This month, we’re back in the field rebranding health services with Common Thread, spotlighting financial inclusion at UX Pakistan, and teaming up with HUED to shape innovation in the Gulf. Plus, dive into our full-cycle rebrand for PureVPN! 🚀

🗓️ This Month at Ideate

• Back to the Field: We kicked off fieldwork with Common Thread to test branding directions for integrated healthcare services in Pakistan. This phase focuses on understanding user perceptions and aligning visual identity with the realities of care access. The goal? A brand that’s not only recognizable but trusted by the communities it serves.

• Talking Design, Inclusion & Impact: At UX Pakistan (April 19–20), our designers Umair and Yahya shared the stage for a session titled "Pixels, Payments and People: Bridging the Financial Divide", diving into how thoughtful design can expand financial access.

• Designing for Dialogue: Our Dissecting Design series returned with a special edition for International Design Day. In a virtual session titled "Designing Systems for Dialogue" by Umair Abbasi, we explored how design can enable meaningful conversations in complex systems.

• New Collaborations in the Gulf: We’ve joined hands with HUED, Saudi Arabia’s leading service design agency, to co-develop an end-to-end innovation process management system for an upcoming Innovation Lab. Together, we’re embedding service design into the very DNA of innovation for public impact.

We’re looking forward to what the next month brings us!

🔎 Project Spotlight 

A Full-Cycle Brand Redesign for a Digital Privacy Pioneer

When PureVPN, a Singapore-based digital privacy company, approached us for a full rebrand, the task was clear—but complex: create a fresh, future-facing identity without alienating a loyal user base. As an established name in internet privacy, PureVPN needed a brand that reflected its new strategic direction while staying true to its core values of trust, safety, and innovation.

We kicked off the process with deep research into the global VPN landscape, followed by brand workshops to help stakeholders reimagine PureVPN’s purpose and positioning. From there, we moved into iterative visual ideation—exploring and refining design directions through a collaborative, feedback-driven process. But this rebrand went beyond visuals. We also helped define PureVPN’s brand personality, tone of voice, and messaging system—culminating in a comprehensive brand book to guide all future communication.

The result? A user-centric, modern identity that stays rooted in PureVPN’s legacy of privacy and security. With a refreshed visual language and aligned internal direction, PureVPN is now better equipped to lead in the rapidly evolving world of digital privacy. Read the full case on our website here.

If you're exploring a rebrand or evolving your product identity, reach out to [email protected]—we'd love to chat!

🍪 Bite-sized Insights

• Before diving into visual design for Pure, we prioritized a comprehensive landscape study of the international VPN market as a strategic foundation. This research illuminated industry trends, user perceptions of online safety, and emerging opportunities. The insights gained were instrumental in guiding PureVPN's rebranding strategy, ensuring alignment with market expectations and user needs.​

• The global VPN market is experiencing significant growth, projected to expand from $50.9 billion in 2023 to $137.7 billion by 2030. This surge is driven by heightened awareness of cybersecurity threats, stricter data protection regulations, and the increase in remote working. Such trends underscore the importance of aligning brand strategies with evolving market dynamics.¹

🍿 This Month’s Top Picks

📖 Reading: “The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World” by Jacqueline Novogratz

📺 Watching: Conclave

📻 Listening to: Lore by Aaron Mahnke

📣 Community Shoutouts

Designing better public services means starting with better tools—and that’s exactly what Digital Design Nizam by Code for Pakistan delivers. 🛠️ This open-source design system is built to empower designers and developers in Pakistan to create inclusive, citizen-centric digital products that reflect both global best practices and local context. Digital Design Nizam aims to offer a unified, modern framework for building services that are usable, accessible, and locally relevant.

Whether you're part of a civic tech initiative, working with the public or development sector, or building tools for government services—this toolkit is for you!

📘 Get started here, or 🎨 Explore the Figma UI Kit!

📮 Let’s Work Together

At Ideate, collaboration isn’t just a value—it’s at the heart of everything we do. Whether you’re looking to collaborate or want to explore how human-centered design can help your work, we’re all ears. Let’s brainstorm together:

Ali Murtaza, Partner & Chief Design Officer– [email protected]

Or write to us on Instagram or LinkedIn! We're excited to see how we can work together.

¹ Virtual Private Network (VPN) - Global Strategic Business Report