Corporate Industrial Design as a Strategic Approach
Corporate Industrial Design as a Strategic Approach
Corporate Industrial Design is a central element of Sartorius’ product strategy. The objective is a consistent appearance across individual products, product families and the entire portfolio.
For Sartorius, Corpus Design developed a coherent design logic that visually and functionally connects brand identity, technical function and product architecture. This approach creates a recognizable, scalable and long-term design framework that supports both user interaction and industrial production.
The Lens as a Brand-Defining Design Principle
The display as the key element of recognition
Instead of using industry-standard rectangular displays, Corpus Design developed a distinctive lens-shaped display form for Sartorius. This design clearly differentiates the products from competitors, where square or generic displays dominate, and establishes an independent visual identity.
The lens represents the user interface itself – the place where almost the entire user experience takes place. It is where the majority of interaction occurs, while other operating elements such as switches, connectors or handles are used comparatively rarely.
The User Interface as the Central User Experience
The decisive point of contact between people, brand and technology
Nearly every product in the Sartorius portfolio is equipped with a touch display. This user interface is the central point of interaction between user and device – and at the same time the area with which users interact most frequently and intensively. As a result, this interface plays a decisive role in shaping the perception of the entire product.
Corpus Design consistently used this insight as both a design and strategic starting point. The display was not treated as a purely functional component, but as a deliberately designed, brand-defining center of the product.
Subtle Emotionality in a Functional Environment
A friendly “smile” as a deliberate counterbalance to sterile production realities
A deliberately designed detail further reinforces the effect of the lens. Along the lower edge of the display, a fine yellow line introduces a subtle accent. In its abstracted form, it creates an understated association with openness and friendliness—without appearing decorative or explicit. This gesture becomes clearly recognizable only upon conscious observation.
In sterile laboratory and production environments—typically characterized by cool materials, neutral colors, and functional restraint—this detail acts as a deliberate counterbalance. The lens introduces visual warmth and a sense of liveliness into surroundings that are often perceived by users as distant or impersonal.
This reduced emotional component has a lasting influence on perception. In direct comparison, Sartorius products are frequently perceived as more approachable and friendly—without compromising technical precision, seriousness, or regulatory clarity.
Focused Value as an Economic Design Strategy
Design investment concentrated where it truly matters to users
The design strategy follows a clear principle:
concentrate investment where it has real relevance for the user.
The user interface is therefore deliberately designed to a high standard—through a precisely shaped lens form, high-quality surfaces, and capacitive touch technology familiar from premium consumer products. This is where the perception of quality, precision, and technological confidence is created.
At the same time, the remaining product body can be designed to be functional, robust, and cost-efficient without diminishing perceived value. The lens acts as the visual and functional center, giving the entire device its identity.
The lense –
the connecting element
… where technology and emotion come together.
Aligning Brand, User Experience and Economic Efficiency
Recognition, efficiency and cost awareness as a unified strategy
By clearly focusing on the user interface, even a technically restrained device body is immediately recognized as a Sartorius product. The combination of brand-specific form language, the lens design, and the close positioning of the logo to the user interface ensures that the brand is learned intuitively and remembered consistently.
This strategy brings user experience, brand identity, and economic efficiency into balance. While competitors rely on uniform displays and generic enclosures, Sartorius achieves a coherent and high-quality appearance—without investing unnecessary cost in the wrong areas.
Design as a Strategic Tool
Design as a Strategic Tool
The lens is more than a design feature. It is a strategic tool that connects interaction, brand and cost structure. Through the consistent design of the decisive point of contact between people and technology, a purely functional enclosure becomes a clearly recognizable, high-quality product.
Corporate Strategy
Corporate Industrial Design as a long-term component of brand leadership
Corporate Industrial Design is a core element of Sartorius’ overall corporate strategy. When applied consistently, it creates measurable value across products, portfolios and markets.
By implementing a coherent design concept over the long term, companies strengthen their competitive position, increase brand recognition and build sustainable differentiation. Corporate Industrial Design thus supports long-term market success by aligning brand identity, product architecture and user experience into a stable, recognizable system.