Watershed Wellness: A Grounded and Inviting Identity for a Holistic Health Clinic

Watershed Wellness, a respected holistic health clinic in Portland, Oregon, came to my agency ShiftFWD to refresh their brand identity and digital presence. They had outgrown their original look and needed a system that reflected their deep expertise, thoughtful care, and unique blend of Eastern and Western healing modalities.

The challenge was to develop a brand that felt both rooted and expansive—trustworthy yet calming—while helping them stand out in a crowded wellness space.

Key goals:

• Develop a holistic brand system that could support digital, print, and physical environments.
• Improve user experience and structure on their website to better showcase their diverse services.
• Create business cards that aligned with the new identity while offering a tactile, memorable experience.

To guide the design direction, we started by deeply immersing ourselves in the ethos of the Watershed team and their patient base. This meant understanding not just what they do, but how they want people to feel when they engage with the brand.

Research activities included:

• Discovery sessions with the founders to uncover their vision, values, and business goals.
• Brand positioning analysis in the Portland wellness scene to identify white space opportunities.
• Tone and story development to shape how the brand should communicate visually and verbally.

Key insights:

• The clinic’s approach to care was comprehensive and deeply human-centered—but their previous brand didn’t reflect that level of sophistication.
• Their clients valued both professional expertise and emotional connection—calmness, warmth, and clarity were recurring themes.

We designed a flexible and serene brand identity that reflected Watershed Wellness’ core values: depth, expertise, and compassion. Our approach was to create a timeless design system that felt both modern and naturally grounded.

Design solutions included:

• A sophisticated wordmark paired with a custom, symbolic logomark inspired by flowing water and natural cycles.
• A calming, earthy color palette rooted in soft blues, grays, and neutrals to reinforce wellness and balance.
• A clean, editorial-style website that simplified navigation, showcased services, and highlighted practitioner bios and philosophies.
• Tactile, elegant business cards that conveyed professionalism while nodding to the natural textures of the Pacific Northwest.

• The logomark reflects the name “Watershed” both metaphorically and literally—symbolizing change, flow, and deep healing.
• Typography and layout choices promote a sense of ease and spaciousness, especially important in the healthcare space.
• The website structure was carefully refined to help patients find services and book appointments with minimal friction.

The process was collaborative, intentional, and paced to allow for strategy-led iteration. We worked closely with the Watershed team to ensure the brand truly reflected their mission and could grow with them over time.

Key stages:

• Brand strategy and storybook development to align visual direction with core messaging.
• Logo sketching and refinement, including symbolic exploration of natural motifs.
• Prototyping website pages to test layout flow and optimize for mobile-first usage.
• Iterative feedback rounds that helped fine-tune the tone, balance, and information hierarchy.

Notable iterations:

• Adjusted logo forms to create better scalability and legibility across signage, web, and print.
• Refined practitioner profile layout to emphasize personal connection and expertise equally.
• Simplified homepage call-to-actions to reduce cognitive load for new users.

Final Solution

The final identity and website for Watershed Wellness feel both trustworthy and deeply calming—just like their approach to care. Every touchpoint, from the homepage to the business cards, reinforces their holistic philosophy and supports a smooth patient experience.

Key features:

• A cohesive visual system that works across digital, print, and physical touchpoints.
• A mobile-friendly, SEO-optimized WordPress site with simplified navigation and clear service pathways.
• Custom business cards printed on textured stock with subtle debossing to enhance tactility and memorability.

• Improved patient engagement: The new site structure made it easier for users to explore services and understand the care journey.
• Increased bookings: Clear CTAs and improved user experience contributed to a measurable bump in appointment requests.
• Brand alignment: Watershed Wellness finally had a brand that visually expressed the depth, trust, and care they’re known for in person.

This project reminded me of how crucial emotional resonance is in wellness branding—and how much it can support trust and long-term relationships.