The idea for Limitless came to me while my husband and I were traveling the country in our RV. We’d spent the previous two months in remote areas of West Texas into New Mexico and Arizona. The isolation of these areas, paired with the beauty of nature, challenged me to think and listen and write.
On April 12, 2019, the story of my diagnosis poured out of me and flowed onto the page. I sent it to my husband, and this was the beginning of what became Limitless. I never actually published that initial diagnosis story, it was littered with emotions that I needed to sort through, but eventually published a version of my diagnosis story years later.
In those months, as we traversed the red rocks of Arizona and the snow-capped mountains of Colorado, I designed the brand for Limitless and the first edition of our print version to be distributed to physicans' offices.
In 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, I moved Limitless to an online platform, one more accessible to women with chronic illness during a quarantine period.
While the concept for Limitless began in 2019, in reality, it was percolating for many years, with each glare that I received when I parked in a handicap space, with every medication commercial featuring an elderly man or woman with their grandchildren, with any look of pity or rolling of the eyes in annoyance.
As I wrote in those first days:
Over the past decade, I have searched for a place where I could connect with other young adults, particularly women, suffering from, and thriving with RA and other autoimmune diseases. It can be hard to find your people and a place where you belong when you don’t see yourself in the disease, when you watch a commercial or read a magazine and all you can see is the face of someone much older.
I hope that Limitless can be that place. A place where we can all share our stories, learn from one another, and continue to grow and heal.
As the third anniversary of Limitless is upon us, I realized just how much has changed within myself and how Limitless has come to be a community beyond what I could have imagined in our RV tucked away in the desert. I want to share with you the journey I took to get to the new face of Limitless.
Character
At its root, Limitless is as strong as the community that it creates and nourishes. Before embarking on this rebrand, I sat down and thought of the faces of Limitless. I considered the friends that I’d made, the strangers who came to us for advice, the stories being told by strong women across the platform. I asked myself if Limitless was a person, what would it be like?
We would be sincere and authentic, not hiding behind a facade or pretense. We would be both realistic and imaginative, hopeful for the future, and ready to tackle new ideas with the knowledge of our capabilities and a considered approach to our days. Limitless would be passionate. We would be passionate about our physical health, our mental health, our relationships, and what we can accomplish and achieve in this world. We would be sophisticated and take ourselves seriously. We would strive for high-quality content that supports our community members. Limitless would be inclusive, relevant to all women with chronic illness, those who rely on natural remedies and prescription medication, those who have been navigating these waters for decades or just a few days, those able to climb mountains or struggle to get out of bed. Because at one time or another, I’ve been both, I think we all have.
Tagline
Limitless is a publication for women surviving and thriving with chronic illness. Not only do we have the capacity to survive our illness, but we also have the resilience to thrive, to fulfill our dreams, and to create value in this world.
This tagline is a reminder of the dichotomy of Rheumatoid Arthritis and other chronic conditions. I think of the days where brushing my teeth was a challenge and then I think back to hiking 10+ miles along a canyon rim down to the Rio Grande in West Texas.
Logo
The symbol for Limitless is a plant amid its growth and evolution. The leaves have sprung forth, but there is still no bloom, no flower. It is on the cusp and there is infinite potential.
The previous Limitless logo was a fully-bloomed flower — a perfect circle with two symmetrical leaves. This left no room for growth and imperfections.
I decided to use an element of nature because of the healing nature of our surroundings and as a nod to my time in the remote areas of the country that spurred the idea for Limitless.
Colors
Like the symbol in the logo, the colors are refreshed as well. Limitless began with two shades of pink and deep plum. While these colors were feminine and energizing, they didn’t suit the publication as we evolved.
The two shades of green, just like the leaf symbol, are an acknowledgment of the importance of nature, both as a mechanism for healing and a metaphor for our own seasons of change.
I thought of our time at the Rio Grande, sitting in the stillness and staring out at the water, twinkling and glittering in the sunlight. The river was a surprising green while similarly green plants dotted the cliffs and shore. I remembered the times when shade would hit a portion of the river and it would appear darker for a moment. This two-tone effect inspired the new color palette for Limitless.
Fonts
The font for the logo was chosen because, while being sophisticated, it also has a bit of whimsical character. It is delicate with its curvature, while also being strong and solid.
The fonts that you see on the Limitless blog are simple, clean, traditional fonts. They channel the professionalism of a publication.
I’m excited to debut this rebrand and hope that it will represent the new phase of Limitless — a deeper, more intentional dive into the minds and lives of women with chronic illnesses who wake up each day, some days easy and some days difficult, ready to tackle life, both in spite of and in partnership with their illnesses.
