New Physioworks Logo by Right Angle
We were recently asked to design a new logo, stationery range and website by a physiotherapist based in a multidisciplinary clinic, in Barnet, North London. She had, for the past 8 years, been trading under the umbrella of the clinic, and wanted to establish her own identity.
Our client specialises in a wide range of musculoskeletal, sports injuries and work-related conditions, and often uses Pilates as part of her therapy. When we saw her current business card we weren’t overly surprised to see that it was a rendition of Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man.
Original Logo Design
Our research showed us that among the most common solutions to the ‘physio conundrum’ (try saying that after a few beers), along with the Vitruvian Man, were spinal columns in abundance, androgynous sporting figures galore, various hands and massage symbols and many, glowing aching backs.
Firstly, we tackled the ‘name generation’ and came up with lots of alternatives before settling on ‘Physioworks’. The word ‘physio’, was considered to be more friendly and informal than Physiotherapy and ‘works’, had the dual connotations of being a hive of industry as well as stating that – physiotherapy actually does work…
Next, onto the logo itself. Again, many options were scamped and considered. Here, we’ve shown a few of our early design sketches. The final solution originated, as is so often the case, in an after-hours brainstorming session down the pub. After a few beers, the Pilates exercise ball was mentioned as we were scamping the word physio and suddenly, in the warm glow of a few real ales, the ‘O’ of Physio transformed into a pilates exercise ball (or was it just double vision?). One more beer and the suggestion that a concentric crescent moon surrounding it was actually the increasingly more supple, back of a very satisfied patient, (we were now waxing lyrical…) the dot of the ‘i’, then drifted slightly off course and now sat directly above the reclining figure to form the head (of our new besssst maaate)…
Design Development
Next morning, with slightly thick heads, there were some definitive given’s shouting (a little too loudly) from the design scamps. The typeface should definitely have a circular ‘o’. It should all be lower case as the ‘p’ and the ‘y’, would look balanced below the ‘x’ height and the ascender of the ‘h’, would then balance well with the head of the figure.
‘Works’, slotted effortlessly into the space created by the descender of the ‘y’, we made the ‘s’, centre below the ‘o’ of ‘physio’, and with the head of the figure, while the ‘r’, centred directly below the ‘i’, of physio. In the final version, we adjusted the angle of the ‘y’ and ends of the ‘s’ to match the angle of the ‘w’, thus making the new logo more unique & distinctive.
When deciding on colours, we referred back to a discussion which had taken place at the original design briefing meeting. Our client had mentioned that she loved tennis and went to Wimbledon whenever she could get tickets. We applied the famous green and purple colourways and then adjusted the tonal values to work for her specific needs. As soon as she saw the connection she was sold and the logo design concept and colours were set…
While we’re working on developing the new website and stationery range, we’ve uploaded this temporary website landing page at physioworks.co
When the website and stationery designs are complete, we’ll upload them to the ‘WHATS NEW’ section at rightanglecreative.co.uk so you can see how they turned out.
If we get stuck, we’ll just have to head back to our favourite quiet corner of the local pub to loosen up those creative juices again… It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it! ?
