Brand Identity
D.O.T.S. Pediatric Therapy
Rebrand
"A logo built on Papyrus doesn't just look dated â it signals to every parent walking through the door that the organization doesn't take its own presentation seriously. That gap between quality of care and quality of brand was the real problem to solve."
The Problem
Dallas Occupational Therapy Services for Kids reached out because their logo wasn't working. But the brief they gave me â "we need something that feels more professional" â was only the surface of the real issue.
Their original identity had been created by a family member of an employee. It leaned heavily on Papyrus â a font that, fairly or not, carries significant baggage â and it made no attempt to hold two things simultaneously: the clinical credibility parents need to trust before placing their child in a therapist's care, and the warmth and playfulness that signals a child-centered environment.
In a field where reputation travels through parent networks and pediatrician referrals, a brand that undermines confidence before anyone walks through the door is a genuine business liability. That's what we needed to fix.
The Approach
The central creative challenge was duality: D.O.T.S. needed to communicate professional competence and childlike approachability in equal measure â without either quality undermining the other. Too clinical and it feels cold; too playful and parents wonder if it's serious.
I explored two distinct directions in the first round: one rooted in children's playground equipment â rounded, physical, colorful â and one inspired by the lined paper of a child's writing tablet, which brought in a learning and development connotation alongside the therapy angle. The dots motif was the natural throughline both directions shared, letting the name become the mark.
[PLACEHOLDER: First round exploration â playground-inspired concepts
and writing-paper concepts side by side]
What I pushed back on: the client initially wanted to keep a literal representation of a child figure in the mark. I made the case that a figurative icon would read as generic medical-industry clip art and date quickly â that the dots motif, properly executed, could do more emotional work with more longevity. They came around to that reasoning.
Key Decisions
Decision 01
Make the dots do two kinds of work simultaneously
The dots in the final mark aren't decoration â they're structured like a therapy session: organized, patient-centered, progressing toward something. The arrangement also visually spells out the letter D, keeping the wordmark and symbol anchored. I rejected several iterations where the dots felt arbitrary rather than intentional.
Decision 02
Extend the system beyond the logo before the client asked
Most logo briefs at this level stop at the mark. I chose to present signage mockups, letterhead, and apparel concepts in the final presentation â not to upsell, but because a logo without application guidance almost always gets misused. Showing the system in context also made the client's decision significantly easier: they weren't evaluating a flat mark, they were imagining their office walls.
Decision 03
Build alternate lockups for different use cases from the start
Healthcare and therapy organizations use their brand in contexts that defeat single-configuration logos: embroidered uniforms, small-scale web favicons, large exterior signage. I built horizontal, stacked, and icon-only versions as part of the system rather than as afterthoughts, and documented when to use each.
Selected Work
[PLACEHOLDER: Final logo â primary lockup]
[PLACEHOLDER: Alternate lockups â horizontal, stacked, icon-only]
[PLACEHOLDER: Signage mockups â exterior + interior applications]
[PLACEHOLDER: Stationery system â letterhead, business cards]
[PLACEHOLDER: Apparel application â staff shirts]
Outcomes
3
Rounds of refinement before final approval
5+
Application contexts documented in brand guidelines
0
Papyrus instances in the final system
The client adopted the full system â mark, alternates, color palette, and application guidelines â and used it to update their signage, staff uniforms, and digital presence. The brief shifted midway from "new logo" to "complete identity system" as the client saw what a coherent brand could do for how they present their practice.
[PLACEHOLDER: Client testimonial or outcome quote if available]
Reflection
The thing I'd do differently: get more detail on the client's internal culture before the first presentation. The playground- equipment direction resonated more with how the staff actually described their environment in conversation than it did in the initial written brief. An additional intake conversation would have surfaced that faster.
What this project reinforced: clients rarely know how to describe what they want, but they almost always know it when they see it â as long as you've done the work of articulating the criteria first. The presentation that landed wasn't the one with the best logo in isolation. It was the one where every choice had a reason they could hear, evaluate, and agree with.