Designer: Sueann Hoppock

As IT director for Hawaii Emergency Physicians Associated, Inc. (HEPA)—the oldest and largest ER physicians group in Hawaii—Michele M. Miller admits, “I am not a graphic designer, and this logo is in definite need of a professional designer.” She dislikes “everything! Our logo is so bad, when I did the website, I decided not to put it on. As if that wasn’t enough, the lines through the text are horrible on faxes and other media when the logo needs to be different sizes … especially smaller.”

DG designer (and logo doctor) Sueann Hoppock performed successful redesign surgery on HEPA’s identity. “The original logo,” says Hoppock, “looks very dated, and it doesn’t reflect the nature of the business. It’s very generic and looks like it could be used for any type of business.” She ran into the same problem with one of her early explorations incorporating a hibiscus flower. Miller wanted the redesign to have a regional feel, but as Hoppock notes, “while having the flower in the design looks nice, it didn’t really get across what the business was all about and could really be applied to any business in the region.”

To distinguish the business from others in the area and provide it with the professional and contemporary look Miller seeks—along with the ability to increase recognition for HEPA—the new logo prominently features an easily recognizable medical cross symbol. The striking red-and-black two-color palette will be easy to reproduce and will visually capture existing and potential customers’ attention.

“The font Futura Extra Bold matches the thickness of the cross and creates a clean line that can easily be sized smaller or larger and still retain its readability,” explains Hoppock. “Using uppercase letters, instead of lowercase as in the original, gives the logo a more professional look. The subtext beneath the letters spells out the entire name in a complementary font, Futura Condensed Bold, and balances the heavier letters above.”

Hoppock also suggests HEPA use “a bright white paper for the identity system. This portrays a clean, professional look and makes the black and red of the logo really pop.”

1. Original logo
Michele M. Miller, IT director for Hawaii Emergency Physicians Associated, pulls no punches. She says the group’s current logo “does absolutely nothing good for our image whatsoever. It’s unprofessional and just plain ugly.”

2. Redesign
Designer Sueann Hoppock incorporated the medical cross symbol into the H and E in HEPA to convey its business nature—emergency medicine.

3. Early options
Variations using the medical cross were considered as was a hibiscus flower. Hoppock, however, felt the flower logo could be applied to any island business.

4. Fonts
The bold, contemporary Futura font family provides a clean and modern look. The original logo used Bauhaus 93 as well as Trajan.

5. Color
Eye-catching red reinforces the emergency medical aspect of HEPA’s business.

6. Identity materials
Hoppock suggests that HEPA use a bright white paper for the identity system. This portrays a clean, professional look and will make the black and red of the logo really pop. Hoppock used small medical crosses on the letterhead, envelope and business card to separate the address and phone information. It not only ties in with the logo and reinforces the medical theme, but it also adds a nice dab of color to help organize the information. The red flap on the envelope also adds an extra splash of color that will stand out in a stack of mail. To ensure legibility on faxes and to save ink, unnecessary color and graphics were omitted from the letterhead.