Webster Clinic
Service (s)
Visual identity design
Year
2025
Webster Clinic is a Boston-based mental health practice offering culturally competent, psychoanalytically informed care for children, adolescents, and adults. Founded on principles of curiosity, depth, and inclusion, the clinic provides thoughtful support to those navigating complex emotional and relational challenges. My role was to develop a visual identity that reflects the clinic’s competence and warmth. Something quietly confident, contemporary, and capable of holding space for all the nuance that defines their work.
Don’t be a caricature
Being an avid user and huge advocate for therapeutic practices, I’ve always wanted to design a brand in this space. So, when Cecil reached out to me to work on the brand design for his new clinic, I practically signed the contract before we even got on our kick off call. Incidentally, it turned out Cecil was a complete joy to work with so I really got lucky with this one!
But I wasn’t only excited about this project because I’m fascinated with psychology or that Cecil was a dream to work with, but also because I’ve always felt that this niche provides massive opportunity for design that unites and connects people.
There are some industries saturated with cliché visual signifiers - think coffee beans for a cafe or a camera for a photography studio. The same is true for therapy/coaching. If the logo doesn’t include some sort of abstract head or brain shape, it’s most likely stripped back to a simple, rather sterile typeface. Both of these routes make building a connection with an audience really tricky which is why research is so important.
Wake up and smell the roses
Webster Clinic’s new space is situated almost equidistant between Back Bay Fens park and Boston Common. When looking into the history and cultural importance of these parks, I found that Back Bay Fens is renowned for the James P. Kelleher Rose Garden - home to nearly 1,500 species of plant.
Captivated by the situational link between Cecil’s new clinic space and nature, I found numerous other connections between human development and nature, specifically flora. For example, roots are vitally important - they provide a stable base and source of nutrients for the plant. Similarly, a person’s history, identity, and early relationships, though not always visible, can profoundly shape who they become. Furthermore, plants go through cycles: bloom, decay, dormancy, rebirth. People, too, experience seasons - times of energy, stillness, loss, and renewal. These are just a couple but I found so many other overlapping parallels.
With this information in mind, I dove into sketching; looking at ways to express Webster Clinic’s connection to nature along with other signifiers relevant to their work. I sketched a bunch of roses, plants, W’s, trees, bridges, birds, the lot. I hit the jackpot when I combined a rose with a W letterform in its leaves alongside a clear visual reference to the greek letter Ψ which was often used to refer to psychology. Now, I could lie about this and accept the pats on the back for being really clever but the link to Ψ was a complete fluke. I mean what are the odds of that? Either way, such a lovely nod to the history and cultural importance of psychology.
Let’s breathe some life into this space
As I mentioned earlier, some brands/institutions/clinics in the mental health arena can feel quite cold and sterile. Sometimes, this may be intentional as they cater to people looking for medicinal solutions to their struggles so they position themselves more like a hospital than a safe space. But this isn’t the case for the Webster Clinic so I wanted to create a diverse and positive colour palette that speaks to the beautiful variation of people that walk through Cecil’s doors.
To support the comforting, almost pastel palette, I opted for a display typeface with the perfect balance of professionalism and character. Those little flicks feel like such a playful addition to an otherwise Swiss-like vibe. Initially, I presented the logo to Cecil with only a few minor customisations to the wordmark but he offered such a brilliant idea to mimic the those little flicks on the stem of the W. It took a few tries to balance it with the rest of the letters so I just trusted my eye in the end rather than copy the overshooting exactly.
Working with GT Ultra, I added Pitch Sans as an accent which provides a lovely typewriter-like aesthetic to documents making the identity feel quite textured and personable. To bring it home is Work Sans - a brilliantly hardworking sans-serif that perfectly compliments the rest of the type system.
A proper team effort
I had such a blast working with Cecil on this - he’s such a passionate, enthusiastic and curious person which makes creating and sharing ideas an absolute dream. Here’s what Cecil thought of our project together:
“Who do you trust to bring your brand to life?
That’s a tough question, but Jack Chitty was the perfect answer. He went above and beyond with a comprehensive questionnaire that helped him (and me) understand my brand inside out. He was always there to chat and make sure everything was on track. Jack’s professionalism and creativity were truly impressive. He turned my brand into a cohesive and evocative set of logos, wordmarks, typefaces, and color palettes.
As my business grew, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many others on various projects, and Jack has been a standout; an absolute pleasure to work with and a productive one at that. He’s easy to talk to, creative, passionate, and always brings a light touch that surprises and delights.
I’m so impressed with the results we’ve achieved together. It’s far exceeded my expectations, and I can’t recommend Jack enough.”
