As outlined in a previous blog post (Global Became Iridia, But Why?), our branding journey began with a simple desire to “tweak” our logo. The familiar golden oval with the heart rhythm tracing through it had served us well, but we felt that we could do better. Much as BMW had designed a logo that was both clean and meaningful (the white triangles representing an airplane prop spinning against a sky backdrop – the blue triangles ), we felt that we could produce a logo that would also make people smile when they understood the spirit behind it.

In creating our new logo, we tried several approaches. We engaged individual logo designers to lend a hand. We tried crowdsourcing. We asked friends, employees, and anyone we felt had a creative touch to give the design a shot. All proved fruitless.

We then began to recognize the unique opportunity that lay before us. Instead of merely changing a logo, we had the chance to redefine our brand identity, and along with it, how we would be perceived in the marketplace. By thinking more holistically in this way, we were forced to step away from the logo design process and focus at a much higher level about what we were trying to accomplish. Through introspective thinking and frank discussions, we emerged with a clearer picture of what made us unique and also had a new company name to boot.

Stepping away from the logo design process was a blessing in disguise. When we returned, we were refreshed, and buoyed with optimism based on our recent success in having zeroed in on what we thought was an excellent new name in Iridia Medical. Despite this, the process was not a quick one. To us, the logo had to be well thought out, which in our world meant it had to have meaning and it had to help tell our story. Sound familiar? These were in fact the very same non-negotiables we tabled for any new name we considered.

All told, we reviewed over 300 logos throughout our rebrand journey before finally landing on the one you see below.  

But what makes this one so unique? In truth, a great many things.

Firstly, in appearance, we feel the logo has good symmetry and balance, and we quite honestly love it.

Beyond first impressions, however, when you look directly at the logo, you will note three circles with a curved line wrapping around each. The circles represent the heads of three people, and the curved lines are the shoulders and arms associated with each person. In this way, you should see three people with hands interlocked. To us, this is symbolic of stakeholder engagement which resonates very well with us as the solutions we deliver to our clients, and our overall corporate success, are directly dependent upon the collaborative involvement of a great many people. The symbolism is made all the more concrete as a core competency of our consulting division is physician engagement services.

Shifting now to the choice of colour, each of the three colours chosen was selected for its specific meaning:

   • Red represents our passion and entrepreneurial fire,
   • Blue represents our strength and tranquility, and
   • Yellow represents our caution and intellect.

We feel that the colour choice is fitting as not only do we embody each of these attributes, but we have had to rely on each individually and collectively, to realize the successes we have had to date.

It is also fitting that the red, blue, and yellow primary colours appear in the logo as the name ‘Iridia’ was derived from the element Iridium which, in turn, was named after Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow. In using the primary colours, we retain the ability to leverage additional colours in the future as we brand new service categories that come online.

Lastly, even the font itself was also subjected to its fair share of scrutiny. We ultimately settled on a modified Gotham font that was tailored to better reflect the professional nature of the services we deliver to market.

Only time will tell if smiles appear on peoples’ faces as they hear the story behind our logo, but if first impressions count for anything, we think we are well on our way.

We can only hope that one day the Iridia logo is cited in a blog post as embodying a standard for logo design the way that BMW was here.