MULTIGATE MEDICAL PRODUCTS
— CASE STUDY
— 8 MIN READTransforming suppliers
to designers
From humble beginnings Multigate Medical Products has established itself as one of the largest and most respected, locally owned medical consumable companies in Australia.
SCOPE— Strategy & Naming
— Systems & Guidelines
— Photography
— Brochures & Stationery
— Exhibitions
— Environments
— Website
— Brand & Product Videos
— Packaging
— Uniforms & Livery
— Ongoing Brand Consultation
RECOGNITIONGraphis Branding (USA)
— Honourable Mention
In 1986 Multigate entered the market with a simple dressing pack and cotton wool balls — they now supply over 2,000 products across the country.
Having undergone a NSW government Design Integration Program the business identified a clear need to build a broader design capability with the goal to lead the fiercely competitive market.
Multigate approached us to recommend and undertake a program of work to align their brand with their revised business strategy.
Process
—
The bespoke five staged program of work was created to define, clarify and create the new brand and equip Multigates internal design team.
[S1] After an initial immersion and discovery phase we were tasked with developing a unique and ownable [S2] strategic platform that would reflect their new design-led strategy.
[S3] Our initial audit work identified a key area to develop was how Multigate presented its brand, product brands and partner brands — a revised brand architecture system was required.
[S4] The brand strategy was demonstrated across several design concepts and applications covering the identity, photography, imagery, product branding, packaging, video, animations, website, trade shows and office environments.
[S5] A product naming and packaging system was created addressing concerns identified in the early phases of the project and a guideline document was produced to ensure the brand would be represented correctly across all future work.
Insight
—
Lead through empathy driven design.
Multigate create medical products, services and experiences that gives their customers the advantage to perform at their best.
— A Performance Advantage
We positioned Multigate as a user-centric, design-led business. By putting the end-user at the heart of everything Multigate does, the business could refocused itself to solve their client's needs by building their design capabilities to make sure they are fully equipped to solve their client problems through innovative design.
Inspiring performances and better patient outcomes that will lead the world of hospital care to new standards.
Solution
—
Multigate has a story to tell, a story of empathy and understanding. How conversations and collaborations with nurses and surgeons leads to performance breakthroughs.
With this newly found purpose, Multigate has re-engineered its business to focus from supply to design — a strategic shift that influences all aspects of the brand.
Toolkit
—
We provided the tools and messaging that enables Multigate to clearly communicate in a meaningful and engaging way to their customers.
Typography and iconography play a key role in the identity — clear communication is paramount. A distinctive but legible font and simple but stylised icons provided both clarity and brand presence.
Product Naming & Branding
—
Multigate have a proud history of creating new products and services for their customers — an area identified in the audit stage of the work requiring attention.
Products had different visual styles, appeared to conflict with the master brand and were inconsistently applied to collateral items.
A simple brand architecture was defined and a supporting design system created to ensure each item of collateral was clear and consistent.
Core Applications
—
With the brand principles in place we created a suite of core applications to launch the brand.
Empathy Driven
—
Putting the end-user at the heart of everything Multigate does reflects their brand position. People imagery is used to capture this — from scrub nurses to surgeons, designers to sales teams.
Attention to detail
—
Multigate is primarily a product brand and how these products were shown reflected on them. To communicate their exceptional attention to detail, we commissioned a series of macro style images to capture the detail and textures of their products in way that was relevant and impactful.
Photography
— Dieu Tan
Brand Storytelling
—
To tell their story we created a brand video and book. The book articulated the brand approach whilst the video brought it to life through a dual narrative told by Multigate’s Head of Design Alanna Leighton and Scrub Nurse Beck Liston.
Ongoing Support
—
To assist the transition we provided brand guidance and design support. This relationship has continued and we support the internal design team in conceptualising ideas and creating benchmark materials including product naming and marketing material.
To date these have included internal communications platform, all new product branding, communications and sales materials, exhibitions and events, partnership communications and customer engagement programs.
Brand
Acquisitions
—
As the business grows Multigate have acquired several competitor brands. In these instances we’ve assisted in ensuring the Multigate brand story is translate in a relevant way and where appropriate, a revised identity that is strategically designed to reflect the parent brand.
Brand video encapsulating the joint Eisner and Multigate brand position.
A guideline document outlining the design principles for the brand.
Over a 6 month period the new brand direction was successfully implemented across the business. The benefits of the holistic approach have been acknowledged by customers, employees and the industry, with a recent Good Design gold win for product design.
The creative work was recognised internationally with an Honourable Mention in the US based Graphis Branding competition.
FBD TEAMCreative Director
— Chris Thomas
Strategy & Naming
— Louise Broad
Senior Designers
— Phil Dyson
— Tom Lau
CREATIVE SUPPORTVideo
— Hello Future
Photography
— Ali Nasseri
— Dieu Tan
Animation
— Matthew Roberts
— Matt Harvey
Printing
— Carbon 8
— Focus Printing
Templates
— Linda Bentley