How to raise awareness around IVF? Create a fictional brand…

Consultancy The Liminal Space has created Timeless – a brand which aims to teach young women about the pros and cons of freezing their eggs.

2 Timeless 3 Simple Steps Poster

A team of designers has created a fictional brand with the social purpose of helping teach young women about IVF and fertility.

The Liminal Space has worked with graphic designer Laura Gordon, 3D designer David MacDiarmid and illustrator Jonny Glover to create the beauty brand Timeless, which aims to spark debate about assisted conception and egg freezing.

Medically-focused

The consultancy has also worked with a board of clinicians, including the head of assisted conception at Guy’s Hospital in London, and perfume maker Sarah McCartney.

The project has been funded by grants from the Wellcome Collection and the London School of Economics.

The hypothetical brand will feature fake beauty products such as perfumes and anti-ageing serums, and will be launched at a pop-up shop at Old Street station in London this month.

Communicating in a “disruptive” way

Sarah Douglas, director at The Liminal Space, says the purpose of the project is to “clear up the cloud of misinformation” around egg freezing, as it increasingly becomes more common.

“We wanted to engage with women in thinking about this topic, and give them accurate information about what the pros and cons of egg freezing might be,” Douglas says. “We wanted to do it in a disruptive way, using a medium that would engage them with the ideas – the pop-up shop concept.”

“One of the biggest challenges we faced was how to impart facts on the packaging, when the products we are showcasing are fictional,” she says.

Douglas adds that The Liminal Space chose a beauty brand as the communication vehicle, because it draws similarities with the brand language used around IVF.

“People are familiar with the language of beauty products – promising solutions to every problem, offering hope and rejuvenation,” Douglas says. “It echoes the language of egg freezing.”

The brand targets women in their 20s

3D designer MacDiarmid designed furniture and a sculpture for the store, while illustrator Glover has drawn a set of 10 illustrations for a “Coming Soon” product range concept, which looks at future ideas on egg freezing.

The brand logo uses Ano typeface, with a pastel colour palette of lilac, yellow, pale green and pale pink.

Douglas says the brand was initially aimed at women in their late 30s, but after discussing the concept with clinicians, the consultancy decided it should be targeting young women too.

“At first, we thought the brand should look like Aesop or Space NK, but we realised we needed to be igniting this conversation with much younger women,” says Douglas. “We shifted the aesthetic and language of the brand to inject more youthful energy into it.”

3 Timeless 3 Simple Steps product
4 Timeless Age Defying Serum
5 Timeless Elixir
8 Timeless Perfume Poster
6 Timeless Perfume 1

 

01_postcard illustration by Jonny Glover
02_postcard illustration by Jonny Glover
03_postcard illustration by Jonny Glover
06_postcard illustration by Jonny Glover
08_postcard illustration by Jonny Glover

 

 

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