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The Geetanjali Group established and ran Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital in Udaipur for 20 years, providing high-quality, affordable healthcare to residents of Udaipur and the surrounding region. The group’s next healthcare institution, Geetanjali Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Jaipur, wants to continue their proven commitment to healthcare and medical education.

ICD was approached to design the identity, branding, and establish the signage theme for the new institute. We collaborated closely with the leaders at Geetanjali and AKFD studios, the architects of the GIMS campus in Jaipur.

thinking

GIMS Jaipur sees itself not only as a healthcare provider but an institution creating doctors, doing important research. Healthcare and research are different disciplines, to be housed here under one place.

Fundamentally, healthcare is a practice, and medical research is the creation of knowledge. Viewed from another perspective, healthcare also has a social side to it. Practically, GIMS is also a service business in a highly competitive space. It is Indian with global standards. In the physical context, Geetanjali is a new presence in Jaipur, a 350-year-old planned city, and seeks to become the healthcare destination of choice for the city.

Expressing these ideas in full measure would be too much to expect from the identity alone. However, if the identity could bring the different ideas closer, and the audience be nudged to associate it with their Geetanjali experience, it could create a potentially valuable asset.

Thus the design effort was informed, constrained, and stimulated by ideas around Geetanjali the hospital, the institution, and the business.

design

The Geetanjali logo carries multiple meanings within it. A pair of hands gestures the Gyan Mudra, a symbol of knowledge in traditional knowledge systems. The soft, calm form of the hands pictures care. The stepped structure references the Jantar Mantar, a remarkable 18th century astronomical instrument that is also a symbol of Jaipur. The form is familiar, organic, and constructed; it points to tradition, the human touch, and precision.

Untitled Sans by Klim Type Foundry is the primary typeface; its clean and stoic nature suits the logo. The Devnagri counterpart is Kohinoor by India Type Foundry. 

Geetanjali’s primary colour, Sandstone, is a homage to Jaipur’s sandstone painted architectural heritage. 

Six secondary colours are chosen, and named using Hindi prefixes and gemstone names, giving each colour additional flavor. This gives a sense of ownership to the brand custodians. The colours have been used in the interior design of the hospital zones, for uniforms, medical documents, and signage.

A simple, adjustable header style became that common and easily adaptable print feature accommodates the extensive documentation needs of a hospital, for registration, reports, and identification. A standard branding design ties them together.

Signage is a key branding application for a large, multi-zoned space of a multi-super specialty hospital. ICD acted as the signage system consultant, working closely with the signage designer. Feedback and suggestions on the use of icons, typography, and colour helped achieve a coherent system that directs movement indoors and outdoors.

The hospital needed a sub-identity for a premium section with special maternity, cardiology, private ICUs, and neurology facilities. Additionally, this section will offer elective surgeries, concierge services, appealing to the Jaipur elite and a view to eventually attract international patients.

‘Prime’ connotes an upgrade to better service, care, and privacy, chosen to differentiate this premium wing. A new colour, ‘Jamuni Purple,’ reflects the premium position of the wing. Signage and interiors extend the branding like elsewhere.

impact

The identity gave Geetanjali a symbol to abstract its message into and communicate it to the world confidently from Day 1. ‘Jaipur’s new symbol of advanced healthcare’ is how we articulated the hospital’s first announcement, on the front page of newspapers published across Rajasthan. The print ad design placed the identity front and center, setting the stage for a distinct brand asset to develop.