What Do You Get When Combining Navy Roots With Medicine?
The Logo: Anchor Family Medicine (of course . . .)

Challenge
The design of this identity had a clear objective. The client’s request was to create a graphic that ties his navy roots and medicine into one identity. The thought of using an anchor as the identity was discussed in our initial meeting. IntreXDesign was hired to create and explore how the anchor could be married with medicine to form a unique identity.

Before moving forward, there’s one more thought the client felt needed to be mentioned. The client wanted his identity to be different. He felt that since a stethoscope is a common medical symbol found in many practices; he would dismiss using this element as part of his identity.

Solution
At the onset of the creative process, using an anchor was the main graphic element. A few different anchor options were designed, but the graphic seemed to resonate more with navy and the sea, than with medicine. Therefore, even though the name of the practice included the word “medicine”, the graphic needed to draw a closer relationship to medicine than an anchor. In this case, a broader exploration of a medical graphic needed to be identified. This included elements like a family, a plus-or-aid-like symbol, and (yes) a stethoscope. Tying medicine and navy together was not an easy task.

Aside from coming up with a graphic, a number of different block-style fonts were reviewed and considered. The typeface chosen would need to be bold and convey a sense of strength, security, and stability to support the anchor graphic. After considering many possible font combinations, a font called Le Havre Black was chosen.

The typeface now added to the identity. At this point, it was also important to create a graphic that was simple and easily understood by merging two different graphic elements together. After many refinements IntreXDesign tied the stethoscope into the bottom portion of the anchor to create a unified graphic (thus marrying medicine and navy as one). Now, proposing this option to the client, along with a few other concepts (which did not include a stethoscope) was our next task.

Results
When each logo identity was presented to the client (about 5 different options) there were two he wanted to give more consideration to before making any decisions. One of those options happened to be the idea proposed with the anchor and stethoscope combined. While he was a bit reluctant about the stethoscope, there was something about this one that he could not dismiss. A few days later, he selected the anchor/stethoscope graphic. IntreXDesign continued to make further refinements to emphasize the logo. There was one more alteration made to align with this practice’s compassion, support, and well-being for their patients. The letter “o” in “Anchor” was made to look like a life preserver and the final identity was shown to the client. Once seeing the revised graphic, the client responded, “You convinced me.” He liked the way both elements captured medicine and navy together and it was unique enough to be different than other practices.

IntreXDesign selected the colors of navy blue and teal to tie back to his navy roots and time spent on the water. The life preserver is symbolically colored orange to represent safety and security. This added element captures the genuine compassion, this practice  has towards their patients.

Overall the challenge of this identity came together purposely, and the uniqueness of this logo allows this new practice to capitalize on its brand identity.