&Walsh creates an identity for “designer proteins” brand Geltor inspired by “biodesign, science, nature and art”

Geltor is an earth-conscious biodesign brand that uses sustainable technologies to create “designer proteins” – beauty products that are “better for the world, body, and for business.” It’s now also a brand with a new visual identity (although one that uses Geltor’s previous logo), designed by New York City-based powerhouse creative agency &Walsh. Focussing on Geltor’s “ingredients as a service” offering, &Walsh has produced a brand identity with personality – maximalist yet clean, formed of a series of 3D orbs which explore the worlds contained within each ingredient origin and its cellular inspiration.

“The Geltor team asked for a branding that showcased their core offerings in a way that put focus on beauty and craft,” explains Jessica Walsh, the agency’s founder. “We wanted to create a unique and own-able visual world for Geltor that merged inspiration from biodesign, science, nature and art.” Off the back of conversations with Geltor, in which &Wash learned that while all of its products are completely animal-free, Geltor does take inspiration from nature, the team decided to celebrate the ingenuity behind each product, and the custom ingredients Geltor can offer its clients. Elements of science were then expressed through the decision to make the orbs appear like glass. While their shape clearly nods to cells, their material references science equipment like glass tubes or a petri dish. “We were also inspired by glass orb terrariums, a place for growth and life,” Walsh says. “Inside the orbs, we wanted to illustrate the concept of life created by biodesign.” Each product then got its own orb, which directly visualises what ingredients it contains.

HumaColl21®, for example, is the first-ever biodesigned vegan human collagen for skincare – usually, collagen contains animal products such as fish skin. So &Walsh chose various “elements to show the concept of youth, moisture, firmness, or dew inside the orbs.” The “Collume® images, on the other hand, intentionally incorporate marine-inspired elements, to reflect the fact that Collume® is a marine collagen. Each visual represents a different product, and symbolises the inspiration or benefits of Geltors proteins.”

The typography is purposefully clean and minimal. Louize forms the primary typeface bringing a sense of warmth and humanity to a sector that can often feel like the opposite. Then Basile Grotesque Pro, “a clean sans serif” is used to support this as its particularly suited to communicating complex information in a “simple, digestible way.”

Underpinning all of the visual identity is the concept of not replicating nature, but furthering it. “Geltor doesn't just replicate existing proteins from nature or animals, it can improve on them to develop proteins that are more effective than what's in nature, and produce proteins that would otherwise be impossible to source,” Walsh explains. “So we dialled everything up in terms of colour, saturation and sharpness in our visuals to show this idea of the enhancements that can be made from life through biodesign.” Alongside the hyperreal 3D renders, a solid and consistent blue tone complements the imagery: “The previous Geltor brand had many different subdued blue tones, and we liked the idea of simplifying the palette to have a more recognisable colour direction.”

For full project credits, visit &Walsh’s case study.