{"id":15911,"date":"2025-11-05T23:30:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T16:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/how-fertility-branding-evolved-to-show-both-science-and-soul\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T23:30:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T16:30:53","slug":"how-fertility-branding-evolved-to-show-both-science-and-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/how-fertility-branding-evolved-to-show-both-science-and-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"How fertility branding evolved to show both science and soul"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The fertility industry has long been aimed squarely at women, built on a narrative of urgency and fear around the biological clock. For decades, it\u2019s been framed as a reactive experience \u2013 something to manage rather than take ownership of \u2013 leaving people trapped between anxiety and doubt.<\/p>\n<p>The category\u2019s branding hasn\u2019t helped. Pastel pinks and clinical blues, sterile medical cues, and imagery of smiling parents and swaddled babies have long reduced a profoundly complex experience to its happiest possible ending.<\/p>\n<p>The real story, full of nuance, hope, and heartbreak, has gone largely untold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe confusing mix of clich\u00e9s, euphemisms and medical jargon that plagues this category only adds to the powerlessness people can feel when they\u2019re trying to make a life,\u201d says Fia Townshend, copy director at <a href=\"https:\/\/raggededge.com\/\">Ragged Edge<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-video\">\n<!--[if lt IE 9]&gt;document.createElement('video');&lt;![endif]--><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/01_Gaia-Hero-Collage_KeyVisual.mp4\">https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/01_Gaia-Hero-Collage_KeyVisual.mp4<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>When rebranding the IVF insurance brand Gaia, the team at Ragged Edge spent time dismantling the emotional and visual shorthand that had come to define fertility branding.<\/p>\n<p>They wanted to give Gaia\u2019s members something more grounded \u2013 a language that could hold the full complexity of IVF while still offering a sense of clarity and hope.<\/p>\n<p>The studio deliberately stepped away from the familiar platitudes of the category \u2013 colour codes, photographs of picture-perfect families, and talk of \u201cmiracles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Townshend points out, these ideas reduce something complex and unwieldy to a single outcome, the baby. And IVF is much more than its endpoint.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Gaia, we wanted to celebrate the process as much as the possibility,\u201d she says. \u201cWe wanted to acknowledge the full emotional spectrum, the waiting, the mood swings, the doctor\u2019s offices, the disappointment, the elation. So we avoided anything that suggested perfection or passivity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe goal wasn\u2019t to soften fertility or make it palatable. It was to make it more truthful, more varied, and more human.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ragged Edge\u2019s work for Gaia<\/p>\n<p>The challenge that Ragged Edge faced was as much cultural as it was creative. They had to reframe the entire conversation around fertility, and the emotions tied to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFertility has always been framed around luck and loss,\u201d says co-founder Max Ottignon. \u201cYou\u2019re at the mercy of biology, of fate, of whether treatment will work. Gaia reframes it around agency, helping people make active, informed choices about their path to parenthood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat shift reflects a broader evolution in healthcare, where trust comes not from clinical distance but from empathy and clarity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Ottignon explains, design\u2019s job in fertility branding is not only to simplify what\u2019s complex, but also to help people feel capable within that complexity, giving them a sense of agency.<\/p>\n<p>Gaia\u2019s brand world had to feel accessible, but also credible. And Ragged Edge quickly established that credibility did not have to mean coldness.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-video\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/13_Gaia_Illustration.mp4\">https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/13_Gaia_Illustration.mp4<\/a><\/div>\n<p>The wordmark, with its hand-sculpted look, features two different \u2018A\u2019s, a nod to Gaia\u2019s core belief that there isn\u2019t one perfect way to make a family.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, the team wove in collages with torn edges, tactile materials and authentic imagery that show the full IVF journey through intimate crops, raw moments, and varied experiences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe collages themselves are deliberately asymmetrical and handmade. Nothing perfect, nothing sterile,\u201d says Ottignon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTogether, these elements build a sense of expertise that feels lived-in rather than institutional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where older fertility brands equated authority with distance, Gaia redefines it through warmth. In shaping that shift, Ragged Edge proves that empathy and expertise aren\u2019t opposites, but allies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing emotionally intelligent doesn\u2019t make you less scientific; it makes you more trustworthy,\u201d Ottignon says. \u201cBecause in a category where people feel vulnerable and uncertain, understanding becomes the ultimate form of expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12_GaiaCS_NewspaperB.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14_GaiaCS_Box.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>That realignment \u2013 finding expertise in empathy \u2013 goes beyond tone or aesthetics. It\u2019s about changing the story people tell themselves. And that speaks to what design, at its best, can do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDesign can change more than perception \u2013 it can change how people see themselves,\u201d Ottognon says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor too long, the language of fertility has told people they\u2019re broken or running out of time. Gaia set out to show a different truth \u2013 that seeking IVF is an active choice, not a failure, and that the process itself, messy and imperfect as it is, has dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That message is clearly resonating. In September 2024, Gaia marked the birth of its 100th baby, shortly followed by a $14million Series B funding round.<\/p>\n<p>Building on the shifts that brands like Gaia have set in motion, there is a broader recalibration of the fertility landscape. It\u2019s a move away from brands that once medicalised the experience or softened it with sentimentality, toward ones that speak with honesty and connection.<\/p>\n<p>Super Keen\u2019s work for Cofertility<\/p>\n<p>That shift is evident in Cofertility, a company backed by tennis star Maria Sharapova which has pioneered a no-fee egg-freezing model. It enlisted the help of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.superkeen.studio\/\">Super Keen<\/a> to reimagine its visual identity and brand architecture.<\/p>\n<p>In building Cofertility\u2019s new look, Brooklyn-based studio sought to reset the brand\u2019s relationship with its audience, a change that began deep within its visual and verbal foundations.<\/p>\n<p>To reflect a truly inclusive idea of family-building, the team avoided heteronormative imagery and language that treated infertility as absence, or a lack of something.<\/p>\n<p>The logomark, crafted to look like a sunburst or a blooming flower, amplifies the brand\u2019s optimism. But warmth at Cofertility isn\u2019t just teased visually \u2013 it\u2019s embedded in how the brand approaches the subject itself.<\/p>\n<p>Super Keen\u2019s work for Cofertility<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe warmth doesn\u2019t come from stripping away complexity \u2013 it comes from acknowledging it with care,\u201d says creative director Gabby Lord.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe focused on clarity, not reduction. Every touchpoint was designed to make a deeply emotional and sometimes clinical process feel more human, without ignoring the hard parts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe language, tone, and photography all balance honesty with optimism. It\u2019s not about glossing over reality; it\u2019s about meeting people with empathy, transparency, and of course, hope for what\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once a taboo topic, fertility is now entering a new era. As Lord puts it, branding is no longer about simply destigmatising the conversation, \u201cit\u2019s about celebrating incredible advances in technology, the fact that women can take control of their fertility earlier, and that there are options for all kinds of families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Super Keen\u2019s work for Cofertility<\/p>\n<p>That spirit of celebration comes through in one of the identity\u2019s most deliberate design gestures \u2013 a confetti motif that appears across visuals and applications.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a nice reminder for our members to take a moment to stop and celebrate the major milestones along the journey,\u201d says Meela Imperato, head of marketing at Cofertility. \u201cAnd at the same time, it captures the joy and gratitude we feel in being part of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Building the fertility brands of tomorrow calls for designers to set new precedents for what credibility, care, and connection can look like.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the work in this space is about championing that new thinking \u2013 finding harmony between logic and feeling, structure and sensitivity, without tipping too far into either.<\/p>\n<p>Holding those opposing forces in equilibrium was a challenge <a href=\"https:\/\/universalfavourite.com.au\/\">Universal Favourite<\/a> mastered when designing the identity for WHEN, Australia\u2019s first at-home egg-count testing service.<\/p>\n<p>Universal Favourite\u2019s work for WHEN<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018When\u2019 is both a question and an answer, allowing the brand to hold both science and emotion,\u201d says founder and executive creative director Dari Israelstam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVisually, this duality informed the interplay between precision and softness. Verbally, it permitted us to speak through an inner monologue that acknowledges uncertainty while offering guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The tension between those ideas is felt in the construction of the wordmark \u2013 set in ABC Diatype that brings a scientific edge and clarity \u2013 and the pulsating, pliable cell shape that brings adaptability and life.<\/p>\n<p>The colour palette, especially the hero yellow gives the brand levity and warmth.<\/p>\n<p>Universal Favourite\u2019s work for WHEN<\/p>\n<p>That balance carries through to the tone of voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of dwelling on what might be \u2018wrong,\u2019 the brand language focuses on curiosity and understanding,\u201d explains Israelstam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe storytelling approach gives space to questions \u2013 When might I want to know more? When might I act? \u2013 rather than guilt or urgency. That tone informs the visual system; calm colours and gentle motion that celebrates knowledge as empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>WHEN\u2019s authority comes from its restraint. Here, clarity and craft replace the old signals of trust.<\/p>\n<p>Center\u2019s work for Swimclub<\/p>\n<p>And across fertility branding, new beliefs are taking hold. Approachability has become the new language of trust.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing approachable didn\u2019t mean being soft or cute, it meant being honest,\u201d says Alex Center, founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/center.design\/\">CENTER<\/a>. The Brooklyn-based studio created the identity for Swim Club, the first clinically formulated sperm performance supplement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to fertility, men\u2019s health is half the equation, but it\u2019s rarely treated that way. Sperm counts have dropped nearly 60% since 1970. Men are responsible for infertility in 50% of cases. And today, one in four men has below-average sperm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted men to see fertility the way they see fitness or nutrition, something they can work on, understand, and improve. Swim Club speaks plainly about sperm health, DNA integrity, and reproductive performance, not as medical jargon, but as information that empowers. That honesty is what makes it approachable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The science had to feel accessible. The identity resolves that tension through a system where science and sport intersect \u2013 borrowing cues from DNA sequencing and the geometry of an Olympic pool.<\/p>\n<p>The tiled grid conveys both movement and precision, embodying the brand\u2019s dual focus on biological rigour and human vitality, resulting in a system grounded in order but alive with play, capable of stretching into moments of curiosity, like a tiled sperm caught mid-swim.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-video\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/04-tile-numbers-6_2.mp4\">https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/04-tile-numbers-6_2.mp4<\/a><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe science behind Swim Club is rigorous, but our job was to give that science an emotional texture,\u201d says Center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe used pattern, repetition, and structure to echo the precision of biology, but softened it through colour, typography, and art direction. Rationality and warmth aren\u2019t opposites here; they\u2019re partners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe data tells the story of life at its most fundamental level; our job was to make people feel that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The visual worlds of brands like Swim Club reveal how empathy in fertility branding has evolved into a spectrum of expression. It can be found in warmth or calm, precision, or playfulness.<\/p>\n<p>But what connects them is a refusal to flatten the complexity of fertility.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFertility has long been spoken about in whispers or medical charts,\u201d says Center. \u201cSwim Club gives it a new language, one that\u2019s rooted in science, but expressed with confidence and care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDesign has the power to make complex ideas emotionally understandable. If men can talk about sperm count or DNA integrity without shame, our design has done its job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SC_AD-2.png\"><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SC_BILLBOARD-4.png\"><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SC_AD-1.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<strong>What to read next: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designweek.co.uk\/the-class-of-2025-our-pick-of-this-years-degree-show-projects\/\">The Class of 2025 \u2013 our pick of this year\u2019s degree show projects<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designweek.co.uk\/the-longevity-lessons-coley-porter-bell-est-1978\/\">The Longevity Lessons: Coley Porter Bell (est. 1978)<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designweek.co.uk\/what-is-your-earliest-design-memory\/\">What is your earliest design memory?<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designweek.co.uk\/deep-impact-why-design-must-prove-its-worth-more-than-ever\/\">Deep impact \u2013 why design must prove its worth more than ever<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designweek.co.uk\/how-fertility-branding-evolved-to-show-both-science-and-soul\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The fertility industry has long been aimed squarely at women, built on a narrative of urgency and fear around the biological clock. For decades, it\u2019s been framed as a reactive experience \u2013 something to manage &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[145],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How fertility branding evolved to show both science and soul - Blog TSK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/how-fertility-branding-evolved-to-show-both-science-and-soul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How fertility branding evolved to show both science and soul - Blog TSK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The fertility industry has long been aimed squarely at women, built on a narrative of urgency and fear around the biological clock. 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