Kaiser Permanente is the name of the USA consortium, dedicated to healthcare. The company, established in the 1940s, today operates across the country through almost 800 offices and hospitals. It is one of the biggest non-profit healthcare organization in North America with yearly revenue of about $80 billion.
The American Consortium visual identity has been pretty consistent from the beginning of the 1990s. The emblem, designed in 1991 was redrawn only seven years later, keeping the style of the previous one, and still stays with the company.
The Kaiser Permanente logo from 1991 was composed of a modern and strong sans-serif inscription, where all the capital letters featured bold and sleek lines and softened angles. Above the wordmark, the emblem was placed, drawn in monochrome.
The emblem depicted a stylized silhouette of a man with his hands spread up. It was a white contour placed on the background, consisting of several black and white lines, forming a large and bold letter “K” for “Kaiser”.
The emblem had its left part, with the vertical bar of “K”, straight and geometric, while the right part is arched and smooth. This balance made the whole logo look unique and memorable.
The redesign of 1998 brought a new emblem to the company. Though the monochrome color palette and the striped concept remained untouched, the letter “K” was replaced by a stylized picture of three people emerging from a white sun. The count outs of the new emblem were also smooth and arched, while the rays of the sun — sharp and confident.
As for the wordmark, it was slightly modified and gained a thin delicate shadow, which added volume and dynamics to the Kaiser Permanente visual identity.
In 1999 the logo was redesigned again. The emblem remained untouched, but the wordmark and color palette was changed significantly. The black and white color combination is now replaced by a calm blue on white, the palette, symbolizing reliability and professionalism, along with safety and loyalty. A perfect choice for a healthcare service provider.
The typeface of the wordmark now is simplified, yet it doesn’t make it boring. The straight and clean sans-serif font look confident and professional, evoking a sense of expertise and authority.
The visual identity of Kaiser Permanente is minimalist yet very meaningful. It symbolizes unity and care, showing the willingness of the Consortium to provide people across America with the best medical services, in order to make their life happier and longer.
White and blue conjure up the images of water, sky and clouds and help to create a relaxed and peaceful mood. Blue is considered the symbol of loyalty, trust, infinity.
The type featured on the Kaiser Permanente logo is a customized one so you probably won’t find an identical font. And yet, the Kohinoor Latin Medium font released by Indian Type Foundry looks very close to it. There’re quite a few details that are different, but it does capture the style of the logo. What makes the logo unique is the way some of the letters merge: the “K” and “A,” the “E” and “R,” the “E,” “N,” and “T.” Possibly, these elements could symbolize such values as support, help, community work, etc. It seems to fit the symbolism of the pictorial part of the logo pretty well.