Curious Therapist
Project Overview
Curious Therapist is an innovative platform aimed at empowering mental health professionals by providing a library of courses to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from the content they’re already consuming. Their mission is to simplify the complexities of staying current in a fast-evolving field while also supporting self-care, inclusivity, and professional growth. This project involved crafting a full brand identity (logo suite, brand guide), web design, custom illustration assets, and a suite of branded materials including a letterhead and Google Slides template.
Challenges
Curious Therapist needed a unique brand identity that would resonate with mental health professionals, reflect their values of curiosity, growth, and inclusivity, and position them as a trustworthy, approachable resource in the mental health community. Additionally, the brand needed to clearly communicate its educational focus and affordable, accessible approach to earning CEUs.
Objectives
Simplifying the Process: Develop a seamless, user-friendly website that makes earning CEUs from everyday content easy and accessible. Design branded materials and a Google Slides template to support the platform's educational content delivery.
Building Trust: Create a comprehensive brand identity that includes a logo suite and a mini brand guide. Convey trust, curiosity, and growth through a strong yet approachable visual identity.
Community-Centered: Design interactive brand elements, such as custom illustrations, and a feedback-friendly platform. Design a website to support ongoing community input, ensuring that Curious Therapist evolves based on user needs.
Research & Discovery
The project kicked off with a deep dive into the mental health field, understanding the specific pain points therapists face when trying to balance client care, professional development, and personal well-being. A detailed review of the client’s brand questionnaire revealed the core values of curiosity, inclusivity, growth, and excellence that would become central to the visual identity. Through competitive research, we identified a need for a professional yet approachable tone that stood out from typical academic or corporate educational platforms.
Process Highlights:
Discovery Call: We explored the project’s mission, target audience, and key challenges to ensure alignment in vision.
Research & Moodboarding: Inspiration was drawn from educational platforms and peer networks, as well as symbols associated with learning and growth.
Collaborative Touchpoints: Regular updates were provided during logo development, web design drafts, and illustration creation to ensure the brand voice and values were maintained throughout.
Design Decisions
Logo: The Curious Therapist logo features a simple yet impactful design, pairing a clean, modern typeface with a strong visual metaphor. A question mark, symbolizing curiosity, is integrated into a lightbulb icon, representing the idea that curiosity leads to growth and excellence. The logo is approachable yet professional, making it easy for therapists to identify with. The orange rays extending from the bulb represent bright ideas and the excitement of learning, while maintaining simplicity for recognizability across various media.
Color Palette: The color palette is warm and inviting, with shades of orange and blue conveying trust, energy, and creativity. Orange was chosen to symbolize curiosity and innovation, while the calm blues balance the palette, providing a sense of reliability and professionalism.
Typography: The typeface is clear, legible, and slightly unique, ensuring readability while standing out from competitors. It reflects the brand’s desire to be both accessible and trustworthy, blending a welcoming tone with professional authority.
Symbol: The question mark is cleverly integrated into the lightbulb, serving as a visual metaphor for curiosity leading to growth and new ideas. The orange rays radiating from the bulb emphasize the potential for discovery and learning, perfectly aligning with Curious Therapist’s mission to support mental health professionals in their continuous development.
Web Design: The web design followed a user-first approach, focusing on simplicity, ease of navigation, and clean design to ensure therapists can easily explore courses, sign up for CEUs, and access community-driven content. Special attention was given to mobile responsiveness and an intuitive interface, enabling users to seamlessly interact with the platform across all devices. Custom illustration assets were incorporated throughout the site to reinforce the brand’s friendly, supportive tone.
Deliverables
Brand Identity: Logo suite, brand guidelines
Custom Illustrations: Custom branded illustrations to use across socials and marketing materials
Website Design: Clean, intuitive user experience optimized for mobile and desktop
Branded Materials: Letterhead, Google Slides template, and social media assets
Results
Curious Therapist now has a cohesive, professional brand identity that aligns with its mission of supporting mental health professionals through affordable and accessible education. The logo is memorable and versatile, allowing it to be used effectively across a wide range of applications, from social media to branded materials. The custom illustrations enhance the brand’s unique visual appeal, creating an engaging user experience on the website and beyond.
The Curious Therapist project was a success, demonstrating the power of thoughtful, intentional design in creating a brand that not only looks great but also resonates with its audience. By focusing on simplicity, curiosity, and community, this brand identity and website will help therapists grow both personally and professionally while making the process of earning CEUs more enjoyable and accessible.
“Katie has been an absolutely incredible partner. Her creativity, organization, follow-through and responsiveness were top-notch, and she was fun to work with, to boot! She went above and beyond to ensure I was happy with the results, and worked hard to make the process easier wherever possible. I'm so proud of the Curious Therapist brand and how it reflects our personality and core values. She is a professional in every sense of the word, and I can't recommend her enough!"
— Melissa Quackenbush, LCSW | Founder, Curious Therapist
