Rebranding SAI Med Partners
Evolving a brand goes beyond redesigning a logo — it’s about creating a visual identity system that’s scalable, consistent, and trusted. My goal for SAI was to create a flexible branding identity that would grow with them.
Project: Create a new brand identity for SAI
My Role: Art direction, branding, graphic design
Timeline: 4 months
Company: SAI Med Partners
Challenge
The SAI Med Partners brand was facing a number of deep-rooted identity challenges. The existing logo was outdated and failed to reflect the company’s growth, innovation, and expertise. Beyond the logo, there was a complete lack of brand consistency — no defined color palette, inconsistent typography, and mismatched iconography. Overall, SAI suffered from a fragmented visual language across all touchpoints.
Compounding the issue was the incoherent integration of several acquired brands. Each acquisition brought its own look, feel, and tone without a unified system. The result was a confusing, disjointed brand presence. This lack of cohesion diluted SAI’s credibility and made it difficult for both internal teams and external audiences to understand who SAI is and what they stand for.
It was clear that SAI needed a strategic, foundational rebrand to unify its identity and modernize its visual presence.
Logo Design
Broad exploration and refinement: I started with lenient guidelines, giving me the freedom to explore multiple design paths through “low fidelity” sketches. I tested broad themes representing different aspects of the brand — chemistry, biology, global, healthcare, data / analysis, global, navigation, knowledge, helping distill concepts that would resonate.
Collaborative ideation: Engaging stakeholders at every stage kept me aligned on objectives. Rather than presenting a final design without input, I worked alongside senior leadership to ensure the project stayed focused and that feedback was effectively incorporated.
Virtual workshops: Key workshops I hosted over Microsoft Teams allowed us to define and align on the final direction. These sessions gave me insights into how to best visually represent SAI’s vision.
Design finalization and logo design system: With all necessary feedback in hand, I created the final logo — logomark and wordmark and created the divisional logos for SAI’s acquisitions using the logo design system. Using a formulaic approach to logo design allows an intrinsic continuity between SAI and it’s acquired divisions.
Color Palette
CEO alignment: Before diving into color selection, I met with the CEO to better understand the brand’s visual history. He emphasized that blue had long been the anchor color for SAI, and maintaining that visual connection was essential. In short: SAI is a blue brand, and that legacy needed to be preserved.
Reimagining blue: I began by auditing previous brand palettes, where a muted navy often dominated and dulled the overall aesthetic. To refresh the brand while honoring its roots, I introduced a more vibrant navy as the new SAI Blue. I then expanded the range with complementary blue tones to create a richer and more dynamic foundation.
Collaborative color exploration: With the core blues established, I hosted a virtual workshop via Microsoft Teams to gather feedback and align on a direction for supporting colors. I advocated for a broad, purposeful palette to support data visualization and content hierarchy — while still clearly defining primary and secondary roles. The leadership team was aligned with this strategy and expressed a strong preference for including green as a key supporting color.
Final palette: Taking all input into account, I finalized the palette with green and coral as the primary supporting colors and orange and mint as secondary accents. The result is a flexible, modern palette that maintains brand heritage while enabling clear communication and visual storytelling.
Typography
Defining the typographic style: Before exploring specific typefaces, I needed to determine the overall style that would best represent the brand. I wanted for a sans-serif typeface that felt modern, clean, and highly legible — qualities essential for a brand focused on clarity and expertise.
Selecting font families: To maintain goodwill with leadership from the recently acquired Fulcrum division, I prioritized finding a typeface that echoed the style of their familiar corporate font, Gotham. I selected Montserrat for its similar geometric structure and contemporary feel. However, because Montserrat’s letterforms are relatively wide, I introduced a Nunito for body copy. Nunito offered excellent legibility and a slightly more condensed character width, making it ideal for longer text.
Montserrat
Nunito
Establishing type hierarchy: With the font families in place, I developed a clear system for how and when each typeface would be used. I created detailed guidelines covering font usage, sizing, leading, tracking, and kerning to ensure consistency across all brand communications. This structure helped establish a professional, polished typographic voice for the new SAI brand.
Visual Elements
To enable both creativity and brand consistency across designs and layouts, I developed a unified system of visual assets—including iconography, patterns, graphic vessels, and a defined photography style.
Iconography: SAI’s iconography embodies the brand’s character through a simple, modern style designed for clarity and ease of communication.
Patterns: Our expressive patterns highlight the dynamic, insightful nature of SAI’s work, drawing inspiration from the two core elements of the logo—the arrow and the star.
Shapes: Graphic shapes serve as versatile tools to create unique layouts, emphasize key information, and strengthen brand identity. They can be integrated with photography, layered for visual depth, or used as background elements to add texture and interest.
Photography: Photography plays a vital role in bringing the SAI brand to life. I established three distinct photography categories to reflect the full spectrum of the brand: authentic and candid moments, industry-specific imagery, and scenic accent photography.
Solution Summary
To modernize and unify the SAI Med Partners brand, I created a comprehensive visual identity system built on strategy, exploration, and collaboration.
Starting with the logo, I conducted broad conceptual explorations through low-fidelity sketches, testing a range of themes tied to SAI’s core industries and strengths. Through collaborative ideation and virtual workshops with senior leadership, we aligned on a final design that authentically captured the brand’s vision. I then expanded the system to create divisional logos, ensuring consistency and continuity across all acquisitions.
Building on this foundation, I refreshed SAI’s signature blue and expanded it into a vibrant, flexible color palette to better support data visualization and hierarchy. For typography, I paired Montserrat and Nunito to balance boldness with readability. I also developed a complete set of visual elements—modern iconography, expressive patterns, dynamic graphic vessels, and a structured photography style across three distinct categories.
Together, these updates delivered a flexible, future-ready brand system that honored SAI’s legacy while positioning the company for continued growth, clarity, and connection.
Becca Humann 