Solugen

The chemistry of everyday life

Everything we see is made up of molecules. Tiny building blocks that make clean water accessible, safe food available, and modern medicine possible. What we can't derive from nature, we must create ourselves, and Solugen is the only factory in the world able to produce them with zero emissions and a negative carbon footprint. Solugen is the only company of its kind that can scale this technology, both quickly and efficiently. We loved joining them on their mission to clean up the chemicals industry.

What We Did

  • Brand Identity
  • Strategy & Positioning
  • Copywriting
  • Art Direction
  • Web Design

What We Made

A cluster of four glossy, black, reflective spheres of varying sizes floating.

Solugen makes molecules with enzymes, just like the human body. Their clean, carbon-negative process is in direct contrast with the traditional chemical industry, a group responsible for 30% of the world’s greenhouse gases. Solugen’s manufacturing technology has the potential to remove the CO2 equivalent of taking 2M cars off the road—but you wouldn’t have known that from their previous marketing materials.

The young company’s problem wasn’t selling the story to investors: they just hit a $1.8b valuation. Their problem was telling the Solugen story in a way investors and press could share with the world to grow their market. We partnered with the founding team to help articulate their process in a simple, compelling narrative.

Fast Company Honoree

World's Most Innovative Companies

Logo for Fast Company

We joined the start-up when their team consisted only of scientists and technical writers. In calls with Nobel laureates and physician-scientists, we worked to understand the core of what they do and why they do it. We developed a brand narrative and positioning that clarified the company’s true mission: to make life safer and more sustainable for future generations.

A large outdoor advertising billboard on a brick wall displays an ad for "Solugen." The slogan beneath reads, "Chemistry, redefined."
The word "Solugen" repeated multiple times in different font weights, alongside an illustration of an industrial chemical plant.
Text reads "Solugen" accompanied by a logo on the left featuring four overlapping gray spheres.

With the brand identity solidified, we scaled the system to the web with a landing page that illustrates the endless possibilities of Solugen’s technology. Through the use of light and dark mode, the brand makes the hidden world visible—and makes Solugen’s incredible impact clear. Lights on, we show the world the materials that Solugen makes possible. Lights off, we reveal the molecules that power it all.

Visuals are essential to bringing the most abstract stories to life. We commissioned photography from Todd Spoth and 3D renderings from Ink of Solugen’s manufacturing plant, the Bioforge.

The Bioforge has a compelling story of its own: built on the site of an exploded petrochemical wax distillery in Houston, it serves as a reminder of Solugen’s mission to make the world a safer, cleaner place.

  • A view from below of Solugen's bioforge with metallic pipes, ladders, and railings against a bright blue sky.
  • A person wearing black gloves and safety glasses holds a small bottle of amber liquid up to the light in a laboratory setting.
  • Solugen's founder Gaurab Chakrabarti is standing in a laboratory surrounded by various lab equipment, including test tubes, flasks, and machines.
  • Aerial view of the Solugen factory featuring numerous interconnected metal pipes, valves, and machinery.
  • A person wearing a hard hat walks through a large warehouse filled with stacked industrial liquid containers.
  • A network of metal pipes curving against a backdrop of blue sky and white clouds.

The new brand system reintroduces Solugen as the bold, trustworthy face of a new future. One where clean energy is possible and efficient. See the excitement for synthetic biology for yourself.

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