By Arunima Rajan

Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, government health facilities are aiming to become more welcoming spaces by incorporating local art.

The bright yellow walls of the Ayushman Bharat Centre in Sikar, Rajasthan are impossible to miss. They stand out against the landscape, adorned with circular motifs featuring maroon tree-like patterns and intricate border designs that immediately evoke the region’s folk-art traditions. The building itself remains structurally simple, but the visual language wrapped around it now makes the facility inviting, a far cry from the unexceptional, institutional look it once had. This is exactly the kind of thoughtful intervention that India’s public health system needed.

For decades India’s medical facilities have been purely functional spaces, often unwelcoming and depressing. The visual identity created by Lopez Design changes that narrative completely.

In an exclusive conversation with Arunima Rajan, Anthony Lopez, founder of Lopez Designs, explores the transformative role of branding in healthcare, sharing how his design for Ayushman Bharat health centres integrates their region’s arts and crafts to create spaces that feel both familiar and dignified for local communities.

What was your initial reaction when you were tasked with reimagining the visual identity for Ayushman Bharat’s health centres — a project with both national reach and local impact?

Given our reputation for meaningful work, we were recommended by senior leadership within the Health Ministry. The briefing with the joint secretary was simple yet profound: “Design something beautiful for our health centres so that people come and access their facilities.”

From the start, I understood the gravity of this challenge. We weren’t just designing a visual identity system; we were shaping the way millions of Indians would experience healthcare. However, the deeper challenge lay in creating something that every Indian could relate to, something that felt local yet part of the national fabric. That realisation set the course for the journey that followed.

How did you find the balance between creating a cohesive, modern national brand and celebrating the varied traditional folk arts across India?

To be honest, I struggled with this question myself. The challenge I set for myself was daunting: How do we create something that every Indian, across languages, geographies, and cultures, sees as their own?

The more we explored, the more impossible the task seemed. We soon realised that no two health centres were identical. Their architecture varied dramatically — different shapes, different sizes, the only common elements being doors and windows. Any fixed branding approach felt limiting.

We had a short deadline of just 15 days. We first presented three conventional design solutions, but they felt uninspired, like something you’d see on a gift wrapper with generic “Indian” motifs. One of these was selected simply to meet the Prime Minister’s inauguration deadlines.

However, it left me very disturbed. Then, almost out of nowhere, I had an epiphany: What if the health centres themselves became living canvases for local artistry? Instead of a rigid, one-size-fits-all design, we could have a basic model parallel lines framing windows and doors filled with patterns from local artistic traditions, along with a circle depicting the facilities offered. The execution could then be handed over to village artists, making each health centre feel truly rooted in its own community.

The design operates on multiple levels:

Architectural Flexibility: Since each health centre was uniquely shaped and sized, a rigid template would not work on all. Instead of applying a generic pattern across buildings, we developed a design framework that could flexibly “wrap” around architectural elements such as doors and windows.
Cultural Diversity: The real innovation was in allowing local artists to incorporate their own traditional patterns within this framework, instantly making each centre feel local while maintaining a cohesive national identity.
Ease of Execution: The application rules were intentionally simple and easy to follow, ensuring that local artists across India could implement them effortlessly without needing specialized training. Initially, there was scepticism. This had never been done before. But deep down, I had unwavering confidence it would work.

Working with government agencies often comes with its own set of challenges. What were some of the unique obstacles you faced in this project, and how did you overcome them?

There are multiple factors at play. If selection were purely based on competence and capability, we would be working on many more government projects, which in turn would greatly benefit the nation and its people.

However, the process is not always straightforward. Government projects operate through a mix of formal tenders, strategic recommendations, and existing networks. The reality is that things don’t always move in a transparent, merit-based way.

That said, relevant, high-quality solutions and goodwill still make a big difference. If you consistently do impactful work, opportunities will find their way to you.

For this project, I was fortunate. There were no bureaucratic delays and no pushbacks. From the highest levels, there was alignment and clarity. The key lesson here? If you bring a sharp, well-thought-out solution to the table and take full ownership, government collaborations can be incredibly rewarding.

We started the work around the second week of March 2018, and the first health centre with the new visual branding was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on April 14, 2018. Once the design was finalised, the implementation took about 10–12 days, during which local painters were mobilised to execute it across various centres. We have worked on other government projects. One was designing the wayfinding system for the newly redeveloped central avenue in New Delhi and another was the branding for Bihar Museum.

The Ayushman Bharat initiative is as much about changing perceptions of healthcare as it is about service delivery. How does thoughtful design contribute to transforming public health experiences?

Design is perception. It can make a place feel dignified or neglected, welcoming or intimidating. In public healthcare, perception can be the difference between someone seeking treatment early versus ignoring symptoms. We often apply “systems thinking” to mass-scale design problems, assuming one size fits all. But that approach burns resources and results in impersonal, ineffective solutions.

Instead, by bringing in localised design — where each health centre visually resonates with its surrounding community — we create an environment where people feel comfortable and trust the space. Aesthetics, in this case, is not decoration; it is an invitation, all resulting in behaviour change.

Could you share an example of how local communities responded to the new visual identity? Were there any moments that particularly affirmed the choices you made?

I don’t yet have a structured qualitative impact study (though I am pushing for one). But I keep receiving photos from people I know — friends, colleagues, strangers — showing me the design executed in different regions, each with its own cultural variation. That, for me, is validation. Seeing these diverse expressions across the country tells me the approach worked.

In many ways, your work sits at the intersection of art, policy and public service. How do you see design shaping the future of public initiatives, not just in healthcare but across other areas of government service?

I am hugely optimistic about what design can do.

Designers are inherently sensitive to human needs and the environment. When we work on public initiatives, we are uniquely positioned to reframe the problem beyond how the commissioner defines it.

Most government projects struggle because they are addressing wicked problems —challenges that don’t have a clear or linear solution. The key to solving them lies in shifting perspectives, being stubbornly determined, and thinking beyond the constraints of the brief. And here’s the exciting part — when you bring the same money, same time, same expertise, and same commissioner but apply a radically better design approach, the results multiply manifold.

Design is not just about aesthetics. It is about impact.

Reflecting on this project, what lessons have you learned that might influence how future public health or government projects approach design and branding?

This project is one of a kind. It stands out simply because very few government projects have explored design at this level. But there’s so much more that can be done. The real opportunity is for the government to engage designers earlier in the process. Instead of treating design as an afterthought, they should integrate it into how policies and programs are shaped. For me, this project is not just a case study, it is an advocacy tool. I use it to push for meaningful, people-first design thinking across both public and private sectors.

What do you hope will be the lasting impact of this visual branding?

On one level, I hope it brings dignity and warmth to public healthcare spaces, making people feel seen and valued.

But on a deeper level, I see this as a glimpse into a larger possibility: A world where indigenous cultures, local craftsmanship, and technological advancements can coexist, where communities can stay rooted in their traditions while still receiving world-class services. The future doesn’t have to be a homogenised global village. Instead, technology should enable hyper-local solutions that nourish people’s identities. If we get this right, we will transform not just healthcare but how governments and private sector serve communities in a way that truly honours who they are.

Got a story that Healthcare Executive should dig into? Shoot it over to arunima.rajan@hosmac.com—no PR fluff, just solid leads.

Banking on design