The cost of health is often a mystery and undefined. We are willing to pay anything it takes to make us healthy and cared for. I recently worked with a new initiative that provides real costs on health care, allowing the public to gain access to average, broken down costs and detailed steps of procedures in specific health treatments and care. Anything from knee surgery, back pain treatments, birthing a child, x-rays—you're able to better understand what will be involved in the care and cost.

I worked with Minneapolis-based agency, Modern Climate, on creating a logo and brand for this new initiative. Named Guroo, it was released by The Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), who has one of the largest database collections of health care costs available. Their goal is to provide clear and honest answers to consumers, researchers and policymakers. Being a consumer-facing site, we wanted Guroo to be accessible, approachable, reliable and clear. 

There were an number of approaches that were initially explored. Staying away from anything too medical, as it was more of a cost analysis resource, and not associated with any health care providers. It was to have a friendly and approachable appearance, leaving you at ease in what might be a critical or stressful time of your life. I'll briefly go through and show some initial logo explorations below.

Some first thoughts were to give Guroo website its own mascot. Something to help guide you through the steps, someone to portray comfort and a personalized connection, while at the same time, a wealth of knowledge and understanding. He would serve as the "guru” of Guroo.

The eye is such an iconic symbol for discovery, clarity, perception and awareness. Since the public was gaining access to so much that has been unknown, the eye creates a sense of understanding and knowledge.

A crown as a symbol is a source of power and authority. Guroo is the first of its kind to be created—it was the leader, the protector. It allows one to rise above health care costs, to have more of an opinion and option. 

A cloud is familiar, approachable—an everyday object. As a symbol, it can provide information in a lighthearted and approachable way—giving you a reason to look up and be hopeful. The cloud, also a symbol in more common language, portrays digital storage of data and information.

The more ways we wanted a type of mascot, the more we kept wanting to create a character to serve as this guide. Less human, more abstract, yet friendly—perhaps such as, an animal. The owl—wise, and serves as a symbol of knowledge. An owl helps guide in exploring the unknown. 

Taking a step back from the idea of a mascot or an actual character, I began to explore different ways to still create a friendly and personable experience. Between many more explorations, it ended up being as simple as adding a curve beneath some custom letterforms. A simple smile creates a hint at a face, one that can be trusted, is knowledgeable and makes you feel at ease. 

Modern Climate created the fun and easy to use website. Check it out at Guroo.com

Click here for a bunch of other logo design work I have done.