Ageing is one of the greatest challenges of any living creature.
As the major risk factor for diseases and functional decline, it is at the root of the most devastating health problems we face.
In 2016, Alejandro Ocampo was the first person to show that cellular reprogramming can safely extend life.
There is a strong argument to suggest that rather than looking to fight diseases — we should be looking to the root of the problems, which in a large percentage of cases is due to ageing cells being far more open to letting life threatening disease take hold and spread.
Alejandro demonstrated that science can slow the ageing process and extend healthy life. This breakthrough led to the creation of the new organisation, Epiterna — headed up and founded by Alejandro — and now launched and branded by SomeOne.
Epiterna is the name for a new organisation founded to translate scientific breakthroughs into longer and healthier lives for pets. Initially focused on the nations favourite domestic pet, dogs.
This isn’t about dogs living forever, but just living better, for longer.
The highly experienced team is looking to develop new, affordable products that can safely slow the ageing process to prevent age-related disease, delay functional decline, and extend life.
The team at Epiterna also wanted to challenge convention in the way they showed up in their visual and verbal brand identity. So they turned to SomeOne.
Strategy & Descriptor
Decades of research have given us the tools to live longer than ever before.
Over the last two hundred years, humanity has doubled the global life expectancy through healthcare and sanitation.
Now, we are at another tipping point.
Decades of research into ageing and drug development are coming together to enable the next leap in life expectancy: scientists all over the world have shown that small molecules can slow or reverse biological ageing and extend the lifespan of different animals.
Led by one of the leading longevity scientists in the world, EPITERNA is developing safe, effective and accessible treatments to create more time than ever before for pets and people.
Anyone who had to say goodbye to a dog knows how painful the loss is for the entire family. Large breeds of dog start having age-related problems as young as 5 or 6 years old — when human family members still have their entire life ahead of them. Epiterna looks to develop products to help families spend more time together.
We needed a new way to open the conversation about science that tackles ageing. The sector varys wildly from bombastic over claim to timid technical descriptions.
After extensive research and discussions we looked to simply debunk and open up a subject that comes with so many preconceptions. It’s science. Not magic. And it’s intention is to simply make pets, notably dogs, live healthier, longer lives.
The strategy needed to also accommodate the possibility that this science might translate further (our hope is cats get a look in soon!) so it couldn’t be all about our canine pals.
‘Life extending science’ Looks to be super clear. Straight forward. And quickly move to the benefits and proof rather than linger in theory.
A new visual language
Based on the shape of a heart, we developed a living visual identity theme that pulses with opportunity. Moving away from category standards of pharmaceutical and medical cues, this new work sets the brand firmly in the world of progress and technology.
The beating heart creates graphic ‘ripples’ that are used throughout Epiterna communications and branded activations — being able to brand imagery, information and digital aspects with ease.
The heart and the graphic ripples it creates change depending on levels of excitement and types of application. From the calm and rhythmic to the powerful and insistent.
A bespoke word mark
A new word mark was crafted to ensure it could be registered and endure. Each letterform was re-cut and characters junctions were redesigned to reflect the curves and organic nature of the main visual theme.
When it comes to brands in the science sector there’s definitely an aesthetic that steers towards the dry and sterile. But when you’re talking about something as exciting as extending life, we felt it deserved a more story-led approach.
Epiterna sits at the cutting edge of science — quite possibly heralding some of the most significant breakthroughs of the decade. We were keen to also push boundaries in the visual and verbal branding, creating something that literally has a life of it’s own.
The branding achieves a neat, but complex trick — straddling science and storytelling. It is striking work that does a great job of opening the door to tell a deeper story of what the organisation is looking to do.
We looked at dozens of ways of representing longer, healthier lives — but they all fell into cliché and well established traits. It felt appropriate to try harder to get the branding to a place that felt progressive but reassuring.
Huge thanks to the entire Epiterna team, including: Alex, Shak, Pia, Shane & Sophie.
SomeOne:
Simon Manchipp, Founder.
Shaun Turnbull, Creative Director.
Julia Clark, Lead Designer.
Luca Portik, Designer.
Ellie Knight, Account Management.