The HOW (Help Our Wounded) Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities through advocating for, and providing access to, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Over the years, the foundation had grown significantly, reaching a point where a cohesive brand language was required. The aim of this project was to revitalize the HOW Foundation's brand through a complete redesign, the end product being a comprehensive set of brand guidelines to be applied across all channels.
The How Foundation is passing through a transformative period with a change in leadership. Founded in 2014, the foundation has evolved from a primary focus on veterans to branching out into treatment for student athletes and equestrians. Their brand needs to resonate with a variety of audiences as they engage with donors, physicians, and the patients and families they serve. How might we create more awareness and recognition among the original core users while at the same time reaching a broader audience?
Our goal was to solidify the HOW Foundation brand by developing a visual language that could appeal to the clinical audience with a modern and clean expression, while at the same time retaining the warmth of human connection to continue to engage those seeking HBOT as a treatment for themselves or a loved one.
Following our initial research of HBOT and the HOW Foundation, we began our design process with a discovery exercise to help us define the key pillars of the HOW Foundation's identity. Gathering images from a variety of categories, including packaging, people, architecture, abstract and more, we arranged these images within a large grid using a ranking system to explore their relevance to the brand. Those that ranked the highest were pulled and used in a word-mapping exercise, allowing us to examine why we felt they spoke so strongly to the brand. From this process, we extracted the three key characteristics/pillars of the brand: community-centric, state-of-the-art, and restorative.
Using these three adjectives as a guide, we landed on three concept directions—"mild," "medium" and "spicy" in expressiveness— which we represented using stylescapes (see above). During review with the client, the medium concept, "Boundless Renewal," was selected as our reference as we moved into the ideation phase.
To restore wholeness to an individual is to renew a life, reinvigorate a family, and revitalize a community. The ripple effect offered by treatment with HBOT is immeasurable.
The concept for the HOW Foundation brand identity leans into the “boundless renewal” that HBOT offers, vibrantly celebrating the return to good health and the coming together of community.
Residing in the sweet spot between clinical and casual, the visual expression of the brand is about balancing color, negative space, and sharp and soft contours to create an aesthetic that plays well in clinician presentations and client-facing brochures alike.
In its photography, it embraces the candid moments—those created when we truly see each other. Imagery is unfiltered and minimally edited, retaining the warmth and authenticity of the moment.
The color palette is cautiously colorful, offering a primary palette of neutral "hospital-friendly" colors and a secondary palette poised to pop on demand. Color and layering are employed to create patterns of varying boldness depending upon the desired application.
The HOW Foundation brandmark is based on the circle, a symbol for balance, continuity, life and wholeness. Referencing the short form for oxygen, the number 2 is contained within the lower right-hand quadrant of the letter ‘o’ as negative space—alluding to the invisible magic of oxygen, which is ever-present, but never seen.
