From outdated website to digital ecosystem for integrated medicine
Stefano Manera is a surgeon specialized in anesthesia and intensive care, a psychotherapist and a practitioner of integrated and functional medicine. He works between Milan and Prato, helping people with chronic symptoms, inflammation, gut disorders and an unbalanced immune system get back to deep, lasting wellbeing. His approach brings together microbiota, nutrition and the mind-body relationship, treating the root causes of illness instead of just managing symptoms.
Stefano already had a website and a brand, but both were outdated, not responsive and carried a look that did not reflect the quality of his work. The site was chaotic, hard for visitors to use and impossible for him to manage on his own. For a professional with over 200 published articles, a presence on national news outlets and books to his name, the gap between his real authority and how he came across online was huge.
He reached out through word of mouth with a clear goal. He wanted a digital ecosystem that communicated who he is, how he works and that guided patients toward booking a first visit, without feeling like a cold, impersonal clinic.
The process
RAH Colour Test
The first step was the RAH Colour Test. This tool analyzes the associations between colours and positive emotional memories stored in implicit memory, going beyond traditional colour psychology.
Stefano’s test surfaced 30 colours with a distribution of 57% cool tones and 43% warm, 60% light tones and 40% dark. A colour profile that tells the story of an authoritative medical brand without feeling distant, scientific and at the same time deeply human.
His two favourite colours defined the essence of the brand. Blue Haze (#CDC6E4), a soft shade between blue and lilac, stands for sensitivity in listening and openness to the transpersonal dimensions of care. Horizon (#5D8AA8), a mid blue that evokes the meeting point between sky and sea, represents Stefano’s ability to bring together conventional medicine and complementary therapies, science and mindfulness.
The final palette is built on four strategic colours. Horizon as the distinctive primary, Blue Haze as an elegant support, Prussian Blue (#003153) for body text in place of standard black and Givry (#F5E5C0) as a warm, welcoming background. No extra colours needed.
The result is a palette far from the cold, clinical blue that dominates the medical field. Stefano’s tones are softer and communicate calm, exactly the way he comes across with his patients in person.
Logo rebuild and visual identity
Before
After
Stefano had a logo with a tree of life, an element he cared about. The problem was technical. The file was not vector and had quality issues. I fully retraced the pictogram and rebuilt it as a vector element, then adapted everything to the new fonts and the colour palette that emerged from the RAH Colour Test.
Vertical logo
Horizontal logo
Type
The final logo combines the rebuilt tree of life, the name “Stefano Manera” set in Merriweather and the payoff “è tempo di stare bene” set in Work Sans. I developed every logo variant (XL logo, logo, wordmark and stamp) in positive, negative and greyscale to keep things consistent across every communication channel.
For typography I chose three font families. Merriweather for headings, which brings authority and readability. Lato for body text, clean and modern. Work Sans for decorative elements. This combination balances the seriousness of a medical context with the accessibility that defines Stefano’s approach.
I completed the visual identity with a set of custom medical icons in Horizon, an organic pattern and a circular stamp featuring the tree of life and the payoff.
Web design and development
The previous site had over 200 articles but no structure that made them useful for conversion. I redesigned the information architecture and optimized the main pages. About me, Solutions (with four dedicated pages for Integrated and functional medicine, Psychotherapy and counseling, Group programs, Training and outreach) and News.
The homepage follows a strategic path designed to guide the visitor from awareness to booking. It opens with a hero that immediately clarifies who Stefano is and how he helps the visitor, with copy that persuades without sounding salesy. Then comes the About me section to build credibility, a carousel of the news outlets he has appeared on for instant social proof, the solutions linking to each individual page, a section explaining who his solutions are for, the news, his published books, the blog articles, a quote, patient reviews and the section to book a visit.
The site was built on WordPress with Elementor PRO, responsive on every device and finally something Stefano can manage on his own.
Web app for the self-assessment test (lead magnet)
I designed and developed a web app separate from the site that works as a lead magnet.
The visitor answers a questionnaire that assesses their health across three areas. Mind, spirit and body. At the end they get a score and a report by email with a PDF written directly by Stefano Manera.
The email includes a button to book the first visit. The mechanism is simple. The popup appears on the site, the person completes the test, receives the report and finds the CTA to set an appointment. The path from interest to booking is linear and frictionless.
1,854 leads generated in just over a month.
The results
The project transformed Stefano’s digital presence from an outdated, chaotic site into a complete ecosystem that works for him. A brand that communicates professionalism and human warmth through authentic colours that emerged from the RAH Colour Test. A site built to turn visitors into patients. Two web apps that simplify his daily work and generate contacts.
1,854 leads in just over a month from the self-assessment tool and 3,186 medical records successfully migrated to the new system. The numbers speak for themselves. A site with over 200 articles is now organized in an architecture that makes them findable and useful.
What started as a request for a site restyling turned into a collaboration that touched every aspect of Stefano’s communication and digital operations.
