Killer branding/logo needed. No wallflower logos need apply.

IVFConnections

IVFConnections is a site that has been around since 1999. It is an info/support news and discussion site for women who are dealing with infertility. The site used to be THE go-to site for infertility, but the former owners let it languish and it didn't get any updating for years. The community thrived, but the building crumbled around them.

I bought the site in August and merged it with my previous assets (a site in the same niche called dotIVF). I am keeping the new name (IVFConnections). The brand has history and a legitimacy of having been around a long time - now we need to step it up and give it PRESENCE for the PRESENT.

We are, and will continue to be, the go-to site for women who are dealing with infertility. We are also gearing up for a huge campaign to attract advertisers and sponsors. We have seriously excellent content and several thousand women who spend a LOT of time on the site. Like, hours upon hours.

We are attracting the attention of doctors, nurses and pharmaceutical companies, as well. We want to cultivate relationships with these professionals so that we can provide our members with more and more excellent information and resources.

Our primary audience consists of women (95%) who are struggling with infertility. They range from their late 20s to their 50s. They are married, divorced or single by choice. They are gay, straight, conservative, liberal, and off the charts. The one thing that binds them together is the overwhelming desire to have a baby - to overcome infertility however they have to.

Overall, the member base has a higher than average educational background - mostly college grads and higher.

Many of them go into serious debt in order to finance IVF. Their lives are practically on hold while they are undergoing infertility treatments. They feel very isolated and alone, and the community is what keeps them from going insane. IVFConnections is their lifeline - they place they can visit at any time of the day or night to have someone to talk to.

The other 5% of the audience is made up of doctors (specifically OB-GYNs, Reproductive Endocrinologists (the fertility specialists who make the big bucks), embryologists, nurses, sperm banks and pharmaceutical companies.

What is required?

* Include the name - IVFConnections
* Emphasize in some way at least one of these concepts: community - connection - lifeline - friendship.
* Need both color and B&W version. Bonus if it can be on a transparent background for placement on a variety of colors.
* Colors: Open to ideas. Not too many (4 at most). I prefer something that will go with a variety of backgrounds. The site is currently blue and white with a few gray accents. However, the site design/colors can be changed (to a certain extent) to accommodate an awesome logo with a very different color scheme.
* Would like to see both icon ideas and abstract design ideas.
* Need a logo that will work on the site, on a business card, on a t-shirt, on a banner, in a print ad, etc.
* see attached doc for previous logo
* Open to funky, simple, feminine or anything in between.

No:
* Cartoon-y looks. (A simple hand-drawn illustration might work if done well - i.e., flower and bee, as long as they are simple, classy, etc.)
* NO no no no no "egg and sperm" motifs. They may be the beginning of life but they have been done to death.
* No modern swoopy-swirly-curly-flowery looks. (see attached for example)

Attached word doc contains all of these requirements plus two images for reference.