A brand that finally matched the organization's ambition

The Arthritis Society is a national health charity, fueled by donors and volunteers, with a vision to live in a world where people can be free from the devastating effects that arthritis can have on lives.

After going unchanged for many years and being perceived as old-fashioned, The Arthritis Society's brand was due for an overhaul. No part of the organization was left untouched by this initiative, and my company was retained to bring the new brand to life online.

A key aspect of the re-brand, the website redesign process was a key way to prototype concepts for brand expression. Working closely with the client and the brand agency, we helped bring the ideas behind the brand work to life. Once the pro-bono branding work was completed, my team refined standards for photography, accessible colours, web typography, and illustration. The new tone of voice — authoritative yet approachable, like a knowledgeable friend — was most evident in Flourish, a new blog of lifestyle content for people with arthritis that marked a significant departure from the previous brand's clinical register.

As the first expression of the new Arthritis Society brand, my agency and I contributed directly to the evolving standards while re-imagining its online properties.

Comprehensive digital brand and component guidelines were created to promote the reuse and uniformity of elements and patterns throughout the website. As a complete re-imagining of The Arthritis Society's online presence, the website required new information architecture and content strategies. The symptom checker was one of the key deliverables — an earlier version existed but was confusing and difficult to use. We rebuilt it from the ground up as a clear, step-by-step guided experience.

The first step in a multi-year transformation, the new Arthritis Society website garnered rave reviews from staff and chapters across Canada.