Crohn’s & Colitis UK identified a critical need: people diagnosed with Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis were overwhelmed by the sheer volume and variable reliability of online information. To address this, they created the CCUK Companion, a mobile-focused “wayfinder” site consolidating trusted content from NHS, IBD bloggers, and CCUK’s own resources. Our agency led the brand direction and visual design, working alongside Lark (tone of voice and strategy) and Electric Putty (UX, UI, development), to deliver an experience that was clear, bold, approachable, and healthcare-friendly.
The Companion website needed to organise and present a vast amount of information intuitively, especially for users who may be newly diagnosed and emotionally vulnerable. Navigating such content required a careful, empathetic user experience and a visual identity that communicated trust and clarity. The challenge was to design a flexible architecture that allowed users to always understand where they were and what to explore next without overwhelming them.
We led the brand direction, crafting a visual language that felt professional yet warm and even a little fun, ideal for easing the stress of medical discovery. The aesthetic focused on bold typography, bright and welcoming colours, and approachable layout structures to foster trust while avoiding the coldness often found in clinical design.
Central to the design were custom-developed icons, built on CCUK’s existing visual system but refined by our team. These iconographic touchpoints enhanced navigational clarity across categories and subcategories, subtly reinforcing users’ sense of orientation.
Meanwhile, Lark supported us in shaping tone of voice and content strategy to ensure messaging felt empathetic and clear. Working as an embedded creative partner with Electric Putty, we formed a small in-house team that blended brand, UX, UI, and strategy securely across disciplines, keeping workflows agile and aligned.
The site launched in February 2017 and immediately served as a simplified, trustworthy gateway to information on living with IBD, from symptoms and diagnosis to long-term management and support. Visitor feedback was glowing with one saying, “I wish this had been around when I was first diagnosed 11 years ago.”
Even though the Companion has since been integrated into CCUK’s main website, it achieved its mission: providing a standalone, user-centric destination for navigating life with IBD. It demonstrated our agency’s ability to lead brand design, collaborate tightly with strategy and development partners, and deliver emotionally intelligent digital solutions that truly support wellbeing.
