Introducing the New Hartford Medical Society
We welcome Connecticut’s dynamic medical community to experience the new Hartford Medical Society. Our new logo, brand identity, and website all underscore our commitment to building the future of medicine in our state while honoring its exciting history. Currently in our second century as an organization, HMS is moving with the full force of passion and innovation toward our third century and beyond.
The Vital Connection
Vital Connection—a foundational concept and message for the Society and our new brand. Like the vital signs that indicate health and energy in the human body, so too a similar vitality flows through and connects all parts of our medical community. HMS is that vital connection, uniting past, present, and future of medicine in Connecticut.
This sentiment underscores everything we do. With our historical library, we look to the past for answers to today’s most pressing questions. We connect retired and semiretired physicians with students and new doctors, bridging generational gaps and generating new ideas. And we offer a platform, through events, lectures, and discussions, to educate those exact same retired doctors on the latest technologies, techniques, and issues facing medicine.
The “body” of the medical community in Connecticut is diverse and complex. HMS is the connection that nourishes and supports every inch of it.
About the Brand
We knew that our brand identity had to marry the modern and the classic. You’ll see that connection throughout the carefully selected style elements. The graphic portion of the logo fuses a lowercase and sans serif “h” and “m”—a modern treatment to signify the deep association between the history of Hartford and medicine. The rounded lines of the artwork imagine a graceful sweeping connection, juxtaposed with the name of the society that appears in a classic, dignified font treatment.
We also wanted to avoid the sea of blue that characterizes much of today’s medical branding. Our choice instead? A contemporary red to symbolize our point of differentiation: the passion we hold for history and for our community. At heart we are a community organization, connecting people to learn and grow together. The supporting black stands up to the passionate red, rounding out this bold, new chapter in the identity of the Hartford Medical Society.
A Striking Web Design
The striking union of past and present continues on our new website. The first glimpse is a two-tone presentation featuring images, overlaid in HMS red and black, of our historical library as well as the modern medical professionals who move our community forward.
Viewers are invited to scroll through sections about the organization, our library, events, and our community. Graphically, the homepage merges solid-color boxes with filtered images, many from our library, creating a contemporary feeling that incorporates objects from Connecticut’s medical past. We also made a point to emphasize three pithy stories from our library on the homepage, giving viewers an easy understanding of what history offers while inviting them to dive deeper into the secondary pages of the site. That is the philosophy that underlines the construction of the entire website: lead with an exciting homepage that encourages viewers to dive deeper, engage further, and begin to feel like a true part of the HMS community.
You and the New HMS
As our brand identity evolves, as we spread our message and grow our ranks, we invite you to get involved. Members: share your stories with us, write a blog, or join us in a video interview. We would love to welcome you to help with a committee or spearhead an event. Non-member healthcare professionals: become part of our community. Share with us your love of medicine and interest in growing in your profession.
The new HMS continues the story of medicine in Connecticut, one started long, long ago. Now it’s up to all of us to keep on telling it as it unfolds into the future. Let’s work on the next century together.