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The metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly: That’s the

metaphor at the center of the ProBeauty identity created by Braue

of Bremerhaven, Germany. It’s a common concept, but Braue

designers used production values and color to push the idea past

the commonplace.

A start-up company founded by thirteen doctors and specialists,

ProBeauty’s staff perform cosmetic surgery and administer beau-

ty and wellness treatments. Its typical customer is an average

person who wants to get rid of a pound here or there, have a tat-

too removed, or have a face-lift.

But even though the company provides surgical services, its own-

ers wanted to de-emphasize that. Instead, they wanted to give

the emotional aspects of the business more weight. Surgery feels

cold and clinical to consumers, but wellness and beauty treat-

ments defin

itely feel warmer.

Color was at the center of making this combination of disparate

elements succeed. After conducting extensive research on the

subject, art director Marcel Robbers knew which direction they

had to go in.

“When you want to suggest something surgical, green implies

medicine and competence,” he explains. “Orange implies wellness

and health. So we weighted the entire program toward the warm

tones—it’s much more emotional.” Green typically is a cool color,

so the designers switched to a warmer light green. “The combina-

ti

on of the light green and orange was unique,” Robbers adds.

Then a butterfly entered the scene. “It is the ideal example of a liv-

ing brand,” Robbers says.

In designs advertising the company’s services, a butterfly is

depicted on the part of the human body that the subject being

discussed involves. For instance, when tattoo removal is

explained, the butterfly appears on a photo of an upper arm.

The most dramatic manifestation of the butterfly in print is in a

“winged” folder design. Meant to hold handouts, estimates,

brochures, proposals, and anything else the company might mail

or distribute, large butterfly wi

ngs unfurl when the folder is

opened. The folder is sized so it can be easily and discreetly

tucked into a handbag.

“The company’s philosophy, translated loosely from German, is, ‘We

unfold your beauty,’” Robbers explains. “Showing the butterfly

wings coming into their full beauty put the living brand into action.”

ProBeauty

Corporate Identity

Braue; Branding and Corporate Design, Bremerhaven, Germany

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