and online to help the launch the transition.
Dan Dufour, Brand Strategist, The TeamIt has been an honour to work alongside Sands to strengthen their brand. I admire their unwavering commitment to taking an evidence-based approach and putting people with lived experience of pregnancy and baby loss at the heart or the new brand and its development. I hope the Real & Human touches built into the visual identity and tone of voice enable Sands values to shine brightly throughout everything they do.
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