Helios
Show some empathy
Helios is Europe’s leading private hospital operator. As part of a major brand repositioning I lead the development of a new visual design and the creation of a digital brand playbook.
With more than 100,000 employees in more than 150 hospitals in Germany and Spain, and a unique network of healthcare services, Helios strives to seamlessly provide specialist treatment for every patient.
In 2017 Helios partnered with Edenspiekermann to manifest this offer in every aspect of service and user experience, external and internal communication. Based on deep research into the needs of today’s patients, the brand repositioning included brand core, UX concept, visual design, frontend development and tone-of-voice concept.
Today, patients expect successful medical care as given. They do not regard doctors as omniscient masters of their profession, they question diagnoses and wish to be treated as equals.
As a result, Helios as an organisation is about to change and the new Helios brand focuses on the emotional side of healthcare much more: empathetic and committed, putting the patient first and on eye-level.
While the new logo was created in-house, we defined basic visual elements, created an icon starter set, developed several layout templates and set up rules for vehicle graphics and building signage.
Digital brand playbook
In a decentralised organisation like Helios, setting equal standards for all hospitals requires one central place for information and exchange.
We integrated a digital design system and automated component library into a digital brand playbook that holds all information necessary for marketers, designers, developers and copywriters: from target group descriptions to copywriter manuals, from basic visual elements to print templates, from digital components to example pages, from laboratory stickers to building signage.
The playbook is based on regular website components. This ensured fast realisation within a limited timeframe and budget.
