CLIENT
100 Stories of Cancer
CAMPAIGN REACH
1000+
CREATIVE
Brand Strategy and Storytelling
Brand Identity
Illustration
Website Design
An International Community of People Affected by Cancer, created by Helena Traill
What started as a degree project for nooh’s founder Helena, turned into a beautifully created book that wove together the stories of 100 people who’d either experienced, or been affected by cancer. After a launch event at Maggie’s Hammersmith, 100 Stories became a large community across social media with a podcast and blog. The 100 stories project has become deeply woven into nooh’s core ethos and values, informing other projects that we’ve produced in the healthcare and design space.
“This revelatory, moving and ingeniously structured book will make readers think and become readier to talk about cancer, a subject that is, for many, still wrapped in silence. It is a book for anyone whose life has been affected by the disease directly or indirectly – a book, in other words, for everyone.”
- Kate Kellaway, The Guardian
100 Stories is now an online community and podcast that continues to grow. Follow along @100storiesbook.
1 of 100 Stories
A word from the creator, Helena Traill
“I was lucky enough to meet Martino Sclavi (high profile supporter of The Brain Tumour Charity and author of The Finch In My Brain) at the beginning of 2019. I was introduced by Piers Townley, who works at The Brain Tumour Charity and has supported me with the 100 Stories Project.
Martino, a fellow creative and film director, who in 2011 was diagnosed with grade four glioblastoma – an aggressive form of brain tumour. He underwent surgery immediately in LA, soon after the diagnosis and then had a second operation back home in Rome six months later. The second surgery initially left him unable to speak, read or write. Martino relearnt his three languages and started to use technology to read text out for him. Before I met him, I found it hard to believe he couldn’t actually read. But when I went to visit him, he produced eight packets of tea and asked me to identify which of them was English Breakfast.
He was never able to read again but managed to write an entire book about his story through touch typing. What is remarkable is that his muscle memory remembered how to touch type. His book, The Finch In My Brain, explains his life before and after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. My favourite part is where he explains that, when he looked at the hole in his brain, he saw a bird, a finch, and from then onwards, he created a relationship with the bird. I cannot recommend his book enough.”
Helena Traill, 26, is the Creative Director and Founder of nooh Studio. Helena's father was diagnosed with two Oligodendroglioma brain tumours over 23 years ago. Helena is a strong supporter of The Brain Tumour Charity, including completing a fundraise 113 mile cycle race in 2020.
