Synaptive Medical

2018, Visual Design Lead, Full-time staff

As Synaptive Medical’s first visual design lead, I transformed the visual representation of products through art direction of product images, video and renderings. I regularly facilitated inter-departmental workshops to inform my creative direction for product marketing and collateral strategy and collaborated with engineering and UX teams to advise on branding for product including UI design and voice control.

Role / Art director, creative director, producer, designer, brand strategist

Timeline / January 2017 to September 2018

Art direction

I art directed all imagery for the October 2017 launch of Modus V, and co-produced the photoshoots with Synaptive’s brand manager. To build a comprehensive shot-list I facilitated meetings with multiple departments to uncover the full extent of imagery required.

As it was not possible to stage any photos within on OR setting before the product launch I suggested the use of photo-realistic simulated ORs through architectural renders (see feature image) and sourced an appropriate vendor.

From the proven success of Modus V’s product photography I art directed and co-produced 3 more photoshoots to build imagery for Synaptive’s other product offerings, including a contextual product shoot for Simulate, a catalogue shoot for hardware, and a staged OR shoot to expand Modus V’s image library.

Creative direction

Showcasing products through an interactive OR

To showcase all of Synaptive’s products in a dynamic and delightful way for the launch of Modus V, I developed the product concept and information architecture for an interactive OR. Working with the team at Cicada Design I managed the final design outputs and developed new standards for Synaptive’s brand presence in digital 3D environments. The interactive OR became a focal point of the booth design and served as both a tool for the sales team and an additional sales team member.

Naming a new kind of MRI, Evry

Working with the MRI product manager, I facilitated multiple brainstorming sessions to understand the full vision for a new, head-only MRI. The product needed a name and a creative direction to support its differentiation in market.

Through additional brainstorming sessions with other members of the marketing team, I came up with the name Evry and built the foundation for a creative marketing strategy.

Strategically branding voice control

I was in a meeting on voice control when the discussion of the command phrase came about. The director of software looked at me and stated “this sounds like marketing”. Originally tasked with finding a phrase for voice control I dove into understanding the problem from multiple angles.

I started with secondary research and a competitive analysis, followed by a foresight workshop where I facilitated stakeholders across engineering and product management through two distinct future scenarios. From my synthesis of the research I identified gaps in understanding of the problem and marketing requirements. Once questions were resolved I collaborated with Synaptive’s brand manager to develop a voice control brand including name/command phrase and persona.

Creative production

Print collateral

I designed and produced print materials for all products including brochures, technical specifications sheets, pamphlets, post cards, business cards, etc. Below is a brief selection.

I designed these product one-pagers to work independently or as a packaged catalogue. To create efficiency for future products I designed the one-pagers to be consistent but flexible through modular content blocks.

I designed the Simulate brochure to be as tactile and intriguing as the training products it showcased. A five panel design, the brochure could be manipulated dynamically by a sales person to potential client, and could be set up on a surface to attract attention. The apparent luxury of the design was also intended to be a reason to keep it as an object of design rather than just another brochure or piece of paper.

Digital collateral

I designed and produced digital assets and collateral to support commercialization. Notably I story boarded and produced several product animations, conceptualized the interactive OR (see above) and built decks for sales, the C-suite, and conference booth activations.

Working closely with the product manager and brand manager I storyboarded and developed the narrative for the Modus V animation which leveraged the environment and graphics used in the interactive OR.

Design operations

Working with Synaptive’s brand manager I co-developed structured processes for collateral creation. These were used to streamline project requests from other departments, help evaluate importance of those new project requests (“is this on fire?”), align to a definition of done prior to start of projects, and organize stakeholders into project roles (RACI).

I feel passionately about the value of branding and I believe that anything customer facing should be a great customer experience. My innate inability to just do what I’m asked to led me to ongoing analysis of why we were producing collateral for some customer touchpoints but not discussing others. From my understanding I created this collateral map and suggested expansion for future sustainability and holistic attention to customer experience.