Disciplines: ID|ENGINEERING|ERGONOMICS
Awards:
Clients: LI-COR | Lincoln, NE
Visual and mechanical elegance elevate the Aerius imaging system above the competition, meeting LI-COR Bioscience's goal to distinguish their instrument with strong design and functionality. The Aerius Automated Imaging System uses infrared technology to image proteins for drug discovery and molecular biology applications.
Disciplines: ID|Engineering|Manufacturing
Awards:
Clients: Caliper Life Science (formerly Xenogen) | Alameda, CA
The IVIS 200 imaging system is an advanced 3D optical imaging system designed to improve quantitative outcomes of in vivo imaging. Xenogen was ready for their product to announce itself in the lab as a premier, groundbreaking device. Bridge did the industrial design and contributed engineering/manufacturing support.
Bridge was commissioned to help commercialize the device by introducing industrial design into the process for the first time for the development of this new, flagship product.
How We Helped
- Custom designed controls improved ease-of-use
- Unified many separate components into one product
- Designed ergonomically correct openings
- Drastically reduced number of animals sacrificed for research
Overview
The product was to look unique, even surprising, but still serious and confidence-inspiring, befitting its scientific milieu, its cost, and its sophistication. This goal was made more challenging by the potential awkwardness of unifying so many large, disparate components (the unit consists of Xenogen's own camera, a large light-sealed chamber, and a number of purchased peripheral components), and managing extensive cabling and air flow requirements. The main challenge of the project was to turn what could be an ungainly refrigerator into an eye-catching showpiece for Xenogen's technology.
Design
As a high-throughput device, ergonomics were important for a successful product. Users must repeatedly open the lightbox door and load and unload animals onto a height-adjustable stage. This requirement drove the device’s proportions. Mockups were made and tested by subjects representing height extremes in order to be sure that the lightbox was usable without frustration and uncomfortable bending by as wide a range of people as possible. Custom design of the gas knob and handle created large, easy-to-grasp, and pleasing-to-touch controls.
The components are packaged in a rolling unit, unified by plastic and sheet metal cladding, and crowned by the camera, housed in a translucent dome. This dome creates a setback that minimizes the mass of the unit overall, and punctuates the appearance of the device by highlighting the heart of Xenogen's technology with a striking form. Cabling and airflow requirements are handled by clever baffling and channeling within the packaging of the components, and in the cladding, which features a rear "spine" that carries the large camera cooling lines from the top of the unit to the base.
The components are packaged in a rolling unit, unified by plastic and sheet metal cladding, and crowned by the camera, housed in a translucent dome. This dome creates a setback that minimizes the mass of the unit overall, and punctuates the appearance of the device by highlighting the heart of Xenogen's technology with a striking form. Cabling and airflow requirements are handled by clever baffling and channeling within the packaging of the components, and in the cladding, which features a rear "spine" that carries the large camera cooling lines from the top of the unit to the base.
Positive Results
IVIS reduces the number of animals that must be sacrificed for research. Traditional testing technologies require that animals under study are autopsied in order to track tumor growth or other processes. Animals must be killed to be studied at various stages in a disease study or drug test; several animals or animal populations must be put through the same trial in order to see results at various stages. By providing a window into a living organism, Xenogen's technology enables a researcher to see progress throughout the course of study in a single animal or animal population.
Xenogen's novel approach spans virtually all areas of therapeutic investigation and can expedite the drug discovery and development process, thereby offering pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers the potential to save both time and money in taking products to market--and ultimately saving lives.Lorem Ipsum
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Disciplines: ID | ENGINEERING
Awards:
The Odyssey Fc Imager is the first CCD imager to offer excellent infrared (IR) fluorescent and chemiluminescent imaging performance in one system. The industrial design, created by Bridge, maintains a family resemblance to the earlier Odyssey Imaging System while offering a fresh look that conveys precision and reliability. Bridge also provided full product design engineering and manufacturing support for the non-sheetmetal enclosure parts.
Disciplines: Research|ID|Engineering
Awards:
Clients: Arcxis | Pleasanton, CA
The Lysix is a disposable sample prep card for nucleic testing. Bridge created the industrial design and engineering of the disposable, which is designed to be frugal in its use of materials yet elegant in its simplicity. Features such as the snap-in, color-coded cap+grip part provide cues, allowing users to identify the card type from a distance.
Disciplines: ID
Awards:
Clients: BioRad | Hercules, CA
Designed for researchers, the xMark spectrophotometer combines the versatility of absorbance detection with the high capabilities of a microplate reader. Bridge designed the xMark within a pre-established brand DNA, unifying the language. xMark was built for the Japanese market; we worked with Japanese vendors to design and release the part files.
Disciplines: ID|Engineering|Manufacturing
Awards:
Clients: Caliper Life Sciences | Hopkinton, MA
The Zephyr is a compact, multi-channel liquid handling lab system. What started as a quick “facelift” project to improve an early prototype without violating internal layouts, manufacturing and assembly processes turned into a new signature look and feel, establishing the Caliper design language, or product identity, as a platform for subsequent products.
A company’s design language is a strategic set of product attributes
that, when well-crafted, becomes as synonymous with a company as the
logo itself. Design language is a vital part of any company’s
products: it is the company’s face. Following a design language creates
a consistent brand statement and assures customers of commitment to
them.
Overview
Caliper came to Bridge needing a quick refresh of a prototype that they hoped to take to market but reconsidered at the last minute. They also needed some help integrating product lines collected from different acquisitions.
Results
Bridge created three small, medium and large-scope redesign concepts. Caliper picked the large-scope redesign, a full refresh of their product identity. The emerging Caliper design language, which we called “Precision Fluidity”, is the overriding philosophy of this signature look and feel.
Shape, line, color and texture all play a part in designing a new brand identity. We achieve a fluid form by integrating large geometric rounds instead of corners. The use of coves gives a tailored and accurate feel, reinforcing the fluid linear
language. The ribbon surface is an elegant and functional detail to frame and create the perception of products that are smaller than they actually are. The architectural use of reveals divides the surface, breaking up large monolithic shapes and creating a smaller perceived surface area.
It is important to be perceived as accurate, and this often is achieved by the use of straight lines. At the same time sharp corners interrupt the fluidity of a form. Products can evoke the perception of accuracy with simple shapes and elegant finishes. Often this means sharp edges, but by being mindful of integrating details that flow throughout the surfaces we achieved logical and sculptural forms.
The use of durable contrasting textures is a signature Caliper element. This includes a strategic use of satin finishes and anodized metals in key areas. The use of contrasting levels of texture adds a level of sophistication with jewel-like details.
Blue is the primary Caliper color; the secondary colors are neutral metals and smoky, translucent plastics. Legacy plays a big factor for the use of blue as our primary color. It is present on the DP, Zephyr, and also in the Caliper word mark.
Our work on Zephyr heralded the new Caliper product identity, established a cohesive brand presence and helped Caliper build trust with their customers and became a visual platform for the development of subsequent products.
Shape, line, color and texture all play a part in designing a new brand identity. We achieve a fluid form by integrating large geometric rounds instead of corners. The use of coves gives a tailored and accurate feel, reinforcing the fluid linear
language. The ribbon surface is an elegant and functional detail to frame and create the perception of products that are smaller than they actually are. The architectural use of reveals divides the surface, breaking up large monolithic shapes and creating a smaller perceived surface area.
It is important to be perceived as accurate, and this often is achieved by the use of straight lines. At the same time sharp corners interrupt the fluidity of a form. Products can evoke the perception of accuracy with simple shapes and elegant finishes. Often this means sharp edges, but by being mindful of integrating details that flow throughout the surfaces we achieved logical and sculptural forms.
The use of durable contrasting textures is a signature Caliper element. This includes a strategic use of satin finishes and anodized metals in key areas. The use of contrasting levels of texture adds a level of sophistication with jewel-like details.
Blue is the primary Caliper color; the secondary colors are neutral metals and smoky, translucent plastics. Legacy plays a big factor for the use of blue as our primary color. It is present on the DP, Zephyr, and also in the Caliper word mark.
Our work on Zephyr heralded the new Caliper product identity, established a cohesive brand presence and helped Caliper build trust with their customers and became a visual platform for the development of subsequent products.
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