This project is about developing a new, effective visual language for Reber Ranch Vet Clinic. The underlying question was:
"How might Reber Ranch as a brand achieve a feeling of welcomeness, warmth, comfort and caring, combined with a statement of excellent health care, professionalism and calmness, through a new visual design language?"
About
Project Scope
This was a branding and design focused project and included:
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- Choosing typography and a new color palette for the Vet Clinic
- Developing a new logo representing the brands core activities and values
- Developing a dynamic new website layout, an offerings flyer and a new client form
Highlights
My favorite parts of this project were choosing a new color palette, and developing a new client from using the new visual language.
Through a new color palette alone, Reber Ranch Vet Clinic could give its website an entirely different feeling, increasing its potential to attract many more new clients.
My Role: All (independent project)
Project Timeline: 2 weeks
Deliverables: Visual language, Logo, Website Layout, Client Form, Flyer, 10 min. presentation
Rebranding
Reber Ranch Vet Clinic
The main considerations when choosing an appropriate font for Reber Ranch Vet Clinic were:
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Font 1: An easily legible body font, with a straight forward, clear design delivering a professional look
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Font 2: An accent font adding a warm, personal note to the overall professional look
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The fonts selected were therefore used as follows:
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Hellicpters Brush Script: Headline 1, Accent text
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Tall Films Expanded: Headline 2, Body text
Choosing Typography
Tall Films Expanded
Hellicopters Brush Script
#F8DBD0
#C1D7C6
#1B758F
#1C3B51
#369FA3
Choosing a Color Palette
The main considerations when choosing an appropriate color palette for Reber Ranch Vet Clinic were to convey a feeling of health, friendliness and calm:
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Blush Pink (#F8DBD0): The blush pink adds a warm note to the otherwise cool color palette, creating a warm, welcoming feeling and a feeling of health and life.
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Light Green (#C1D7C6): The light green color is an analogous color to the blue tints, symbolic for health.
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Cyan (#369FA3), Dark Cyan (#1B758F) and Dark Blue (#1C3B51): The monochromatic blue shades add a feeling of calmness and medical professionalism to the color palette.
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Logo choices - an iterative process
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Ideation:
During the ideation phase for the new Reber Ranch Vet Clinic Logo, the main idea was to combine the look and feel of a common symbol of health, with a clinic/hospital associated symbol and/or a generic animal symbol, and to convey a feeling of quality care.
The focus was to address a variety of animals by choosing a common animal symbol that many pet owners can identify with, while moving away from the commonly used paw symbol in most veterinary logos.
Visual symbol considerations were:
Health
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A syringe
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A medical cross
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A heartbeat line
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A bandage
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A stethoscope
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The caduceus medical symbol
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A DNA stripe
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The star of life symbol
Animal Symbol
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A bone
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Teeth
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A dove (as a symbol of hope)
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A generic animal face
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A tail
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Ears
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Whiskers
Clinic/Hospital
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A bed
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A wheelchair sign
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A generic house symbol
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A hospital house
Logo 1: A house + A generic animal face (+ A generic animal Ear)
Logo 2: A medical cross + Different animal fur patterns
Logo 3: A medical cross + Branding colors
Logo 4: A stethoscope + A tail
Logo 1
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This logo has different variations, with and without the brand name. It is a combination of a house, symbolic for the vet clinic as a physical location clients visit, and a friendly animal face. The blush pink in the variation on the right side is used to convey a feeling of warmth and welcomeness. The cyan tint used on the left gives the logo a more professional look. The professional look is further enhanced through the use of the brand name, and removing the ear.
But: The corners of the house made this logo feel very edgy, which was not the right feeling for the brand.
Logo 2
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This logo is conveys the feeling of luxury care better than the first logo. The round forms and black color give the logo a timeless, elegant look. Choosing pet fur makes the logo more abstract and intriguing.
But: The logo seemed too elegant for a vet clinic in south Seattle.The goal was not to convey a feeling of a luxury pet spa, but to create a feeling of excellent medical care and friendliness.
Logo 3
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This logo is a combination of a medical cross and the branding colors of the vet clinic. It is timeless and elegant, with an emphasis on the important values of calmness, health and friendliness emphasized through the brand colors.
But: The logo seemed to generic for a vet clinic, without a symbolic connection to animals.
Logo 4
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This logo is a combination of a stethoscope and a generic animal tail. It conveys the values of medical professionalism through the blue color tints chosen for the stethoscope, and gives a feeling of warmth and welcomeness through the blush pink tail. With its round forms and a good combination of medical and animal symbols, this logo is the ideal fit for the new brand of Reber Ranch Vet Clinic.
Creating a Logo
Putting it all together​
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The new website makes the customer feel welcome, and in a safe place where pets are well taken care of. The image style selected for the website and all other media (posters, flyers, apps, etc.) are close-up images of animals and humans that show emotion in the animals' and humans' faces. This creates further empathy and a feeling of connectedness and trust.
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Rotating, friendly animal close-ups and the blush pink background make pet owners feel welcome and safe.
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Customer testimonies are rotating with the animal images, enhancing the feeling of good care through personal stories of other pet owners.
The Hellicopters Brush Script accent font is used for "Welcome" and the signature of each testimony to add a personal note to the page, giving visitors a feeling of importance.
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The blue color conveys a feeling of professional medical care. The reader can get the most important information about the clinic at one glance, and read more if desired. The headline and action button are the main focal points of this composition, guiding the user on the page.
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As indicated above, the images used are close-up shots of the animals, waking emotions in pet owners. The offerings are highlighted in this page making it is easy to navigate to the desired treatment option.
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The original website shows all 12 staff members on this page. The pictures used are blurry and small. By reducing the amount of staff pictures on the page, the four doctors of the clinic are highlighted in a more personal light. All doctors are shown with an animal in a personal photo, to show that they are not only professionals but also personal animal lovers.
The word team is highlighted in the accent font (Hellicopters) to give it an even more personal note.
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The New Website
Designing the new client form was a particular challenge. Most client forms are straight forward, but rather boring.
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This form aligns with the feeling of personal care by putting the client and patient information in their "paw prints".
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The dark paw is the main focal point of the paper, followed by the hand print. It shows that pets come first at Reber Ranch clinic. The two complimentary colors for the paw print and hand print show a separation between the patient (animal) and client (owner); but the overlap of the two prints creates a feeling of unity of the two parties at the same time.
The New Client Form
Designing the flyer was inspirational for using more triangular forms on the website.
The flyer uses the same images used on the website to create a recognition effect and a brand standard.
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