Goal
Develop a branding concept for a cardiology clinic focused on prevention of disease, without resorting to industry clichés.
Solution
Modern cardiology is largely reactive. Heart disease progresses over decades, only manifesting once the disease has become severe enough to provoke some sort of episode — from a heart attack or stroke to angina. Often, the first symptom of heart disease is death.
To combat heart disease, prevention must take precedence. The necessity for preventive care forms the foundation for this concept.
Good health is proactive, not reactive. The roots of good health feed each branch of life — our careers, our families and our passions. So preventive medicine must reflect this understanding; it is the "tree of life." This ancient symbol, familiar to many cultures, resembles the circulatory system — the place where "heart" disease begins.
We tend to think of heart heart attacks and strokes as related to the heart and brain. But these are just sudden manifestations of long-simmering disease that builds in the arteries and veins. Atherosclerosis is the real culprit. Your tree of life — your circulatory system — is where damage occurs. A brand incorporating cliché hearts would have been inappropriate to a message of prevention.
A branched, tree-shaped symbol was developed, and reflected along the horizontal axis, just as the body is divided along the sagittal plane, with the heart at the meeting of the two halves. To incorporate the idea of an holistic approach, the "tree" was placed in a circular emblem.
Cliché red was eschewed in favor of energetic yellows, blues and greens — colors of life and nature. Photos of Austin's 500-year-old Treaty Oak were included; a recognizable symbol that both locates the practice and references long life.