Hackensack Medical Center, founded in 1888 as Bergen County’s first hospital, underwent a significant identity transformation in the early 1980s when it was renamed from Hackensack Hospital to Hackensack Medical Center. The hospital’s visual identity program was developed by Robert P. Gersin Associates, an industrial design firm, with David Curry (now principal of Design Latitudes) serving as project manager. The firm was retained to create a comprehensive visual communication system for the institution, including a system of logos, symbols, typographic formats, colors and nomenclature for the core divisions of Hospital Care, Teaching Services and Community Care.[1]
Design and History
The 1982 identity program was part of a broader repositioning of the institution. The New York Times reported in January 1982 that “a new era has dawned for Hackensack Hospital, now called Hackensack Medical Center.”[2] The hospital later became Hackensack University Medical Center in 1995.[3]
Robert P. Gersin, founder of Robert P. Gersin Associates Inc. (established 1959), was an award-winning industrial designer who gained an international reputation through his firm’s work in interiors, products and corporate identity programs. The firm later designed the logotype and corporate identity program for Sears, Roebuck & Company in 1984.[4]
In 2017, following the merger that formed Hackensack Meridian Health, the health system unveiled a new logo and tagline, “Life Years Ahead,” at an event in Newark attended by more than 2,000 employees.[5] The rebrand marked the first campaign to integrate the merger of two systems.[6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2017 Hackensack Meridian Health logo consists of two circles, one inside the other, with both circles made up of rectangular boxes that do not touch each other, according to the official trademark registration filed by Hackensack Meridian Health, Inc.[7] The concept of orchestration set the tone for the new logo, which visually resembles the view one would see when looking down on an orchestra pit, according to Jim Blazar, executive vice president and chief strategy officer.[8]
Prior to the 2017 system-wide rebrand, Hackensack University Medical Center used a blue and green stylized “H” logo, as documented on the hospital’s flag featuring the mark centered on a white field.[9]
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