Branding Ayushman Bharat HWCs: a perfect blend of unity in diversity

Lopez Design, the firm behind the branding exercise, created a common foundation each centre, with a dynamic visual system and adaptable graphics to respond to every community's comfort zone

Any branding exercise that spans India, especially if it is a government project, is a challenge. If it is about creating a brand identity for 150,000 Health and Wellness Centres spread across the country, it’s an even bigger challenge. One symbol cannot fit all, even when the message is the same. However after successfully branding the Bihar Museum, Delhi-based studio Lopez Design was commissioned by Unicef on behalf of the Government of India, to carry out a similar exercise for the Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Lopez Design’s brief was to come out with an identity that would embrace India’s diversity for Ayushman Bharat. The approach reflects the mission of the Ayushman Bharat programme, which advocates “a powerful, people-centric and humanistic initiative at the grassroots level. 'Living long and living well' was the central message, so the team at Lopez Design led by Principal designer and founder, Anthony Lopez, created a design that gave each centre a common foundation with a dynamic visual system and adaptable graphics to respond to every community’s comfort zone. 

A Health and Wellness Centre in Rajasthan

“The solution for Ayushman Bharat’s HWC is a dream achievement -- a simple, beautiful answer for an ostensibly complex problem, stemming from the thought: We can be different yet be bound together by a common thread,“ says Lopez

Each Ayushman Bharat HWC can be tailored to a specific to each region. The design firm proposed that each regional centre should have patterns drawn from its arts and crafts tradition, while the scheme across India is bound by a common template of a circle and square. There is a system that allows freedom within rules. This allows people to participate and take ownership of their health centres. 

The modular system allows the patterns and illustrations to wrap around the doors and windows of the centres. 

The design takes shape with illustrations that evolve from local arts and crafts, and which respond to regional influences and patterns, in order to represent the region the HWC is situated in. 

The illustrations were designed with the aim of reaching out to the grassroots level and ensuring the message is direct, without any language barrier.

The Health and Wellness Centre in Daudnagar, Aurangabad (Maharashtra)

 

For the people and by the people 

“Making health centres less intimidating by getting them to be a part of the local culture conveys a fair deal of respect for the diversity in indigenous cultures. When 150,000 health centres are set up across the country, each will have its own unique character. These will also nurture the crafts and provide income to the local craftsman,” Says a satisfied Lopez.