by An updated “cradling heart” icon and expressive wordmark combine with packaging design and messaging with the calm and clear “of a paramedic by your side.”
Studio NinetyOne has rebranded baby first aid provider TinyHearts with a more secure identity that blends bolder colors with softer human touches.
TinyHearts was started by a paramedic and his sister after realizing that if parents were more confident with basic first aid, babies’ lives could be saved. Starting with a baby first aid course for parents and carers, the company has now grown to offer a broader offering of courses, first aid kits, and restoration and care products for new mothers.
Melbourne-based TinyHearts initially approached Studio NinetyOne about a new logo, but when NinetyOne began looking into it, “it seemed like there was more to be accomplished on the business strategy level,” explains co-creative director Sam Hextall.
After a visit and workshop with TinyHearts, NinetyOne shaped the rebrand around the strategy statement “by your side when you need it most”. The realization that TinyHearts “wasn’t just there as a first aid item; they were there all the time for the parents,” was the “big twist to their business understanding,” Hextall explains.
Given the stressful situations that the products have been designed for, Studio NinetyOne identified the need for “hierarchy and clarity within the packaging”. Hextall says that in the existing first aid kit, it was difficult to differentiate between products and there was “no real guidance on what to look for” when using the kit.
“It seemed like a great opportunity on top of the initial rebranding to look at the packaging and more generally look at how they communicate,” he says.
The brand’s new logo consists of a bespoke typographic mark and a secondary icon. Created by NinetyOne’s co-creative director Sophie Azaïs, the brand sought to introduce a “human element” that TinyHearts’ competitors seemed to lack. “It had to be human and quite accessible, but not too girly or playful. I needed to have this seriousness and boldness,” says Azaïs.
Typographic details in the wordmark include a “hug” slur with a “comforting ‘H’ and a supportive ‘y’, at the junction of the two words,” the study explains.
There was also a “moving energy within the guy, which we thought was pretty important, and positivity, which was incredibly important from his point of view,” adds Hextall.
The hand-drawn “Cradling Heart” icon combines the image of a heart, an outstretched helping hand, and a “parent cradling child,” Hextall says, noting that to keep the brand inclusive, it was important that this appear as a parent. , rather than more specifically a mother.
Similarly, the existing “very pastel-based, slightly feminine” color palette was updated, as the studio also “felt it didn’t align with the immediacy of what they were trying to achieve,” says Hextall. While she “needed to stay calm,” the new palette incorporates “bolder, stronger colors” that also “stand out and have real shelf appeal” in retail settings, she adds.
A key element of NinetyOne’s work was the packaging design. “Because it is a product that you need in an emergency,” says Azaïs, legibility, clarity and “not overloading the packaging” were priorities.
“We wanted the packaging to have the same effect, [as if] You had a paramedic standing next to you [saying] this is what you need to use next, and this is how you use it,” adds Hextall.
The rebranding has been launched on the TinyHearts website and will be implemented across all of their packaging.
