Yikang Pharmacy Brand Upgrade: An OK Gesture, a Cross and a Capsule

An OK gesture holding a cross and a capsule

In 2021, Xinming Design completed a brand upgrade for 西安怡康医药连锁有限责任公司, the company behind Yikang Pharmacy: logo, Chinese and English logotypes, supporting graphics, applications and a mascot. The new logo is a rounded, deep blue C shape with a light blue cross set into its opening. The design gives the formula: OK gesture + medical cross + capsule = logo. The supporting graphic fills the same C shape with dozens of medical line icons, and runs across posters, staff passes, business cards, shopping bags, street banners and a coach. The mascot, a young pharmacist with green hair in a white protective suit, is now the official character of Yikang Pharmacy and is still in use.

A pharmacy has to put people at ease

A pharmacy sells medicine, but what customers want is peace of mind. On the street, people look for a cross; inside, they care whether the medicine is right, the staff are knowledgeable and the service is good.

The design set out four core brand ideas for Yikang Pharmacy:

· The cross: looking for the place with a cross when you are ill is common sense in China, so the logo includes a cross to make the pharmacy recognisable;

· Health+: expressing the client's mission of bringing joy and health to the people, and its vision of delivering health to every home;

· The OK gesture: expressing the client's service philosophy of putting the customer's interest first, and a young, energetic service team;

· Yikang+: leaving room for a family of sub-brands under the Yikang master brand.

So the logo had to answer: how can one figure say both "this is a pharmacy" and "you can rest easy here"?

OK gesture, cross and capsule

The logo combines three things:

· OK gesture: the thumb and index finger form a ring, the body of the C; the pointed tip at the top left is the fingertip;

· Medical cross: a light blue cross is set into the opening of the C, the identity of a pharmacy;

· Capsule: the lower end of the C closes into the rounded end of a capsule, the medicine.

The OK is service, the cross is identity, the capsule is medicine. Together they make a pharmacy mark that customers recognise at a glance.

Both the Chinese logotype 怡康医药 and the English YIKANG PHARMACY were custom drawn, with square strokes and rounded corners that match the softness of the mark. The logo forms horizontal and stacked lockups with both.

One C that holds every medical icon

There are two supporting graphics:

· A C made of icons: dozens of line icons, such as pills, teeth, a heart, an eye, a stethoscope, a plaster, a first aid kit and DNA, fill the same C shape as the logo; used on folders, posters, the back of business cards and the coach;

· A pattern of Cs and crosses: the C, a small cross and YIKANG PHARMACY repeat in an all over pattern; used on face masks, shopping bags, staff pass backgrounds and flyers.

One C is the pharmacy; the crowd of icons is everything the pharmacy does.

Deep blue, sky blue and bright yellow

The identity uses deep blue as the main colour, with sky blue and bright yellow:

· Deep blue: the logo and large background areas, steady and professional;

· Sky blue: the cross in the logo and the supporting patterns, fresh and light;

· Bright yellow: an accent, used on small crosses and flower images on posters and business cards, adding warmth.

The design does not include a colour specification page; exact values follow the brand guidelines.

From staff passes to a coach

Office

· Staff passes and lanyards, business cards, envelopes, letterhead, folders

Stores and promotion

· Posters, flyers, street banners, shopping bags, stickers, badges

· The taglines on posters and banners are the client's own, such as As reliable as your family and Health meets a new space

Extensions

· Coach livery, face masks, an app icon for the client's delivery app 怡康到家

The application images on this page are proposal-stage mock-ups; the photographs of people, names and phone numbers on the staff passes and business cards are placeholders.

The mascot: a young pharmacist in a protective suit

The mascot is a young pharmacist:

· Look: a white protective suit and helmet with two small pointed ears on top, a clear face shield on one side, and a red cross on the chest and on the side of the helmet;

· Colour: green hair, gloves and boots;

· Expressions: OK, laughing, angry, speechless, sad, and making a heart;

· Scenes: waving hello, filling a prescription at a traditional Chinese medicine cabinet, explaining a capsule on a screen, holding a stethoscope and a clipboard, making a heart, and delivering medicine on a red scooter.

In an article on 5 September 2024, the official Yikang Pharmacy account introduced this official character: its form is a personified figure extended from the Yikang logo, and the red cross on its chest stands for its mission of protecting public health; its colour is Yikang green, full of life and health; its personality is sunny, sincere and warm. The same article launched a contest to name the character.

The identity is blue; the mascot is green. Blue carries expertise and order, green carries warmth and life; customers see a blue pharmacy in the store, and a green young pharmacist on their phones.

Deliverables and extensions

Logo design

· Yikang Pharmacy logo (OK gesture, cross and capsule)

· Chinese logotype 怡康医药, English logotype YIKANG PHARMACY

· Horizontal and stacked lockups, logo construction

Core identity and supporting graphics

· Colours: deep blue, sky blue, bright yellow

· Supporting graphics: a C made of medical icons, a pattern of Cs and crosses

· Core brand ideas: the cross, Health+, the OK gesture, Yikang+

Applications

· Office: staff passes and lanyards, business cards, envelopes, letterhead, folders

· Stores and promotion: posters, flyers, street banners, shopping bags, stickers, badges

· Extensions: coach livery, face masks, app icon

Mascot design

· Turnaround views and line drawings

· Six expressions: OK, laughing, angry, speechless, sad, making a heart

· Six scene poses

Looking back five years on

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Draw the service into the logo. Most pharmacy logos stop at a cross; the OK gesture lets this one say one more thing: you can leave it to us.

2. One shape, used again and again. The logo is a C, the supporting graphic is a C, the pattern is a C; wherever customers see this shape, they think of Yikang.

3. Let the mascot find its own life. Three years after delivery, the client officially introduced the young pharmacist and launched a naming contest; a good character can grow a life of its own inside a brand.

A pharmacy logo should tell customers one more thing besides the cross: here, you can rest easy.

How to verify

· Client: 西安怡康医药连锁有限责任公司 (www.ykyyls.com)

· Mascot: article by the official Yikang Pharmacy account on 5 September 2024, announcing the character and a naming contest

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3138.html

Further reading

· SOFAR Brand Character Xiaohang: Turning an Energy Technology Company into a Character People Remember (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3054.html)

· Growth Assistant Mascot: A Young Eagle That Grows Up with the Child (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3074.html)

· Maxine Health Brand Identity: An M and a Tick That Form One Heart (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3137.html)

FAQ

Who designed the Yikang Pharmacy logo?

The brand upgrade of Yikang Pharmacy (怡康医药, YIKANG PHARMACY) was completed by Xinming Design in 2021 for 西安怡康医药连锁有限责任公司, covering the logo, Chinese and English logotypes, supporting graphics, applications and a mascot.

What does the Yikang Pharmacy logo mean?

The logo combines an OK gesture, a medical cross and a capsule: the OK gesture forms the body of a C, a cross sits in its opening, and its lower end closes into the rounded end of a capsule. The OK stands for putting the customer first, the cross for the pharmacy, and the capsule for medicine.

Who designed the Yikang Pharmacy mascot?

The official character of Yikang Pharmacy was designed by Xinming Design in 2021: a young pharmacist with green hair in a white protective suit, with a red cross on the chest. Yikang Pharmacy introduced the character publicly in September 2024 with a naming contest, and it is still in use.

What is the name of the Yikang Pharmacy mascot?

No official name had been published at the time of this update. On 5 September 2024, the official Yikang Pharmacy account launched a contest to name the character.

What are the Yikang Pharmacy brand colours?

The identity uses deep blue as the main colour, with sky blue and bright yellow; the mascot uses the client's Yikang green.

Which organisations can learn from this case?

Pharmacy chains and medicine retailers; healthcare brands that need to show service and warmth as well as expertise; and community service brands that want a mascot to build long term relationships with customers.

Xinming Design is a brand systems design firm. Its work centres on systematic judgment, turning brand strategy into structures that can run and be inherited. www.xinming.sg