New Haven Health
With a new Director of Public Health, the New Haven Health Department began a rebrand to create a more community-centered, inclusive identity focused on health equity and accessible care, grounded in the Promote, Prevent, Protect model. During the early stages of the rebrand, COVID-19 emerged, leading to involvement in citywide vaccination efforts alongside campaigns for back-to-school HPV vaccinations and lead prevention awareness.
BRANDING, WEBSITE, BRANDED MATERIAL, CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL MEDIA
The Starting Point
The original New Haven Health Department brand lacked a clear connection to its mission and offered little visual or strategic cohesion. The goal was to create a thoughtful, mission-driven identity with a consistent digital presence, positioning the department as a recognizable and trusted resource within the community.
The Direction
The direction for the New Haven Health brand focused on approachability, equity, and access. Renaming the department to New Haven Health signaled a shift toward a more community-centered identity, with visuals designed to reflect the people of the city and its commitment to health equity. Across the website and public health campaigns, the goal was to make information easy to find, easy to understand, and accessible to a diverse community. Rather than fear-based messaging, the brand prioritized clarity, trust, and empowerment—helping people make informed health decisions and connect with care.
The New Haven Health Department came to us mid-pivot: a new strategic plan, a city that needed clearer access to health services, and a pandemic just beginning to reshape how people relate to public health information. The rebrand had to do more than look good. It had to build trust.
The strategic plan called for something more approachable, so the name changed too. Say hello to NHV (New Haven) Health: a little more informal, a lot more memorable, and built to feel like a resource people actually want to turn to.
Every element in the logo was intentional. The client had a clear vision, and a viral graphic making the rounds about equity in access ended up being the spark that brought it all together visually.
The department brought the new branding into their physical spaces, and they nailed it. New furniture, fresh paint, the logo anchoring the wall. This is one of their clinic locations.
The first campaign we worked on together was the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, part of the city's broader COVID Action Plan. We leaned into the floating emoji head trend to capture the real conversations people were having, getting vaccinated so they could get their summer back.
The concept carried into paid digital ads too, this time in video. We recorded real voices from the community having real conversations, not actors, not scripts. Just people talking about their summer plans.
The same idea carried into organic social. And like everything we create for NHV Health, all of it is produced in both English and Spanish so the information actually reaches the people who need it.
The billboards kept it simple: get people to remember the URL. We created a short, memorable link that drove traffic to the department's online COVID hub.
When fall hit, the message shifted. Boosters were available, and with everyone heading back to school and spending more time indoors, we took a seasonal angle. We paired the COVID-19 booster with the flu vaccine, positioning both as a normal part of taking care of yourself this time of year.
On social, we tied it into the moments people were already thinking about: back to school checklists and fall sports season. The vaccine was just another box to check as the season started.
Same approach as before on the billboards: keep it simple, keep it memorable, get people to the URL.
Fall also brought new funding for the department's lead prevention program, covering free education, abatement services for residents, and RRP certification training for professionals. To keep the funding, they needed to hit participation numbers. We started by building a lead prevention logo that could stand on its own while still feeling like a natural extension of the NHV Health brand.
We built out a full suite of branded materials to meet people where they were, educating the community on the presence of lead in their homes and the steps they could take to protect their families.
We created another short URL, this time pointing people to the lead prevention hub where they could sign up for info sessions and enroll in the program.
Not every billboard was speaking to the same person. Some were aimed at families and residents, others like this one were designed to catch the eye of landlords who stood to benefit from federally funded abatement services.
Yard signs went up all over the city, in English and Spanish, meeting the community right where they live.
The messaging carried into social too, with some of the same seasonal hooks we'd already built out. The campaign hit its numbers and the program is still running today.
The New Haven Health Department came to us mid-pivot: a new strategic plan, a city that needed clearer access to health services, and a pandemic just beginning to reshape how people relate to public health information. The rebrand had to do more than look good. It had to build trust.
The strategic plan called for something more approachable, so the name changed too. Say hello to NHV (New Haven) Health: a little more informal, a lot more memorable, and built to feel like a resource people actually want to turn to.
Every element in the logo was intentional. The client had a clear vision, and a viral graphic making the rounds about equity in access ended up being the spark that brought it all together visually.
The department brought the new branding into their physical spaces, and they nailed it. New furniture, fresh paint, the logo anchoring the wall. This is one of their clinic locations.
The first campaign we worked on together was the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, part of the city's broader COVID Action Plan. We leaned into the floating emoji head trend to capture the real conversations people were having, getting vaccinated so they could get their summer back.
The concept carried into paid digital ads too, this time in video. We recorded real voices from the community having real conversations, not actors, not scripts. Just people talking about their summer plans.
The same idea carried into organic social. And like everything we create for NHV Health, all of it is produced in both English and Spanish so the information actually reaches the people who need it.
The billboards kept it simple: get people to remember the URL. We created a short, memorable link that drove traffic to the department's online COVID hub.
When fall hit, the message shifted. Boosters were available, and with everyone heading back to school and spending more time indoors, we took a seasonal angle. We paired the COVID-19 booster with the flu vaccine, positioning both as a normal part of taking care of yourself this time of year.
On social, we tied it into the moments people were already thinking about: back to school checklists and fall sports season. The vaccine was just another box to check as the season started.
Same approach as before on the billboards: keep it simple, keep it memorable, get people to the URL.
Fall also brought new funding for the department's lead prevention program, covering free education, abatement services for residents, and RRP certification training for professionals. To keep the funding, they needed to hit participation numbers. We started by building a lead prevention logo that could stand on its own while still feeling like a natural extension of the NHV Health brand.
We built out a full suite of branded materials to meet people where they were, educating the community on the presence of lead in their homes and the steps they could take to protect their families.
We created another short URL, this time pointing people to the lead prevention hub where they could sign up for info sessions and enroll in the program.
Not every billboard was speaking to the same person. Some were aimed at families and residents, others like this one were designed to catch the eye of landlords who stood to benefit from federally funded abatement services.
Yard signs went up all over the city, in English and Spanish, meeting the community right where they live.
The messaging carried into social too, with some of the same seasonal hooks we'd already built out. The campaign hit its numbers and the program is still running today.
Impact
After launching the new brand, website, and strategy, New Haven Health was quickly called to lead during COVID-19—becoming a trusted source of clear, accessible information. The COVID-19 campaign was followed by HPV vaccination and led prevention efforts, with millions of impressions within a year. Today, New Haven Health remains a trusted resource for keeping families healthy and continues to run its campaigns with a cohesive brand identity.
