reproductive health logo

The core of reproductive health logo design has never been about visual impact, but "de-stigmatization first, audience adaptation as the core, and professional attributes as the bottom line." This is the principle that I have worked on for 6 years in the design of public health promotional materials, and it took me a dozen times to figure it out.

It's interesting to say that I always thought that "weakening the sense of medical care" was politically correct in this type of design. It wasn't until I came into contact with the needs of the Reproductive Medicine Department of a tertiary hospital that I discovered that it was not the case at all - audiences in different scenarios have fundamentally different definitions of "security." If you put your whole soft cartoon tree of life on the front desk and registration page of a tertiary hospital, the patient's first reaction will most likely be "Is this department outsourced by Putian?" 」, instead use low-saturated tones of light blue and silver gray, combined with simplified double helices or cell outlines, to give people a sufficient sense of professional trust. A private reproductive institution had encountered this pitfall before. It initially made a cute pink cartoon baby logo, but the number of consultations in the three months since it opened was only a fraction of that of the public hospital next door. After changing it back to a simple cross + shield variant, the trust immediately increased.

But when it comes to publicity, this logic doesn’t work at all. Last year, I helped the community create a promotional logo for reproductive health screening for middle-aged and elderly people. The first draft was a very well-designed abstract tree of life. The director of the neighborhood committee looked at it and shook his head: "Girl, you are too fashionable. Last week we distributed cancer screening foldouts, and some elderly people thought they were for sale of cemetery plots and threw them away. You have to let the uncles and aunts see at a glance that this is a serious health promotion and not a waste of money." 」Later, we changed the main color to the familiar healthy green, added a simplified stethoscope outline, and added a small sun in the corner. After printing it on the folding pages and non-woven bags, 30% more elderly people were willing to take it. Some people used the bag to consult about prostate screening and menopausal health care.

There have been two factions in the design circle arguing about the idea of ​​this type of logo, and there is no standard answer. 「The "straightforward" group believes that reproductive health should not be hidden in the first place, and it is necessary to use the most direct gender symbols and protective elements to break the stigma. A Dutch public welfare education organization used a very straightforward variation of gender symbols as its logo. It is highly accepted in the local area and the dissemination effect of popular science materials is also very good. However, the "softers" feel that the stigma against reproductive health in China has not been completely eliminated at this stage, and elements that are too direct will push away those who need it. Previously, a college sex education club wanted to add condom elements to its logo. It was honest enough, but it was used for testing on junior high school students. Half of the children ran away covering their eyes after watching it. In the end, it was changed to an open small umbrella, which has the meaning of protection and will not cause embarrassment. Now it is printed on pencil cases and notebooks, and students are willing to rush to get it.

If you go through many pitfalls, you will find that there are actually more red lines in this type of logo than you think. Reproductive health cannot be acquiesced to be a female matter. Previously, an organization’s first draft only included female gender symbols. On the day it was posted, male netizens complained, “Does prostatitis and HIV protection not count as reproductive health?” 」, and later it was changed to an undifferentiated humanoid silhouette before it passed the review. There should also be no hints of inducing fertility. A previous tender draft from a local family planning association had a design that used the elements of pomegranate + three cute babies. The original intention was to express the diversity of life. However, it was scolded as "a secret poke to encourage marriage and birth" and was directly deleted.

Oh, by the way, if you are really not sure about the design direction, it is much more useful to ask a few target users for their opinions than to dig out details from international design lists. After all, a reproductive health logo is essentially the first sentence you speak to your audience. Whether this sentence is friendly and distant enough is the most important thing.