Improving healthcare is complex work. Too often, the teams doing it are overlooked. The Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design (IHDD), part of UI Health’s Office of Population Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago, brings design into the work of improving how healthcare is researched, delivered, and experienced. Their interdisciplinary team works across healthcare, research, and social services, partnering with health systems and public agencies to address entrenched challenges in communities and across statewide systems. As their work and reach grew, they recognized their brand lacked the clarity, flexibility, and usability to match.

Span was engaged to create an identity equal to the work: one that could elevate IHDD’s presence, clarify its role, and equip its team to communicate across research, healthcare, and public engagement. Led by Span partner Nick Adam, the new identity is built as a modular system, moving fluidly from the Institute’s full name to its abbreviation and across the many contexts in which IHDD works.

A monospace logotype and bespoke icon system ensure consistency and enable agile communication. Equal weight and rounded details balance neutrality with warmth, signaling empathy without sacrificing rigor. Rounded, tab-like forms make the system approachable and distinct. In motion, they multiply and connect, reflecting the collaborative nature of IHDD’s work. Inspired by Post-it notes, the color palette nods to iteration and co-creation. Photography keeps people at the center, capturing collaboration and hands at work. Healthcare is personal, even when the challenges are systemic.

IHDD’s new identity makes a complex practice legible. Across research, healthcare, workshops, and public engagement, it gives the Institute a shared language and a stronger presence within the systems it is working to change.