Bringing Pfizer’s purpose to life through design.

Pfizer began a new chapter in the company’s history with renewed momentum and a clear ambition. With an expanded commitment to combating cancer and accelerating breakthroughs in oncology, Pfizer is expanding its impact in some of the most urgent areas of global health. Following its globally recognized leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pfizer recognized the moment as a chance to sharpen how its purpose is expressed and experienced—by more clearly linking the Pfizer name to the innovations and products changing patients’ lives every day.

This was not about rebuilding Pfizer’s identity. It was about creating cohesion – a more effective, patient-centered experience across a brand ecosystem typical of the pharmaceutical industry: complex, decentralized, and shaped by regulation as much as communication. The goal was to build connective tissue, visual, verbal, and strategic—that could bring coherence and elegance to a global organization, while supporting the agility required in a highly regulated, fast-moving industry.

The result is a brand system built to instill confidence, scale alongside scientific progress, and enable design to serve as the connective infrastructure. It aligns the masterbrand and its diverse DTC brands through a framework that respects both regulatory demands and emotional resonance, bringing consistency without compromising nuance.

A purpose to anchor the system.

Pentagram’s partnership with Pfizer began with Pfizer’s purpose. When the work began, the brand already had a guiding philosophy at its core: Breakthroughs that change people’s lives. Pfizer leadership introduced this purpose as a north star for the brand, and it molded the company’s strategic direction and cultural priorities long before any creative expression emerged.

It was also a case of exceptional leadership courage. This project marked Pfizer’s first formal brand and design system—an ambitious step that demanded clarity, commitment, and belief in the power of design to unify without diluting. The decision to undertake such a transformation wasn’t just internal; it reflected Pfizer’s intent to show up differently in the world, clearer to patients, more consistent to healthcare professionals, and more inspiring to scientific communities and partners alike. It was also about using design to improve the experience itself: helping people better understand complex science, navigate essential health information, and feel more empowered in their care.

We worked together to define a brand personality that reflected Pfizer’s four values—Courage, Excellence, Equity, and Joy, translating them into expressive traits: Daring, Focused, Compassionate, and Spirited. These traits provided the foundation for a consistent voice and visual system across the organization. Each trait was transformed into a practical advantage, directing how teams write, talk, and design throughout the enterprise.

Brand architecture without homogenization.

Pfizer’s portfolio includes hundreds of products spanning dozens of therapeutic categories. Each DTC brand has its own audience, considerations, and voice. The visual identity system had to be scalable but never generic.

Our solution was not to impose a single identity, but to develop a shared infrastructure. The approach was designed to allow each product brand to maintain autonomy while clearly identifying with the Pfizer ecosystem. This entailed designing and engineering the foundational elements of the visual identity system: typography, color, photography, iconography, data visualization, and illustration—each built to balance distinctiveness and cohesion across applications and audiences. Each component was built from the ground up to balance flexibility with precision, allowing product brands to communicate effectively while maintaining alignment with the masterbrand..

Two typefaces. One voice. Made to connect.

Pfizer’s new identity system is built around a two-typeface approach that strikes a balance between brand coherence and expressive flexibility.

Pfizer Tomorrow™, a bespoke typeface based on the Pfizer wordmark, captures the essence of the masterbrand. It is kind, classic, and humanist, indicating a corporation founded on science but driven by humanity. It serves as the foundation for brand-level messaging and corporate communications.

Complementing this is Dinamo’s Pfizer Diatype, a versatile superfamily with over 76 styles and compatibility for 200+ languages. Diatype serves as a connective tissue for Pfizer’s DTC portfolio, providing enough typographic breadth to fulfill the particular needs of each product while achieving subtle harmony throughout the system.

Together, these typefaces connect Pfizer’s masterbrand and DTC portfolio, delivering clarity, consistency, and compliance across every touchpoint.

A visual toolkit designed for clarity and care.

Along with the typographic system, we created an expanded visual toolset focused on clarity, trust, and warmth. Photography was updated to emphasize authenticity: actual patients, real hospital settings, and natural light. Eight types of photographs were created to guide usage across channels, ranging from close-ups of medical devices to moments of human care.

Illustrations also played an important role. A new visual language was created that combined 2D and 3D designs and was based on geometric forms such as circles, squares, and ovals to represent science, people, and medicine. 2D was employed to depict behavior and interaction. 3D was limited to product and educational material. Iconography followed suit, with icons inspired by the Pfizer Tomorrow font that were intelligible, warm, and scalable, allowing them to be used in a variety of digital applications, including navigation and infographics.

Data visualization was another critical component. We designed a comprehensive system adapting elements from the broader visual toolkit to shape charts and graphs that make complexity accessible. Following a data storytelling strategy phase, we designed more than 20 chart and infographic templates, ranging from highly custom data viz models to more standard chart templates. Rounded forms, simplified color hierarchies, and consistent typography all work together to build trust, especially in moments where clarity matters most.

Color was refined to maintain Pfizer’s iconic blue while introducing a flexible secondary palette. We identified key hues across the color spectrum to provide DTC brands with a curated range of options. This approach maintains flexibility and expression while preventing inconsistency or visual drift, offering room for individuality without abandoning unity.

Motion was developed as a natural extension of the system—used to support meaning rather than decoration. From transitions that enable audiences to follow difficult text, to gestural loops stressing important interactions, animation behaviors were created to highlight clarity, pace, and accessibility. The motion language reflects Pfizer’s personality—Daring, Focused, Compassionate, and Spirited—and provides continuity across video, digital interfaces, and product experiences.

From guidelines to global rollout.

This identity system was designed for real-world application and may be deployed across the company’s various touchpoints.

Nowhere was this more critical than in the direct-to-consumer space. We developed a complete website UX and UI system to serve as a flexible yet standardized template for product brands. The new system harmonizes visual identity, content structure, accessibility standards, and technical information delivery—ensuring consistency across brands while allowing room for differentiation.

We worked closely with Pfizer teams across brand, marketing, compliance, and regulatory to verify that all guidelines could be implemented in real-world scenarios. The new method was implemented on websites, apps, packaging, videos, and internal platforms. Templates and toolkits enabled teams to move quickly, remain consistent, and confidently convey their identity.

Most critically, the system was designed to grow. The new brand identity can now evolve — not just alongside scientific progress, but alongside the patients, caregivers, and communities it was always meant to serve. A breakthrough, after all, is only as meaningful as the clarity with which it reaches the people who need it.