Replay: Reprogramming biology
Replay is a genome writing company, one that’s defining the future of gene therapy through the writing and delivery of big DNA. We dissected their brand into a new strategy, story, look, feel and web experience; all revolving around ‘reprogramming biology to solve life’s greatest puzzles’.
The first puzzle we needed to solve: Replay’s logo. Inspiration came from Stephen Gould’s quote “Replay the tape a million times … and I doubt that anything like Homo sapiens would ever evolve again” from his book Wonderful Life. A logo, always regenerating; mirroring Replay’s work, changing from technology, with graphics and vectors, to biology, with a more anthropomorphic feel.
Not science, art
Artistic science would normally be a bit of a paradox. But not with Replay. They author DNA; they create it. We wanted illustrations that represented this creativity. So we developed a highly detailed, hand-rendered illustration system.
Illustrations and animations
When developing the brand and bringing it to life, we were inspired by how Replay is constantly trying to solve a puzzle: the human genome. We built a set of puzzle animations where blocks of the animation move around as if they’re trying to resolve, but never fully do. Illustrator, Uli Knörzer, created the human illustrations, which we’ve since rolled out across their full team of DNA authors – thirty and counting.
The wider brand's DNA
These illustrations can be adapted and expanded, bringing to life all touch points of Replay, including charts and data.
To tie together the illustrations and the overarching idea of DNA authors as artists, we used elements such as textured backgrounds and a Piet Mondrian inspired pattern language. And the Swiss minimalism keeps a sense of clinical authority.
With special thanks to
Adrian and Lachlan, our brilliant Replay clients and our portrait illustration partner Uli Knörzer.