Two-thirds of healthcare logos use the same blue, so blending in is the norm, not the exception

A 2024 look at healthcare logo design found that most healthcare brands ask for the same shade of blue, according to design marketplace 99designs. This includes practices like yours.

Whole-practice growth for wellness practices. Rooted in Wiltshire, UK, working worldwide.

Practices that reach for blue in their branding are joining a very long queue, and a long queue is not where anyone gets remembered.

Original ResearchDesign marketplace data showing blue dominates requests for healthcare logos
Sourcehttps://www.progress.com/blogs/using-color-psychology-healthcare-web-design
OverviewThe figure comes from 99designs' internal logo request data, cited in a colour psychology article on healthcare web design published by software company Progress.
Year2024
PublisherBrand, 99designs (data source), Progress.com (citing blog)
Relevance to WellbeingTangential. It's a colour-choice statistic about logo design, not evidence about how clients perceive or trust a practice, so it's a design nudge rather than proof of anything.
Our VerdictToo early to tell Interesting to know, but no methodology or sample size is given, so it's not something to build an argument on.
Our Summary
  • It confirms a genuine pattern in healthcare branding, even without hard numbers.
  • No sample size, no methodology, and it's a secondhand citation rather than primary research.
  • Easy to act on regardless of how rigorous the stat is, since it just means checking your own logo.
  • Says nothing about whether blue actually helps or hinders trust, only that everyone's picking it.
Our Geo ViewApplies broadly to all countries
Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow
Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

  • Coaching: this matters because coaches are already fighting the corporate wellness pamphlet look, and matching blue doesn't help the cause.
  • Therapy: this matters because a calming blue logo won't make anyone feel more understood, it'll just make you look like the practice next door.
  • Training: this matters because trainers selling energy and results might want to think twice before hiding behind a colour that says "calm down".
  • Alternative Healing: this matters because healers already contend with scepticism, and a generic blue logo does nothing to signal what makes the approach different.
  • Clinical: this matters because clinics live on trust signals, and blue is the trust signal everyone else has already claimed.
  • Retreat/Centre: this matters because a retreat promising something different shouldn't look identical to the dentist down the road.

Where this came from

A piece on colour psychology in healthcare web design mentions that most healthcare logo requests ask for blue.

Published on the Progress.com blog, 2024. The blue statistic itself is credited to 99designs, a logo design marketplace, so this is a secondhand citation, not primary research.

Credibility flags: no sample size disclosed, no methodology beyond "logos sourced on 99designs", and the publisher is a software company blog citing another brand's internal figures.

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

49%
Practice fit, 50How new, 70How solid, 25

Marked down mainly on how solid the method is, since nothing about sample size or process is disclosed, with a smaller deduction for practice fit given this sits closer to general healthcare branding than to the six practice types specifically, while recency held up fine.

Faces of satisfied clients
It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

  • Put your logo next to three competitors' logos and see how many shades of blue turn up.
  • Put a colour other than blue on the shortlist next time you review your branding.
  • Brief your designer on what your practice actually does, not on what colour healthcare "should" be.
  • Say goodbye to the stock clipboard, leaf, or lotus icon while you're at it.
  • Ask a few clients how they found you, and note if "you looked different" ever comes up.

Who this is most useful for

Practice typeRelevanceRecommended action
CoachingMediumReview logo and brand colours against direct competitors.
TherapyMediumConsider a palette that steps away from clinical blue.
TrainingLowLow priority, energy-led visuals matter more here.
Alternative HealingMediumUse colour deliberately to separate from clinical settings.
ClinicalHighAudit branding, since blue may blend in more than it reassures.
Retreat/CentreMediumCheck the visual identity doesn't read as generic healthcare.

Best before

Best before: revisit if 99designs publishes fresh logo data, and re-verify against a primary source before quoting this again. Reviewed by Sunlight Creations.

What next?

Every practice with a blue logo will insist it's not like the others, right up until someone puts the logos side by side.

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