Chinese medicine centres are rare in Bucharest. My client needed branding for his new studio where he does various forms of therapy such as gua sha, cupping, acupuncture etc. I was very fascinated when I talked to him about these practices and I even started myself acupuncture to experience it. An unique thing about his therapy is that everytime we see each other he evaluates my health state by looking at my tongue (which has the map of human body’s organs) and takes my pulse.
To start the visual identity we had to put together some elementary aspects based on the needs of his business. The brand archetype we discovered is the ‘caregiver’. The best association to the brand is Yin (the passive female principle of the universe, associated with earth, dark, and cold) and yang (the active male principle of the universe, associated with heaven, heat, and light) - which are the changing factors in cosmology, with qi as the vital force or energy of life. I’ve also came across with five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Why not visually incorporate all of these in one logo?
The first step after creating the brand strategy was to set up a moodboard.
One of the parts I love the most is creating logo variations where I can come up with lots of ideas and sketch them on paper - then transfer them on iPad to make them a bit better. After making many of them I do a selection to present to the client - the ones that I consider the best choices to put together.
After choosing the symbol which contains all of the five elements but also a hidden smiling face I've looked for the perfect font to combine with the slogan and the Chinese writing that the client required as part of the logo. Believe me when I say that this is the most complex logo I've worked on but it makes sense when you compare with other Chinese symbols / logos.
There were a few guidelines that I've followed to create the brandbook and some mockups that helped the client to envision the future of his brand.
