Our visual direction is rooted in our core DNA as a company, drawing on historical strengths and refining our brand to match what we do today. This new branding articulates Intrepid Ascent’s value to the clients and stakeholders we serve: We help communities collaborate to improve health.
This launch caps a multi-year evolution for us as we approach our 10-year anniversary. We originally focused on advancing health information exchange, describing ourselves as a health IT consulting company. Since then we have made two major changes:
- We broadened from having a health care client profile to assisting diverse community partners in the delivery of whole person care services.
- We deepened our methods for promoting change from data sharing and technology design to orchestrating collaboration across sectors.
These two shifts squarely put our focus on community collaboration, even as our expertise in health care and data exchange remain core foundations.
Today, we support our clients with a collaborative ecosystem approach that intersects policy, technology, and change management for lasting progress. Since 2013, we’ve worked with more than 75 leading organizations building scalable approaches to healthy communities. In the first half of 2023, our engagements fostered connections between more than 500 partners, reaching 7 million or more people.
Our suite of new artwork illustrates the connective process of co-creation we cultivate in this collaborative ecosystem. Distinct abstract shapes interact with each other in emerging patterns throughout our website, symbolizing the unique interplay between our clients, their stakeholders, and the Intrepid Ascent team. These illustrations were created by Elaine Chen and refined by art director Joanne Lam of Uncommon Bold.
The colors are an evolution of our past palette, stretched further and inspired by a reddish hue called cochineal. The insect that produces this pigment is native to Mexico and knowledge about cochineal cultivation developed in communities for centuries. This color pays homage to our community-centered process as imagined by designer Sarah Stern.
The team at Uncommon Bold considered our unique brand personality in every detail, including the typography. Sarah chose Alegreya Sans and Trebuchet MS as the two new typefaces. These fonts are built off a calligraphic skeleton that looks and feels closer to the human hand. Alegreya is one of the least used Google Fonts on the internet, but one of the most well-crafted. These type choices reflect Intrepid Ascent’s unique people-focused sensibility.
Although we no longer foreground mountain imagery, the upward trend at the core of this metaphor remains in our new typemark logo. The positive impact we make with our clients is symbolized by an upward trendline in cochineal red.
The storytelling and imagery behind the visual brand reflects a rigorous evaluation and creation process that unfolded over several months. I am grateful to the team at Uncommon Bold including CEO Emily F. Peters, project manager Amber Cooley, media relations lead Ashley Greer, and brand strategy lead Aine Cryts, and to my colleague Tajalli Love who led this effort for Intrepid Ascent..
I hope that this aesthetic direction resonates with your experience of working with us, both now and looking ahead! Please be on the lookout for more engaging material as we inhabit this new digital look and feel.