ESSEX-based design consultancy Silk Pearce is helping to overcome a “banking crisis” with a difference. The Colchester firm has completed a commission to create a brand identity for the newly-launched London Sperm Bank (LSB), which aims to help overcome a shortage of sperm donors in the UK.

ESSEX-based design consultancy Silk Pearce is helping to overcome a “banking crisis” with a difference.

The Colchester firm has completed a commission to create a brand identity for the newly-launched London Sperm Bank (LSB), which aims to help overcome a shortage of sperm donors in the UK.

LSB was formed from the merger of two long-established banks, the Louis Hughes Sperm Bank and the bank at the London Women's Clinic, both in Harley Street, London. Its campaign for new donors is designed to answer the British Fertility Society's call for clinics to invest in dedicated recruitment programmes to address the national shortage.

In addition to designing the bank's brand identity, the Silk Pearce design team has developed a dedicated new website to raise awareness of the bank's role within the wider community and explain the process of becoming a donor.

New building signage, stationery and an initial advertising campaign for use in London Underground tube trains and in men's fashion and lifestyle magazines have also been created as part of the launch.

“LSB's new branding has a directness and openness that we believe will bring the whole subject of donor insemination into the mainstream,” said Jack Pearce, joint creative director at Silk Pearce.

“Many people are unaware of the critical role sperm banks play in helping many couples start a family and our aim was to get more men thinking seriously about becoming donors.”