Communicating the vision for patient-centric care

Research to inform a new direction

Traditionally, healthcare infrastructure has been centered around providers at specific locations, often with difficult to schedule appointments and high costs. Carena worked to redefine healthcare by providing an integrated patient-centric platform of convenient, low-cost care anytime, anywhere, at a time when telemedicine was just gaining traction.

To evolve Carena’s brand, Cognition’s strategy and design teams conducted an extensive review to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the existing visual language to understand how it was executed across different media channels and divisions within Carena. An accompanying competitive assessment looked outward at Carena’s peers. A visual identity can not only be the most valuable assets of a company, but is also the most strategic point to convey values and offerings against its competitors.

This process informed an exploratory phase to design a visual language to represent Carena’s values and business goals. Our team worked closely with the in-house marketing and sales teams to ensure the existing elements which held significant brand value were maintained with a few.

A dynamic grid

At the core of the new Carena Brand are its grid systems, typography, color, pattern, photography and illustration.

A strict odd-columned modular grid with asymmetrical margins provides a strong guide to content. It allows the system to be flexible so that the most important messages can be highlighted.

Type with an approachable tone

Typography carries personality and voice to the viewer. Similar to how inflexion carries additional emotional meaning when we speak, typography affects how the voice inside a person’s head will sound when they read the text. Carena’s primary typeface, Avenir, has more humanist qualities at its heavier weights. Taking a cue from Carena’s patient-facing physicians, we gave Carena a softer, more human and approachable tone, through thick weights at large sizes set in a conversational sentence case for the top of the type hierarchy.

Differentiation through color

To help separate Carena from its competitors, we employed a bright and saturated cool color palette. Playing off of traditional healthcare colors to help convey their innovative approach. The cool color palette in the content was offset with warm colors in the photography to contrast the typical coldness of traditional care in facilities.

A flexible, scalable system

Carena’s rebrand was launched in phases through early 2017.

The guidelines included a direction for sub-brands to grow in a scalable and consistent fashion. A flexible endorsed brand identity strategy and visual system with a guide and kit vetted across channels. Kit included suite of illustrations, iconography, photography and system of starter templates for collateral, ads and presentations to support inhouse marketing teams.

We then took the new identity and tested it in context. Battling it against various formats and media channels from print collateral, to sales and investor presentations, and physical spaces.

The strategy and visual system was executed across all of Carena’s channels.

Positioned for acquisition

Through the evolution of their brand strategy Carena was able to successfully position themselves as a leader in virtual care. This success led to their acquisition by Avisia in late 2017 and subsequently by American Well in July 2018, forming the most comprehensive, customizable and trusted telehealth solution available.