How to design a healthcare company logo for a thriving brand

Figuring out how to design a healthcare company logo that resonates with your audience is one of the first things any medical brand needs to do to ensure success. In an environment where trust and audience affinity can make or break your business, few things are more valuable than the right logo. 

Though there’s more to a compelling brand than an attractive logo, your emblem is one of the first things your potential customers, investors, and even employees will use to define your company. 

Audiences look to logos for insights into what a business stands for, what it does, and how it differentiates itself from its competitors. 

Something as simple as choosing the wrong combination of colors or an overly complex font can be enough to drive away patients and damage your reputation. 

In fact, many of the world’s biggest healthcare brands work hand-in-hand with designers and brand strategists specifically to ensure they can design a logo that hits home. 

Today, we will look at the components that make up a good health logo and examine each business’s steps to create an impactful visual identity.  

What makes a good healthcare company logo? 

The first step in learning how to design a healthcare company logo is understanding what a great emblem actually looks like. The healthcare industry is a diverse landscape, brimming with different kinds of practitioners and companies. 

As such, there are dozens of different styles and types of logo to consider across numerous niches. 

Some modern, technically focused pharmaceutical companies thrive by using highly geometric, scientific-looking logos. 

Companies concentrating on attracting families, such as maternity practices or pediatricians, may use combination marks designed to convey compassion, with heart-shaped icons and soft, welcoming colors. There’s no concrete strategy that works for every business. 

The best medical logo design comes from a deep understanding of not just your brand but your target audience, the market you’re competing in, and your vision for the future. That being said, there are some common characteristics many healthcare logos will share, such as:

Emotional impact

Choosing medical care isn’t just a logical process; it’s something heavily influenced by emotion. 60% of customers say the personality of a healthcare brand influences their purchasing decisions. 

With this in mind, a compelling healthcare company logo should connect with customers on an emotional level, evoking feelings of trust and reliability. 

Simplicity

Though healthcare logos don’t have to be as simplified as some modern technology and app logos, they shouldn’t be overwhelmingly complicated. A good logo will convey your message and identity as quickly as possible in a way every customer can understand. 

Keep it simple with a handful of color and typography choices. 

Relevant

Healthcare companies operate in a range of different niche environments. 

When a customer encounters your logo, they’ll be looking for evidence they’re interacting with the right brand for their specific needs. This is why many healthcare logos use iconography and symbolism to highlight their specialist area, such as a heart for cardiology. 

Timeless

The more you need to update your logo in the healthcare industry, the more you’ll disrupt the relationship with your audience. Choose an emblem that can grow and evolve with your organization, even if you’re expanding into new geographies or practice areas. 

Make sure your logo works well across all formats and landscapes. 

Memorability

A good healthcare logo will stick in the mind of your target audience. The right combination of colors, the use of a good tagline or slogan, and even a carefully chosen icon can make your emblem more impactful. 

Think about how you can make your logo stand out among countless other images in the healthcare landscape. 

A good healthcare logo will show your compassionate and caring nature or your focus on innovation and vitality. It should inspire trust in your customers, and tell your audience you’re committed to serving their needs and interests. 

How do I design my own healthcare company logo?

Learning how to design a healthcare logo with no prior knowledge of branding or graphic art can be a complicated process. Logos are more than just a combination of fonts, colors, and symbols. They distill the essence of your brand into a simple image audiences can easily recognize. 

If you don’t have an expert logo designer on your team, the best option is generally to find one you can work with. 

Most of the biggest brands around the world today don’t design their logos in-house. They found a brand strategist or agency that could work with them to make their image perfect. 

If you’re committed to building your logo yourself, or you want to provide your agency with more guidance, the best thing you can do is research. Here are the core things you’ll need to define before you start working on logos for healthcare companies. 

Step 1: Know your niche and target audience

As mentioned above, healthcare companies are extremely diverse. 

While there are general practitioners out there, many healthcare brands focus on a specific aspect of the medical landscape. Some produce pharmaceuticals for other businesses, while others concentrate on a particular specialty, such as oncology, pediatrics, or cardiology. 

Knowing your niche and the exact target audience you want to serve will help you to create a more impactful logo. You’ll be able to choose iconography relevant to your landscape and build a brand that resonates with your customers. 

When you know your niche, start building customer personas or user personas which highlight the core characteristics and demographics of your audience. 

Step 2: Research your competition

Once you have an idea of the niche you’re going to serve and your ideal target audience, the next step is understanding who you’re going up against in the medical field. The best logos for healthcare companies differentiate the business from the other brands in their landscape. 

Competitor research will help you to define what you need to avoid in your logo design to reduce your chances of simply blending in with the crowd. 

Competitor research can also be useful for inspiration. 

It gives you a chance to define what kinds of colors, fonts, and iconography appear to be working within your landscape. While you shouldn’t simply copy what you see another business doing, you can get some insights into what kind of logo designs generate the best results. 

Step 3: Refine your brand identity

With an understanding of your audience and competitors, it’s time to start working on your brand identity. Your logo should be a distilled insight into everything your business stands for. It needs to convey your unique values, vision, and mission as a healthcare brand. 

Take some time to think about how you want your business to be perceived and positioned in the healthcare space. 

Define the personality you’re going to be sharing with your target audience, and consider the key message you want your logo design to send. 

Do you want to be perceived as friendly and reassuring for people who are seeking care? Do you need to portray an image that presents you as a thought leader or authority in your space? How do you want to be perceived?

Step 4: Examine logo styles

There are many ways to design a logo. Some companies use nothing but a simple icon or image. Others combine various geometric shapes with wordmarks and fonts. 

For the most part, the most popular logos in the healthcare industry are usually either combination marks (visuals and text) or wordmarks which use typography to highlight the personality of the brand. 

If you’re starting a new business from scratch, it’s usually a good idea to include your name in your logo, as this can help to promote brand recognition and awareness. A symbol on its own can make it difficult to define a company that isn’t already well-known. 

If you’re not sure what kind of style works for you, make a list of healthcare company logo ideas based on designs you like already.

Step 5: Know your budget

Finally, it’s time to start thinking about the financial side of creating your logo. A lot of companies make the mistake of thinking they can simply throw a logo together with some icons they find online or some common font choices. 

However, if you want your emblem to be truly distinctive, the best option will always be to work with a professional logo designer. 

Make sure you have a clear budget in mind to help guide your logo design process. Research the cost of logo design by asking for quotes from some of the companies in your landscape. This could be a good time to plan your entire branding budget too. 

After designing your logo, you may need to create a website to accompany it, icons for social media, and other marketing assets. 

What are the best fonts for healthcare logos?

When designing a healthcare company logo, there are three core areas you’ll need to focus on: typography (your font choices), color (your color palette), and iconography (graphic elements). 

Since the majority of healthcare company logos tend to use a wordmark in their design, it makes sense to start by defining what kinds of typefaces might be best for your brand. 

Typography, just like colors and shapes, can elicit an emotional response from a target audience. Different types of fonts can send specific messages about your company. Many healthcare brands use serif-style fonts to demonstrate sophistication, authority, and professionalism. 

Others use sans-serif typefaces to demonstrate modernity, friendliness, and accessibility. 

While there’s no single “best font” for a healthcare company, it’s worth keeping things simple. The best healthcare company fonts are clearly legible on any platform. They’re easy to read from a distance, and they convey messages about the authority and stability of the brand. 

When choosing the ideal font:

Keep it simple

While you can combine different fonts into a logo, it’s best not to overwhelm your audience. Stick to one or two typefaces at most, and make sure they blend well together. 

Avoid decorative fonts

Highly decorative fonts, while unique, can be difficult to read from a distance, or on smaller screens (such as smartphones), making them less appropriate. 

Keep it professional

Handwritten fonts and fun, bouncy typefaces generally don’t work well for the healthcare industry. Make sure your typeface demonstrates the authority of your brand.

Think about the formatting

Work with a logo designer to get the kerning and spacing right for your font. The positioning of each letter will determine its legibility. 

What are the best colors for healthcare logos?

Alongside typeface, color is one of the most important components of any healthcare logo. No matter what kind of healthcare emblem you choose, the color will always play a part in your design. The best colors for healthcare companies can vary, depending on their focus or niche. 

It’s worth taking some time to research the concept of color psychology, and learn how different shades can influence customers in specific ways. Blue is a particularly common color in the healthcare landscape because it’s often associated with relaxation, tranquility, and trust. 

However, based on the type of company you’re creating, you might find other shades have a more emotional impact. A holistic healthcare company might choose the color green to connect with the natural world. Green can also convey ideas of growth and vitality. 

Dark shades of purple can demonstrate professionalism and luxury, while lighter shades are often associated with concepts like compassion and care. Red can be a particularly powerful option when you’re choosing healthcare company colors too. 

Red is frequently connected with vitality, passion, confidence, and power. 

The chances are you’ll use a small selection of colors in your logo, so make sure they work together well to convey the core messages of your brand identity. White is a great accompanying color for healthcare logos because it’s connected with cleanliness and purity. 

Black and grey can highlight ideas like sophistication and stability. 

Tips for adding graphics to healthcare company logo ideas

Once you’ve chosen your color palette and fonts, you may decide to start branching out into iconography. As mentioned above, many logos for healthcare companies are designed as combination marks, meaning they use a combination of icons (or graphics) and font. 

An icon can help to add extra information about your business to your logo. A cardiology brand may use a heart in its logo. A general practitioner might use lines similar to the marks on a heart monitor to symbolize their focus on consistent care. 

Some healthcare companies even use simplistic images of families to showcase their compassionate nature. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy to choosing the right icon for your logo. The best image will be a simple representation of your company’s core values or strengths. If you’re having a hard time choosing the perfect icon or image, focus on keeping things simple. 

Think about the kind of images most people will associate with your industry. 

Sometimes, even the simplest shapes can have a huge impact on the quality of your logo. A square can convey feelings of stability and security. Circles are a common choice in healthcare design because they demonstrate community and consistency. 

Even carefully placed lines can draw attention to specific areas within your logo’s design. 

Just like choosing the right font options, it’s important to think about positioning your logo icons and graphics. Ask yourself where your graphic will have the biggest impact on your audience. 

Should I add a tagline for my healthcare company logo?

In some cases, when you’re learning how to design a healthcare company, you may decide to add extra elements into the mix. 

A tagline placed below your logo can convey extra information to your target audience. In most cases, taglines are added to a logo “variation” for healthcare companies. This means they may be used in some of your branding assets but not all of them. 

Most of the time, taglines won’t show up well in smaller spaces, so they’re less common for companies that have a strong presence in the digital world. For instance, customers won’t be able to see a tagline in your logo if you have your own medical app on their phone. 

If you choose to add a tagline to your logo, it’s worth thinking carefully about when and how you’re going to implement it. Used correctly, these extra elements can have a fantastic impact on the overall efficacy of your logo, but they need to be quick and concise to deliver the right impact. 

Here are some examples of what a healthcare tagline might look like:

• Preserving the health of a generation.
• Committed to your wellbeing.
• Care. Compassion. Confidence.
• Protecting your family.
• Healthcare you can trust.

Taglines can be difficult to create on your own, so it’s definitely worth seeking out some extra support from a writer or branding expert if you choose to use one. Many branding experts who offer naming services can also assist you with choosing the right taglines and slogans. 

Should I use a free logo generator for my healthcare logo?

When you’re keen to launch your healthcare company as quickly as possible, it can be tempting to cut some corners with logo design. Many healthcare companies assume their excellent service and support will outshine their logo, making their emblem less important. 

However, rushing through logo design without the right support increases the chances of you having to redesign your brand in the years to come. If you need to rebrand your company, it can end up costing you a lot more than simply paying for a logo designer in the first place. 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to use a logo generator for your emblem. 

Although these tools may seem useful at first, they’re very limited in what they can do. Logo generators give thousands, or even millions of people access to the same combination of icons, shapes, colors, and fonts. This means the chances are you’ll end up with a pretty generic design. 

There’s even a chance your logo could end up being too similar to a design already used by a competing brand, which means you’ll need to change your image almost immediately. 

The only time it makes sense to use a logo generator is if you’re looking for some basic ideas during your initial research process. You can experiment with these tools to see what kinds of shapes and fonts are available or even to provide your logo designer with ideas. 

Healthcare company logo examples

Sometimes, when you’re struggling to design a healthcare logo, the best way to get some inspiration is to look at existing options in your market. Here are some great healthcare company logo examples worth checking out when you’re building your own design. 

CVS Health

The CVS Health logo is simple but effective. The bold font used in the “CVS” portion of the logo helps to highlight the stability and strength of the brand. The accompanying serif font conveys ideas of professionalism and sophistication. 

The color red, combined with the heart-shaped icon, connects the brand with ideas like passion and vitality. 

Elevance health

Like many popular healthcare companies, the Elevance health brand uses blue to convey trustworthiness and credibility. This company’s straightforward logo highlights the name of the brand in an easy-to-read sans-serif font. 

The arrow shape above the “l” in Elevance reminds us of forward progression and upward movement. 

Johnson & Johnson

The Johnson & Johnson logo sets itself apart from its competitors with a highly decorative logo featuring an almost handwritten style of font. The elegant typeface demonstrates the compassion and human nature of the company, giving it a sense of feeling. 

The color red conveys passion and love, something many people look for in a healthcare brand. 

Mastering medical logo design

Learning how to design a healthcare company logo that resonates with your target audience is complex. 

There are several factors to consider, from positioning to color, fonts, and even iconography. If you don’t have any experience with logo design, it’s easy to make a mistake and choose a logo that’s too generic, or not engaging enough. 

The best way to ensure you’re designing a logo to help your business thrive is to work with a professional from day one. Choosing a logo design agency with experience in the healthcare sector ensures you can tap into the expertise and creativity of a highly reputable organization. 

With a little help, you’ll be able to design a logo that not only differentiates your brand but helps you capture the hearts and minds of your intended audience.

Fabrik: A branding agency for our times.

Now read these: 
—Your guide to starting a healthcare business 
—The essential guide to healthcare marketing 
—Top healthcare company naming strategies 
—Examining the role of branding in healthcare 
—The ultimate list of healthcare company logos 
—Developing a healthcare marketing strategy