Client: Ocean Hyperbaric Neurologic Center, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL
Category: Logo for neurological rehabilitation facility
Introduction: OHNC, Dr. Neubauer and HBOT
The Ocean Hyperbaric Neurologic Center (OHNC) is a South Florida medical facility that uses hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to treat severe neurological injuries, such as Cerebral Palsy, birth defects, near-drownings, stroke, and traumas.
Richard Neubauer M.D. (1922-2007), who founded the OHNC and acted as its Medical Director for thirty-five years, is considered the “father” of HBOT for neurological rehabilitation. He earned a worldwide reputation for integrity and scientific rigor.
Here is an excellent ten minute video introduction to Dr. Neubauer and his pioneering use of HBOT, “The Recoverable Brain” (Parts 2 & 3 are located here and here).
My fulfillment of Dr. Neubauer’s long quest for a quality “HBO2” design
Starting in the early 1980s, Dr. Neubauer had attempted to come up with an innovative graphic icon to represent an acronym for hyperbaric oxygen: “HBO2.” He commissioned numerous designers through the years for this application, but was unsatisfied with the designs they submitted.
In 1999, Dr. Neubauer retained me to consult on all his marketing and public relations programs. One of the tasks he assigned to me was to design an icon for “HBO2.”
My design, above, was selected by OHNC, and integrated into all of its promotional and corporate identity materials.
Integration of the logo into a complicated new letterhead design
While the design of OHNC’s new business cards and envelopes was fairly straightforward, developing its new letterhead was far more complex, as Dr. Neubauer wished to incorporate so many design elements, including a long list of affiliated physicians and scientists.
After exploring dozens of design possibilities over several weeks, below is the letterhead design that I eventually arrived at (detail):
The following is an excerpt of the letter of recommendation that Dr. Neubauer wrote for me, shortly before I relocated from South Florida to Charlottesville:
“When I retained Jon, I had high hopes, but no expectations. Until that time, OHNC had been ill-served by its public relations and creative/media consultants. I feel this was primarily due to their inability to immerse themselves in and appreciate HBOT technology, the dire need for it to become a widely-available option in neurological rehabilitation, and the subtle nuances that an endeavor as challenging as ours necessitates.
“(In addition to re-crafting our website and documentary videos), Jon was able to come up with an ‘HBO2’ icon that was exactly what I had been looking for. Jon has proven to be an exceptionally valuable, multi-talented asset to OHNC in our global marketing and informational campaigns.”
– Richard A. Neubauer, M.D., Medical Director, Ocean Hyperbaric-Neurologic Center, December 14, 2002
Other media work that I performed for Dr. Neubauer
As Dr. Neubauer indicated, he applied my creative skills to a variety of other media tasks. Ultimately, I performed media consulting work for Dr. Neubauer on an as-needed basis, from 1999-2002. Highlights of this work include:
- Development of a graphic identity for “Neuro2,” a first-ever international symposium that the OHNC was organizing, on HBOT for neurorehabilitation.
- Redesigning and rewriting, on a rush-basis, a print ad for another OHNC symposium on pediatric neurorehabilitation.
- Deconstructing, rewriting and redesigning the architectural structure of the OHNC’s website.
- Deconstructing the OHNC’s existing patient case study videos, then reconstructing them from the ground up.
I consider it one of the great honors of my life to have had the opportunity to help advance Dr. Neubauer’s remarkable work, and to be able to call him a dear friend.
With Dr. Neubauer and his wife, Wink, at a healthcare-related festival that my magazine co-sponsored in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 2000.
Dr. Neubauer awarded me a “Most Responsive Consultant Ever” trophy
On May 23, 2000 Dr. Neubauer had me working on multiple projects, when an emergency arose with one of them that required urgent attention. He called me on my cell phone, and I was on my bicycle, on my way home, trying to beat an impending rain storm, but the situation sounded very serious and I detoured to the doctor’s office.
When I arrived there, Dr. Neubauer had a little impromptu ceremony for me with his staff, during which he handed me an impromptu trophy, for being the ‘Most Responsive Consultant Ever.’ Though it was funny at the time, I consider it a great honor to have been able to earn the trust of this man, who’d had his trust taken advantage of and exploited by so many in the recent past.
