The healthcare industry is brimming with logos focused on human (or animal -in the case of veterinarians) bodies, molecules, plants, pills, stethoscopes, serpents with staff and an array of body organs, including the heart, the brain, feet, eyes, teeth and blood.
Are great healthcare logos hard to come by, even within the context of larger enterprises? And, if they are, why should a logo matter to your small to mid-sized healthcare practice? Because, it matters to your patients.
Let’s explore the principles of great healthcare logo design and review examples that transcend the typical metaphors used throughout the industry.
What’s in a healthcare logo?
Identity, the very essence of a practice, from protecting a patients’ dignity to empathizing with their pain, is embedded in a logo.
Great healthcare brands build emotional connections through values. As the most important symbol of the practice, the logo is the vehicle that communicates promises, benefits and solutions. A well designed logo will deliver overt and subliminal messages about the authentic beliefs of your practice, using a communication strategy and graphic design style that resonates with your prospective patients.
Logo design principles, within the context of healthcare marketing:
Logo design starts with clarity around your unique and valued difference and growth market. If your logo design is to be effective, it must be an authentic representation of your core values.
A communication strategy can then be defined in order to establish the creative direction for your logo. This step involves the selection of graphic design style, color, texture, photography, shapes and symbols that can effectively communicate the personality behind your practice.
Whether the logo is the full name or acronym, accompanied by an icon or not, in order to be effective, it needs to meet each and every one of the following design criterion:
- Simple
- Legible
- Memorable
- Easily understood
- Meaningful
- Relevant
Examples of great healthcare logos:
Let’s review these design principles by way of 8 examples of great healthcare logos.
- Cleveland Clinic – A soft edge square built from L shaped modules appears to be communicating a promise about structured processes that are predictable, yet accessible to the patient.
- North York General Hospital – All shapes are soft and accessible. Concentric curves are reminiscent of an embrace, an idea that is reinforced by the accompanying tagline: Embracing Health. Orange exudes warmth, while blue conveys calm. This healthcare logo works because it builds on a promise to be kind and compassionate.
- Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors (OAND) – A leaf differentiates naturopathic doctors by referencing natural remedies. The organic feel of the custom drawn lettering reinforces this same message. While effective as a logo for a professional body, the graphic design style and metaphors lose their impact when used by individual naturopathic practices because, alone, they lack the ability to address differences from practice to practice.
- Mayo Clinic – The three coats of arms is a direct reference to the three clinic locations. Transparency between the three individual icons appears to be communicating a message about processes and communication. This academic symbol was presumably selected to deliver a promise about best practices.
- Hospital del Trabajador Santiago – Tone on tone orange is friendly. The star shaped footprint of this logo appears to be a patriotic reference, while also a symbol of the various buildings within the hospital. The soft edges of the squares communicate accessibility and flexibility. As a group they almost dance, leaving us with the impression of seamless collaboration.
- Truth – A harsh series of dots that can resemble people, facts and figures or even the light of a cigarette. All graphic references embedded in this logo arouse interest in the mandate of this organization.
- Cardinal Health – Overlapping curves appear to be delivering a message about the ability and commitment to optimize coordination and networking throughout the chain of care.
- Galen’s Watch – I would be remiss if I didn’t include at least one example from our Toronto-based marketing firm! Please see logo at the top of this article. Red signifies the need to be on alert, which is inherent in the workings of a journal watch. An ear shaped curve covers a leaf, reinforcing the message of the company tagline: Complete. Relevant. CAM Knowledge.
Whether you are a naturopathic doctor, chiropractor, chiropodist, nutritionist, veterinarian or other healthcare professional, consider the great care that you give your patients.
If your logo is your ambassador, shouldn’t it be expected to rise to those very same standards?
Related articles: Health Care Brands That Work, The Tagline: A Hidden Gem in the Branding Toolbox