Medable 3.0
Branding
2023
Introduction
What
Created a flexible motif system that communicated Medable’s core themes: Decentralization, Patient-Centered, Connection, and Scalability, giving the brand a modern and adaptable visual toolkit.
Who
Built for Medable, a leader in Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs), in collaboration with the Creative Director, senior designers, brand, and marketing teams.
Why
Medable’s existing identity was too rigid, clinical, and outdated. It failed to represent the company’s innovation or support storytelling. The motif system brought abstraction, flexibility, and meaning—positioning Medable as a forward-thinking health tech innovator.
Responsibilities
Context & Challenges
Background
Medable is an industry leader in DCTs, expanding access to therapies worldwide. Despite its mission, the brand visuals felt sterile, overly clinical, and failed to communicate its role as a category-creating tech company.
Goal
Create a motif system that could scale across touchpoints
Align visuals with Medable’s core values and mission
Enable storytelling that balanced abstraction with accessibility
Problem
Existing system lacked flexibility across platforms
Perception was outdated and didn’t reflect Medable’s innovation
No visual toolkit to reinforce complex brand themes in a simple, engaging way
Discovery & Research
Approach
Conducted a brand audit across print, digital, and internal materials
Facilitated brainstorming sessions and word dumps to capture values
Competitor audit to study how peer companies communicated complexity
Insights
Visual identity needed to feel approachable and innovative
Abstraction could simplify complexity without being literal
Motion potential was essential for long-term brand scalability
Inspiration
Peer brands in health tech and enterprise SaaS with abstract motif systems
Design references emphasizing minimalism, geometry, and motion-first principles
Define
Objective
Translate Medable’s values (Decentralization, Connection, Scalability, Patient-Centered Design) into abstract motifs that could adapt across mediums and contexts.
Success Criteria
Flexible across print, digital, and motion
Abstract but purposeful, avoiding literal or overly clinical visuals
Support storytelling without distracting from content
Approach
Focused on geometric fundamentals (line, circle, square, triangle) to create a scalable visual language designed with motion in mind.
Design Exploration
Concepts
Freehand sketches to generate instinctive visual ideas
Moodboards to refine directions and capture aesthetic themes
Iterative concepts balancing minimalism with storytelling depth
Sketches & Iterations
Explored stroke weights, density, and repetition
Tested motifs in ads, eBooks, and digital layouts
Revisited design constraints during each iteration
What Emerged
Motifs that conveyed depth without clutter
Abstract forms that adapted seamlessly across formats
A system that could evolve into motion assets for dynamic storytelling
Key Decisions
Design Tradeoffs
Chose abstraction over literal visuals to maintain flexibility
Balanced motif density to avoid clutter while retaining impact
Pivot Moments
Simplified motifs after testing revealed overly detailed versions diluted meaning
Refined directional shapes (like arrows) to avoid UI confusion
Why It Mattered
By prioritizing abstraction, we gave Medable a versatile storytelling tool. The motifs became a flexible asset applied across channels, reinforcing the brand’s values while positioning Medable as an innovator.
Design Solution
Overview
Delivered a motif system built from geometric shapes, representing Medable’s themes of Connection, Decentralization, Scalability, and Patient-Centered Design. The system balanced structure with interpretation, creating space for meaning to emerge through context.
Screens / Components
Vector-based motifs adaptable for any format
Grids and compositions tested across ads, reports, and web
Color-agnostic designs ready for future campaigns
System & Visuals
Grounded in geometric simplicity for consistency
Designed with motion potential for scalability
Applied across the brand ecosystem to unify identity and messaging
Outcome & Results
Impact
Adopted across Medable’s marketing ecosystem—ads, eBooks, white papers, and web
Reinforced Medable’s role as a category-creating health tech brand
Provided internal teams with a flexible toolkit to communicate complexity
Feedback
Positive reactions from stakeholders across Creative, Brand, and Marketing
Internal consensus that the motif system better reflected Medable’s evolving identity
Unexpected Wins
Motifs reduced production overhead by creating reusable assets
Simplified complex topics for broader audiences through abstraction
Reflections
What I Learned
How to distill brand values into a functional visual system
The importance of testing across real-world contexts
Collaboration across teams builds stronger alignment and adoption
What I’d Improve
Establish success metrics earlier to measure brand perception impact
Conduct broader user testing beyond internal teams
Prototype motion concepts earlier in the design process
Next Steps / Evolution
Expand motif use into animated assets for richer storytelling
Apply the system to product interfaces for continuity
Evolve guidelines to ensure long-term scalability and consistency