CVS Pharmacy is the retail pharmacy division of CVS Health, the Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based healthcare company. The chain traces its origins to 1963, when the first Consumer Value Store opened in Lowell, Massachusetts, selling health and beauty products. The CVS abbreviation became the brand name as the company expanded, and in-store pharmacies were added beginning in 1967. Today, the CVS Pharmacy storefront identity is built around the red heart mark introduced by its parent company, CVS Health, in 2014.
Design and History
CVS’s earliest visual identity was a shield logo featuring the letters “CVS” in the center, with “Consumer Value Stores” spelled out above, alongside, or underneath. The shield mark was in use by 1964, within the company’s first two years of operation.[1]
In 1977, designer Joseph Selame and Selame Design created a new CVS identity set in Helvetica, consolidating the brand around the three-letter abbreviation and completing the transition away from the Consumer Value Stores name.[2]
In 1996, as CVS shed its non-pharmacy operations, the word “pharmacy” in lowercase red was added below the CVS letters with a separating slash. The slash mark became a distinctive trademark element and appeared on storefronts for two decades.[2]
The defining moment for the current identity came in 2014. In March of that year, CVS Caremark announced it would stop selling tobacco products, becoming the first pharmacy chain to fully remove them from stores.[3] On September 3, 2014, the company announced it was changing its corporate name from CVS Caremark to CVS Health to reflect its broader healthcare commitment and its expertise in driving the innovations needed to shape the future of health.[4] The name change took effect immediately, and the company completed its tobacco removal nearly a month ahead of its initial target date.[5]
The rebrand was accompanied by a new corporate identity designed by Siegel+Gale, the global brand strategy and design firm. Siegel+Gale designed the CVS Health Heart logo, which it described as “a bold, sophisticated and universal symbol.”[6] The rebrand unified the company’s four business units: CVS/pharmacy, CVS/specialty, CVS/minute clinic, and CVS/caremark.[7]
In 2016, the CVS Pharmacy storefront logo was updated to incorporate the heart symbol of parent CVS Health, and the slash was dropped from the wordmark.[2] The current CVS Pharmacy trademark registration describes the mark as “a solid heart next to ‘CVS’ in all capital letters next to ‘pharmacy’ in lower case letters,” with red claimed as a feature of the mark.[8]
Meaning and Symbolism
The heart symbol was introduced to represent care and connection, reflecting the company’s transformation from a pharmacy chain into a broader healthcare organization.[9] Siegel+Gale described the heart as “a symbol understood across ages, geographies and experiences,” and stated that as a logo for CVS Health it conveys the brand values of integrity, caring, collaboration, innovation, and accountability.[6]
The brand personality developed for the rebrand was “Leading with heart,” which established a confident, caring communication tone across all brand touchpoints.[7]
Typography and Design
In developing the new visual identity, Siegel+Gale carried forward existing CVS brand elements, including the CVS red color, teardrop shapes, and Helvetica Neue typography, integrating them into the new visual system.[7] The CVS wordmark in the current identity is set in red capital letters, paired with the solid heart mark.[10]
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