Cynapsus Therapeutics
Restoring movement with ease. Branding a Parkinson’s Treatment Innovation
Project Snapshot
Client
: Cynapsus TherapeuticsIndustry
: Healthcare Wellness and Medical SciencesServices
: Brand Strategy · Visual Identity · Website Design · UX/UI · Full-motion VideoChallenge
: Position Cynapsus as its lead Parkinson’s treatment moved closer to commercialization, creating a visual identity and website that could speak clearly to patients, practitioners and investors while making complex clinical information more accessible.Outcome
: A lasting visual identity and rebuilt website that supported Cynapsus through the lifetime of the brand, with audience-specific content, technical archives and full-screen motion sequences that made the promise of restored movement more human and accessible. Proof Point: Cynapsus was later acquired by Sunovion Pharmaceuticals for approximately US$624 million.
Overdrive was commissioned to rebrand Cynapsus Therapeutics in 2010 including collateral and website. Overdrive was then engaged again in 2014 for a brand strategy exercise and rebuild of the older site. With the client’s signature pharmaceutical property for treating Parkinson’s Disease symptoms moving closer towards commercialization, the outcomes of the brand strategy exercise indicated a focus on three main interest groups—patients, professional practitioners, and investors. This approach would be changed many times in the completion of the website which was launched in early 2016, but the overall design remained largely intact.
The goal was to create a website with multiple sections tracked to different site user demographics, each section containing easily digestible content written in a light/accessible tone. Deeper content is available in an archive of press releases and technical scientific documents hosted in a site database.
Visually, the centerpiece of the site is a series of fullscreen looping videos created with award winning cinematography Iris Ng. These are featured on the site’s landing page and are intended to illustrate the benefit of Cynapsus’ product to a typically older end user—that being the relief of freezing episodes and restoring physical movement for everyday activities.
The company was eventually acquired by a larger pharmaceutical company to the tune of over 800 million dollars canadian. Not too shabby.
Overdrive Design Limited—Concept and Creative, Web Design, User interface, Web Development, Project Management, Video casting/art direction/production
Laila Zichmanis (Lumena: Brand Management)—Brand Strategy
Iris Ng—Video Footage, Lighting, Camera Work, etc.
