Vario stirs up an inclusive revolution with Teva 360 packs
Teva UK, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of generic pharmaceuticals, has overhauled its brand identity and entire range of packaging, with design work by multi-disciplinary consultancy Vario.
The consultancy has developed the visual language over the past 18 months, after having been appointed by Teva in a pitch against Vallis Tammaro and 999 Design. The resulting identity and design style is dubbed Teva 360, reflecting a process of viewing the generic packaging from every angle, according to Vario director David Jones.
A vibrant colour palette is introduced to raise on-shelf impact among rival manufacturers’ packs. The high-contrast colour combinations have also been chosen to reduce selection errors by pharmacists and help users take the correct medicines in complex drug programmes. Packs also feature Braille, in accordance with legislation which came into force last month (DW 27 October).
‘We’ve given careful consideration to mapping how products will be displayed close together on the pharmacy shelf, or if they are likely to be taken together as part of a patient’s therapy,’ explains Jones. ‘The new packs also tick all the boxes regarding new guidelines for pharmaceutical packaging.’ Focus group discussions with pharmacists, healthcare professionals and patients were used to evolve the pack designs. The solution uses coloured roundels to denote the product and drug strength. They also serve as the Teva 360 identity, applied to marketing materials, stationery and advertising, all created by Vario.
‘The previous packs only had two colours and important information wasn’t presented consistently. In developing the colour palette we looked at more laid-back colours and some fluorescent colours, neither of which worked as effectively,’ says Vario director Brem Bremner.
A clear, rounded typeface – Vag – has been adopted for all the packaging. Drugs dispensed in card boxes are presented in ‘tumble packs’, which are designed so that the text remains the correct way up as the pack is rotated.
The group has also developed a microsite, at www.teva360.com, and DVD that allow pharmacists to generate virtual shelves of product combinations. This will aid in the selection of drugs, hundreds of which are often stacked alphabetically in pharmacies, each in similarly styled packaging.
‘Vario’s design has enabled us to introduce a step change in the ease of distinguishing between products on a busy pharmacist’s shelf,’ says Kim Innes, director of Teva Generics.
The Teva 360 designs launch internally at the company today. The introduction of the new packs follows a recent publication by the National Patient Safety Agency and the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, presenting guidelines for good design practice in the pharmaceutical packaging sector (DW 3 November).
Teva UK background
• Supplies more than 400 generic pharmaceutical products to retail and hospital pharmacies
• Rebranded from APS Berk to Teva UK at the end of 2004
• Owned by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
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