A generative brand identity for a chemistry revolution
Based at Glasgow University, Cronin Group — named after founder Prof. Lee Cronin — has succeeded in digitising chemistry. Their DigitalGlassware technology enables experiments to be performed and recorded, with the results uploaded to a shared cloud — freeing chemists to capture, record and discover together, in real time and on a global scale.
Moving Brands was approached to bring this revolutionary start-up to life as a compelling, authentic and living brand. After defining the strategy, we began by giving the company a distinct name that speaks to chemistry at its essential, molecular level — deepmatter.
Our brand story captures how deepmatter’s digital tools liberate chemists from the workbench, freeing them to focus on what is most exciting and valuable — pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
Rooted in this narrative, we created a living brand identity, including a bespoke generative typeface, as well as building a website and designing product packaging.
Deep Mono, the custom typeface we designed in collaboration with Colophon Foundry, is expressed in three states reflecting the three states of matter in chemistry – gas, liquid, and solid. It stamps the brand’s unmistakable presence wherever it appears, combining the structural forms of coding with the organic forms of chemistry.
The deepmatter brand launched in 2018. In less than a year, they acquired InfoChem, a specialist in cheminformatics, for £2m, while also raising £4m in an ‘oversubscribed fundraising’.
Professor Lee Cronin
Founder, Deepmatter