My dad was having surgery last week at the Mayo Clinic, and as you often do in situations like that, I found myself with quite a bit of time on my hands while waiting around the hospital. I started to notice there were at least three versions of the Mayo Clinic logo. After some research I found that they’d gone through some rebranding over the last few years—going from a sans serif typeface in their logo to a classic serif. Couldn’t quite identify the typeface used for it. Appears to closely resemble Palatino Roman, but maybe with a “Y” from a different typeface swapped in.
Almost all traces of the sans serif logo were gone—exceptions seemed to be on items it would cost a lot to change, like automated lobby doors. Most of the signage directing you around the hospital featured the same serif typeface as the current logo.
This handicapped sign in the parking garage of St. Mary’s Hospital caught my eye. Wouldn’t have thought much of it except that I recognized the capital “Q” as being from the Avant Garde typeface (has that distinctive curly tail). Avant Garde seems like such clean, modern typeface that I was surprised to see it blend in so well surroundings with its surroundings.
