Image Makeover At The ASA

Ever wonder what they do over at the American Society of Anesthesiologists headquarters besides counting money from membership fees and organizing office staff birthday parties? Apparently they have been busy with a new project at rebranding the society's image. If you are an ASA member, you should have received an email from Dr. James Grant, the society's president, explaining their new project.

Dr. Grant explains that the previous logo for the ASA, an ECG rhythm that shows a normal QRS complex fading into asystole superimposed over an igloo like image, didn't really represent all the work that anesthesiologists do to improve safety. Plus the logo looked ugly on computer and phone screens.

Therefore they have designed four new logos and asked the membership to help them choose. The email has a link to the survey. Here are the choices in case you haven't had a chance to fill out the survey.

Right off the bat, personally I would eliminate the lighthouse logo. If you google "lighthouse logo," you will see dozens of companies with logos that look very similar to that image. Nothing about it says anesthesiologists other than anesthesiologists like to go out sailing on weekends in their yachts and know how to navigate around lighthouses.

The red molecular structure looks like the ASA is some sort of molecular chemistry organization. I'm not sure how it pertains to our goals for patient safety and advocacy. If the ASA wants people to think we are just a bunch of nerds, this would be it. Otherwise I'll pass.

The last two are a bit more difficult for me to decide because they're both more abstract. The two triangles pointing at each other looks like some sort of point-counterpoint forces butting up against each other. Surgeons vs anesthesiologist? Anesthesiologist vs CRNA? I see tension and conflict there, not cooperation for a common goal to protect patient health.

The last one is the most abstract. The first thing I thought of when I saw it was the movie "The Matrix". You know the scenes with the waterfall of green digital data? Yeah that's what those random lines and dots remind me of. There is nothing wrong with the ASA trying to associate itself with one of the coolest sci fi movies in the last twenty years. But the severity of the abstraction may leave many people scratching their heads.

That's my two cents on our choices for a new ASA logo. Take part in this great democracy of ours and fill out the survey. I'm curious what the final choice will turn out to be, or if they even stick with these four designs.