Magnifying the impact of a healthcare trailblazer through meaningful brand development

Vaka Health Foundation is an Australian social enterprise with an African social footprint, using scalable mobile technology to deliver education and technical training to address African healthcare challenges.

Targeting approximately 450,000 frontline nurses and midwives to deliver better health outcomes for 220 million people in east and southern Africa, Vaka Health is addressing a growing global problem – the lack of nurses, midwives, health services and chronic under-investment in ongoing training and education. Importantly, Vaka Health offers the Australian mining industry an accredited and proven model they can invest in for the advancement of healthcare and empowerment of nurses and midwives in Africa.

We were honoured to put forward our creative expertise to support Vaka Health’s new visual identity, seeking to truly capture the essence of their mission and raise their profile in a competitive market for funds.

Our goal was to create a memorable and distinctive identity that visually encapsulates the philosophy of Vaka Health. The rebrand would play a significant role in elevating Vaka’s perception amongst their peers, aiming to reinforce their credibility and social footprint to position them as a quality investment for potential investors and funding institutions.

To kickstart the redevelopment of the brand, we sat down with Vaka Health to better understand their mission and purpose. We were inspired by their determination and cause – to address gaps in nursing and midwifery education in Africa and prepare them for action. Distilling the essence of their purpose into a brand was something we were excited to instigate.

To refine the brand whilst preserving its foundation, we prioritised:

• Repositioning the aesthetic to portray Vaka Health as professional, accessible, transformative, caring, ground-breaking and innovative
• Visually exploring the representation of Africa beyond a literal interpretation through colours and textures
• Considering different visual approaches to represent transformation.

‘Vaka’ is a word widely understood across the African continent and translates to ‘build’ or ‘develop’. We introduced a fingerprint texture to the logo, to create a motif that is a symbolic representation of the foundation’s unique and transformative personal solution.

Retaining the brand’s original earthy tones, we expanded this with a complimentary colour palette to vibrantly express the foundation’s deep connection to African culture and community.

Memorable, distinctive and impactful – these three key themes shaped the development of Vaka’s new brand.

To tie all the brand’s visual assets together, we rolled out a suite of stationery, including a PowerPoint Template, letterhead, e-signatures and business cards – all designed to help Vaka present a professional front for prospective investors and clients.

When Africa Down Under 2023 rolled around, we harnessed the new brand to create a stunning ESG Investor Brochure and exciting and eye-catching booth banner to target the interest of Australian mining operators in Africa for investment.