First Then First Now Branding

For over 275 years, Penn Medicine has quietly pioneered innovations that have become the standard of care. Rather than trying to tell 275 years of history all at once, First Then. First Now. compressed 275 years of medical leadership into four words. Each execution revealed a different Penn “first,” allowing audiences to discover the institution’s impact one breakthrough at a time—and collectively building a much larger story about Penn’s role in shaping modern medicine. To bring that idea to life, we created a distinctive mixed-media visual language using licensed imagery, archival material, illustration, typography, editorial composition and animation. Working alongside Penn Medicine’s archivist and the Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, we authenticated every historical milestone to Penn’s standards of academic rigor, giving the campaign the credibility its claims demanded. Anchored in Penn Blue and drawing from the distinctive thread of Penn’s broader design system, we reimagined familiar institutional codes in ways they had never been used before, creating something that felt both unmistakably Penn as well as fresh and new for the brand. The system could move fluidly between centuries while remaining unmistakably Penn, whether encountered in a cinematic film, a national newspaper, social content, airport media, a subway station or wrapped around a Philadelphia bus. Across Philadelphia, contextual media placements turned the city itself into an exhibition of Penn’s achievements, while premium national media extended the story far beyond its hometown. We turned the city into a representation of all Penn has accomplished as the city was flooded with visitors for the 250th and the World Cup, showcasing that Penn Medicine's history is still being written.

From the original award submission.