Why Open Hand Health looks the way it does
Open Hand Health is a free clinic site with a clean blue-green palette, a split hero and a trust strip with visits, volunteer clinicians and a $0 cost. It is calm and clear, because patients arrive worried.
- Built for
- Uninsured and underinsured neighbours looking for care, volunteer doctors and nurses, and funders.
- Navigation
- Sticky frosted bar with the full menu and a Give button. On phones, a bottom tab bar plus a quick-links launcher.
- Pages
- Home, About, Visit, Services, Stories, Events, Give, Contact
- Hero
- Headline beside a framed photo, with a small inset and the next-gathering chip.
Typography
Manrope at extra bold sets the headline at about 85 pixels. It is a modern, balanced sans that looks professional, and it keeps figures clear. Inter handles body text and forms. The pairing looks like a modern clinic's materials, without being cold.
Colour
The page is pale blue-white (#F6FAFB) with deep teal text (#14313A), clinical teal (#0E7490) for buttons and a soft coral (#F28F6B) accent. The hero sits on a light aqua. The dark theme uses a brighter cyan (#57C1DC). Teal is a familiar health colour and coral adds a human note.
Layout and navigation
A white bar has a teal logo tile, six links and a teal Give button. Below the hero is a stats strip, then outlined service cards with square-ish corners. The layout is orderly, with each service in its own box and consistent spacing.
The hero
The hero is split. 'Quality care, free for neighbors who need it.' fills four lines, followed by a sentence on primary care, dental days and prescription help. On the right is a tall photo of a clinician's coat and a patient's hands holding a phone, with a smaller photo of two colleagues overlapping. A chip shows the next primary care session.
Calls to action
'Book a visit' is a teal button and 'Volunteer clinicians' is outlined. Booking is the patient's task, and volunteering is the supporter's. Both appear before the fold.
Photography
The main photo is cropped tight on hands and a stethoscope, which keeps patients anonymous. A real clinic should avoid pictures of identifiable patients, because health information is private. Portraits of volunteer clinicians would build trust.
Accessibility
Dark teal on pale blue is about 13 to 1 and white on the teal button about 5.4 to 1. The phrase 'no bill, ever' is stated plainly. Forms should use clear labels and not rely on colour, which a real build must check.
Type system
- DisplayManropeManrope looks capable and calm, which is the impression a clinic needs to give in its first headline.
- TextInterInter is highly legible at small sizes, which matters for forms, hours and eligibility notes.
Colour and contrast
Each text pairing is checked against WCAG 2.2 in both themes. Ratios are computed from the exact theme colours.
