Creating an ever-green photo library wasn’t too challenging. Standing out and differentiating ourselves in the BioTech industry was.

If you did a quick google search for “Laboratory” images, you’ll find mostly blue, clinical, sterile imagery of lab technicians using instruments in an exaggerated, non-believable way. A laboratory is usually a cold, sterile environment with harsh blue, one-dimensional lighting. We took the opposite approach and created a warm, optimistic, authentic lab environment, something that would really differentiate the brand, Illumina, in the BioTech and pharmaceutical space.

The brand’s legacy color is pumpkin, and Illumina as a brand stands for shedding light onto things - knowing more about human health by unlocking the power of the genome. We wanted this to reflect in our photo library, so we warmed up the entire space with natural, warm lighting, eliminating the sense of lifelessness one would usually see in a lab environment. We added pumpkin hues in subtle ways across the library of imagery and took blue tones out in every way possible - from the models gloves, to their lab coats. Even their props and jewelry echoed warmer tones and these small details impacted the look and feel across the library of images.

We stayed away from anything that felt exaggerated, training models to hold instruments properly and come across authentically, communicating a more serious tone with realistic and more natural facial expressions. We wanted the viewer to believe the impact that Illumina is making in human health. The space was in their laboratory, using their software and instruments, so it’s something we could really curate and own.