The Challenge
The Young Midwife Leaders (YML) Programme, a prestigious initiative by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM),is a two-year professional development experience designed to empower early-career and executive midwives worldwide. The program's goals are deeply political and deeply human: nurturing the next generation of global health advocates, strengthening Midwives’ Associations globally, and equipping young leaders to fight for gender equality, human rights, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The design challenge was to move away from clinical, sterile healthcare tropes. The YML program needed a distinctive, bold identity that felt youthful, activist-driven, and authoritative. The branding had to command immediate respect in high-level global policy forums while remaining inspiring and accessible to grassroots healthcare workers under 35.
Our Approach and Solution
We approached this project with a heavy emphasis on custom typography and intentional visual metaphors, constructing a comprehensive design framework that represents growth, global community, and political advocacy.
Designing a Multi-Layered Emblem
Logo Design and SymbologyWe engineered a custom logo that seamlessly interweaves the ideas of generational nurture, life, and forward movement. By abstracting human-centric shapes alongside global network lines, the mark stands as a beacon of unity and systemic strength for midwives crossing borders to solve global health challenges.
Establishing a Striking Typographic Voice
Typography SelectionTypography was the core anchor of this project. We paired a bold, confident, and highly legible sans-serif display typeface for titles symbolizing political conviction and advocacy, with a clean, warm, and highly readable secondary font for programmatic materials. This choice ensures that complex policy briefs, research papers, and digital campaign headlines command immediate authority.
Creating an Action-Oriented Palette
Visual Brand SystemWe moved past standard clinical blues and purples, establishing a vibrant brand colour system built around warmth, vitality, and human rights advocacy. The resulting visual brand guidelines dictate a harmonious, energetic ecosystem that translates perfectly onto certificates, global research templates, digital presentation decks, and social media toolkits.
The Outcome
The final branding transforms the YML Programme from an internal organization project into a highly recognizable, authoritative global movement. Armed with an assertive logo, an empowered typographic voice, and a cohesive visual identity, the program now possesses a brand footprint that matches its massive real-world impact instantly validating the credibility of these young leaders as they take their rightful places at international policymaking tables.
Project gallery.
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Women in Global Health Zambia
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