Project Details
Illumina supplies 90% of the world's genomic sequencing hardware. And that dominance had made it a target, facing new competition, commoditisation, and rising ethical scrutiny. To hold its position it needed a brand that spoke to scientists and the public at once.
The answer was hiding in the name. Illumina comes from "illuminate," and its machines literally use light to read genetic code. We made light the organising idea of the whole brand — not decoration but function.
Light-based cues on packaging made products easier to recognise over time; light behaviours in the interfaces made complex genomic processes more intuitive. The internal brand book went furthest: printed in photochromic ink that revealed the content when exposed to light, making each brand book an experience the employee activates as they hold it in their hands and open it.
One idea, carried from a machine's optics all the way to a book that changes in the light. It united engineering teams that had always worked apart, SaaS on one side and hardware on the other, drove how Illumina showed up at the tradeshows that mattered most, and went on to shape the industrial design of the machines that came next.
Credits
SVP, ECD, Global Head of Design: Ren Rigby
Group Creative Director: Ryan Atkinson
Head of Verbal Design: Jenn Vano
Associate Creative Director: Antonio Moton
Design: Ryan Atkinson, Sam McGuinness, Mike Wilgus, Antonio Moton, Bruno Da Silva, Jen Heezoo Son
Verbal Design: Jenn Vano, Julianna Roppo
Art Direction: Ryan Atkinson, Bruno Da Silva
3D Visualization: Bruno Da Silva
Animation: John Robert Clark Moore
Executive Director & Client Lead: Marysharon Owens
Illumina
Branding, Behavior Design, Motion Design, UX/UI, Packaging
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Illumina supplies 90% of the world's genomic sequencing hardware. And that dominance had made it a target, facing new competition, commoditisation, and rising ethical scrutiny. To hold its position it needed a brand that spoke to scientists and the public at once.
The answer was hiding in the name. Illumina comes from "illuminate," and its machines literally use light to read genetic code. We made light the organising idea of the whole brand — not decoration but function.
Light-based cues on packaging made products easier to recognise over time; light behaviours in the interfaces made complex genomic processes more intuitive. The internal brand book went furthest: printed in photochromic ink that revealed the content when exposed to light, making each brand book an experience the employee activates as they hold it in their hands and open it.
One idea, carried from a machine's optics all the way to a book that changes in the light. It united engineering teams that had always worked apart, SaaS on one side and hardware on the other, drove how Illumina showed up at the tradeshows that mattered most, and went on to shape the industrial design of the machines that came next.
SVP, ECD, Global Head of Design
Ren Rigby
Group Creative Director
Ryan Atkinson
Head of Verbal Design
Jenn Vano
Associate Creative Director
Antonio Moton
Design
Ryan Atkinson, Sam McGuinness, Mike Wilgus, Antonio Moton, Bruno Da Silva, Jen Heezoo Son
Verbal Design
Jenn Vano, Julianna Roppo
Art Direction
Ryan Atkinson, Bruno Da Silva
3D Visualization
Bruno Da Silva
Animation
John Robert Clark Moore
Executive Director & Client Lead
Marysharon Owens
Strategy Lead
Alex Dempsey
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©RA 2009 — 2024
DESIGNER × LOVER × HUSBAND × DAD × GAMER × WEB3 MAXI