The Bar We Hold
Before anything ships, it passes one test: would you be proud to see it on the desk of the CMO of a billion-dollar luxury brand? If the honest answer is "it's fine, it'll do," it goes back to the table. Our work sits alongside Aman, La Mer, and Four Seasons, not alongside other med spas.
Intentional, Not Decorative
Every element has a job. Nothing is on the page because the space looked empty.
White Space Is a Feature
Luxury breathes. Aim for 30 to 40 percent open space on any surface.
One Idea Per Surface
A slide, a card, a page: one clear thought. If you need two, build two.
Color Is Rationed
Saturated brand color is an accent, never a fill. Hold the 70 / 20 / 10 rule.
Photography Is Editorial
No stock smiles, no clipart. SOH-produced imagery, or none at all.
Detail at Every Scale
Curly quotes, consistent spacing, clean hierarchy. The small things are the brand.
The Mark
The hex is the warrior within: the geometry of protection and the architecture of restoration. The gradient flows from SOH Pink straight to SOH Teal with no purple in between. Always use the official file. Never recreate or redraw it.
- Use the official transparent PNG, every time
- Light-text version on dark backgrounds
- Dark-text version on white or cream
- Keep clear space around it (at least 25% of its height)
- Keep the mark pink to teal in every version
- Recreate, redraw, or approximate the mark
- Place it on a brand-color fill (not enough contrast)
- Stretch, skew, rotate, or recolor it
- Add drop shadows or effects
- Shrink it below readable size
Four Colors, One System
Saturated brand color is a reward for the eye, not a fill. The discipline of rationing color is the discipline of luxury.
The One Approved Gradient
Pink to teal, reserved for one hero moment per surface. There is no purple or plum stop in between. A lavender gradient is not on brand and is never used.
The 70 / 20 / 10 Rule
Most of any surface is calm and neutral. A little is muted depth. Only a sliver is saturated brand color. This ratio is what makes the color feel expensive instead of loud.
SOH Teal is bright. It belongs on dark backgrounds, as text, icons, or accents, like the label above. On light backgrounds, teal-family text uses Dark Teal so it stays readable. Never put white text on light teal, and never place a cream element on a cream background. When in doubt, dark box with light text, or light card with dark text.
How We Set Type
Hierarchy, tracking, and weight are how a brand speaks softly. Our headings are Gotham (Montserrat on the web). Body is Roboto Light. No script fonts anywhere; the cursive "of" in the logo is locked logo art, not a font we type with.
- Bigger is better; minimum 16px body, never tiny
- Left-align body and lists, always
- Curly quotes and en dashes for ranges
- A list after a colon becomes real bullet points
- ALL CAPS headings with letter-spacing
- Em dashes anywhere; rewrite with a colon, comma, or period
- Script or novelty fonts in any material
- Centered or justified body text
- More than two typefaces on a surface
- Exclamation points in body copy
How We Sound
Write like a physician who can also write: precise, calm, never breathless. Our voice blends three archetypes, dialed to the moment. The Sage carries authority, the Magician shows transformation, the Caregiver brings warmth.
| Context | Sage | Magician | Caregiver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical / CME / Research | 70% | 10% | 20% |
| Patient Education | 40% | 30% | 30% |
| Marketing & Social | 25% | 50% | 25% |
| Internal Team Comms | 30% | 20% | 50% |
Words We Use
Words We Avoid
We lead with patient outcomes, not modality names. We never say "studies show" without a citation, and we never present manufacturer marketing as evidence. We treat the soil before we plant the seed.
The Image Standard
Editorial, honest, quiet. Our imagery should look like it belongs in Architectural Digest or Kinfolk, not on a stock site. If an image could appear on any med spa's homepage, it does not belong on ours.
- SOH-produced photography from Shannon's shoots
- Soft, natural light from north windows or golden hour
- Editorial framing; subject not staring at the camera
- Real skin texture, minimal retouching
- Quiet detail: hands, instruments, light, the space
- Stock smiles and lab-coat-pointing-at-a-monitor shots
- Gloved hands holding a syringe (the most overused image in aesthetics)
- Heavy filters, oversaturation, vignettes
- Fake lab or green-screen environments
- Before/after pairs with mismatched lighting
No Claim Without a Source
Every clinical claim in SOH content is backed by peer-reviewed evidence. This is what separates us from the rest of aesthetic medicine, and from most of integrative medicine too. We never fabricate citations and we never present manufacturer marketing as proof.
01 · Strongest
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Cochrane, JAMA, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, JCEM, Endocrine Reviews.
02 · Strong
Randomized controlled trials. PubMed-indexed, peer-reviewed, with sample size and methodology disclosed.
03 · Acceptable
Prospective cohort studies and large case series in peer-reviewed journals with defined endpoints.
04 · Supporting
Authoritative clinical guidelines and consensus statements from recognized medical bodies.
If we are not confident in a source, we leave the claim out. A quiet, accurate statement always beats a bold, unsupported one.
The Quick Checklist
Run anything with the SOH name on it through this before it ships: an email, a post, a flyer, a document.
- Is the logo the official file, correctly placed, with clear space?
- Colors rationed 70 / 20 / 10, with at most one gradient moment?
- Headings in Montserrat caps, body in Roboto Light, left-aligned, 16px or larger?
- Zero em dashes, curly quotes, no exclamation points in body copy?
- No beige on beige, no white text on light teal?
- Any clinical claim has a real source behind it?
- Generous white space, one clear idea, nothing decorative?
When something passes all of this, it's ready. When it doesn't, the answer is never to lower the bar. It's to do the work again. Be Radiant. Be Well. Be You.