When you think of medical ID jewellery, one symbol probably comes to mind: the Star of Life.
The familiar blue, six-pointed star contains the Rod of Asclepius, a single snake wrapped around a staff. The Rod of Asclepius has been associated with medicine and healing for centuries and remains widely used across healthcare today.
It is instantly medical. And that was also our challenge.
At Asper London, we wanted to create a medical ID symbol that draws on this history, while feeling considered enough to become part of a piece of jewellery you would genuinely choose to wear every day.
What does the Asper London symbol mean?
The Asper London medical ID symbol is a snake shaped into a figure of eight, bringing together two ideas at the heart of the brand.
The snake references the Rod of Asclepius and its long association with medicine and healing.
The figure of eight represents continuity and eternity. For us, it speaks to life, care and resilience.
Together, they create Asper's own medical ID emblem: rooted in medical symbolism, but designed for modern life.
Why create a new medical ID symbol?
Traditional medical alert jewellery has an important purpose: helping communicate that a wearer has medical information that may be relevant in an emergency.
But it can also feel overtly clinical.
We wanted to explore whether those two things really had to go hand in hand.
Could a medical ID symbol have meaning without dominating the jewellery?
Could it feel recognisable without feeling like a label?
And could someone choose to wear it because they loved the piece itself, as well as the reassurance behind it?
That balance became central to the design of Asper London.
Why are Asper London's colours red and blue?
The same thinking extends to our visual identity.
Red and blue have long associations with medicine, healthcare and emergency response, and both colours are found throughout the visual language of healthcare around the world.
Rather than moving away from that heritage, Asper's branding draws from it.
Our use of red and blue references the medical world Asper belongs to, while the way we use those colours is distinctly Asper: contemporary, considered and designed to sit comfortably alongside jewellery and fashion.
It is another meeting point between our two worlds.
Medical purpose and considered design.
A symbol designed to become recognised
Creating the Asper emblem is only the beginning.
A medical ID symbol has value when people understand what it represents. Our longer-term ambition is therefore to build awareness around the Asper symbol and what sits behind it.
When someone sees the emblem, we want them to understand that the wearer has a digital Medical ID that can be accessed through their Asper jewellery.
And for the person wearing it, we want it to remain what we intended from the beginning: discreet, elegant and personal.
A medical ID symbol designed to be recognised, on jewellery designed to be worn.
What do you see when you look at the Asper symbol? Does it strike the right balance between medical recognition and design?
