This document provides an overview of the Formlabs brand identity system, as well as guidance to implement it effectively.
Brand Overview
Key Principles
These principles are the main points of reference that every designer should come back to when creating content for the brand.
01
Photography is at the front and center of our brand.
Our products and materials are the reason that we are the best in the industry, they should be displayed at the forefront of the brand.
02
We are one brand that must flex to appeal to industrial 3D Printing users, as well as users in healthcare industries.
The Formlabs brand curates these experiences by varying color ratios for different industries.
Additionally, color proportions should be considered a useful tool to segment SLA content from SLS content.
03
Our brand supports all information density levels.
It is crucially important for the brand to be able to flex from information dense spec sheets to one line advertisments and everywhere in between.
04
Shifting the color orange into the focus of the brand.
The Formlabs brand historically has not taken advantage of the orange color found in it's product design. That changes now, we will now capitalize on the recognizability of orange and bring it into the wider brand.
Logo - Overview
Our brand symbol is the Formlabs butterfly, which represents the 3D printing process of sketch to creation. It also symbolizes the efficient and robust qualities of nature’s designs.
The Formlabs logo can be locked up in two ways; horizontal and symbol-only.
Wherever possible, we should use the horizontal logo lockup. When space is limited or the logo plays a different role in a layout we can use symbol-only.
Download all assets below.
Logo - Version Usage
Logo - Color Usage
When using our logo, we can display it in three different colors, Off-White, Dark Grey, and Formlabs Orange.
Logo - Clear Space / Minimum Sizing
To always ensure legibility and clarity when displaying the logo, we have outlined clear space and minimum sizing.
For clear space, we can always determine if we’ve given the logo enough room by taking one of the wings and placing it on each of the furthest edges of the mark. The symbol-only version is slightly different so we've given it one wing of spacing.
Minimum size for the mark is no smaller and 30 px tall in digital, and no smaller than .45 inches printed.
Logo - Positioning
Our logo can be placed in various positions across the page to allow imagery or text to align to it, in order to create visually dynamic layouts.
For clear space, we can always determine if we’ve given the logo enough room by taking one of the wings and placing it on each of the furthest edges of the mark. The symbol-only version is slightly different and doesn’t need as much room, so we’ve only given it a half a wing of clear space.
Minimum size for the mark is no smaller and 30 px tall in digital, and no smaller than .45 inches printed.
Logo - Misuse
Our logo is our primary asset, it should not be tampered with in anyway. Here are some basic rules for our logo.
Designers should follow these rules and use their discretion to ensure correct use of the brand logo.
Logo - Sub Brands
Formlabs has two specific industries we market to other than general 3D printing, they are Dental and Health.
Use these logo lockups when creating content catered toward the industry they mention.
Color - Overview
Our color palette has two main colors, Formlabs Blue and Formlabs Orange, along with assisting colors.
Accessibility testing is within the typography section.
Hex Codes
Off White #FCF7EE
Dark Grey #0F1D26
Grey #EDEAE4
Formlabs Blue #085CFF
Light Blue #DBE9F9
Dark Blue #07305E
Formlabs Orange #FF5A00
Light Orange #FECEB6
Brown #321507
Color - Industry Usage
Our color system is flexible across multiple industries, use this chart to determine how to design your content.
The Industry Usage color chart features a cross section between two ranges; Core to Dental/Health and Expressive to Refined.
We should lean more Core when making content for general 3D printing and lean more Dental/Health when creating for that respective area.
Expressive content is things such as advertisements, campaigns, or social posts. Whereas Refined content is things white papers, instruction manuals, or product spec sheets.
All of these things are built on a flexible range to provide variety and the ability to create unique, yet brand-consistent designs.
Color - Flexible range
Here are two examples of the how the Industry usage color chart can be used.
Color - Frequently used combinations
Here are just a few color combinations that are used frequently.
Different color combinations can be used to create different effects. It is up to the designer to decide what content deserves which color combination, as long as they adhere to the Industry Usage color chart.
Typography - Overview
Our headline and body copy fonts can be seen here as well as the size hierarchy they should be represented in.
Our headline font is Midnight Sans 48 Semibold. It should always be displayed much larger than the body copy.
If your headline is more than 3-4 words please use Supreme Bold.
Our body copy typeface is Supreme, we can use the Medium or Bold weights for subheads and Regular for big blocks of type.
Download all assets below.
Typography - Examples
Examples of how typography can be utilized.
Typography - Alignment
We typeset our layout either left aligned or center aligned, while headlines can also be right aligned.
We standardly align our layouts to the left or center, while only right aligning headlines in posters or other dynamic layouts.
Typography - Alignment examples
Examples of how typography can be aligned.
Copy and modules should almost always be anchored in a corner of the canvas, there are some exceptions such as when the content is center aligned.
Typography - Accessibility
Accessibility defines what size and color text we can use on a colored background.
It is crucial we maintain legibility within our brand communications and that our websites meet WCAG AA standards. Only use these colour combinations when using text and colour in our brand.
*To remain compliant, large text is defined as 14 point (typically 18.66px)
Typography - Information density
Prioritizing information density in design layouts means maximizing the amount of relevant information presented within a space without overwhelming the user. It involves carefully balancing content and white space, using visual hierarchy to guide attention, and ensuring clarity and readability. The goal is to deliver an efficient and intuitive experience where the user can access and process information quickly and effectively, enhancing both usability and aesthetic appeal.
Typography - Title length
The length of a headline determines what typeface it is set in.
We should always strive to have short and concise headlines that get the point over more immediately.
When headlines get a little more lengthy it can be hard to read in Midnight Sans.
If your headline is more than 3-4 words please use Supreme Bold.
Photography Principles
Our photography can be classified into two categories: Hardware Photography and 3D Printed Part Photography.
01
Well composed and thoughtfully styled lifestyle photography should be prioritized above studio photography for hardware products. Photo and video sets should be styled to accurately represent working environments of our customers.
02
We develop highly functional materials, our photography should strive to represent material properties whenever possible. Action shots are preferred to studio photography.
03
For applications that require a silhouette or otherwise isolated hardware product photo, opt for using a render to ensure mathematically perfect angles. Be sure that the part inside the machine relates to the industry you’re producing content for.
Photography - Overview
This is just one small part of the larger image library to show the breadth of photography the Formlabs brand uses.
Similar to our usage of color, our photography is used in a wide variety of use cases, from expressive to refined. An example of an expressive use case would be new product campaign photography that is meant to show off the industrial design of the machine. Conversely, refined photography would be used in user stories or application guide content. These two styles might be better defined by their use of controlled styling and lighting.
Color in our photography is an important concept to take into consideration. Color should be used minimally and very intentionally to add interest to the composition. This can be achieved with either cool blue or warm orange light. Otherwise we should let the colors of the machines or printed parts speak for themselves by maintaining neutral colors throughout the sets (grey, tan, wood, metal).
Illustration - Overview
Illustrations can be leveraged to create interest in a layout or to help illustrate complex technical concepts.
Illustrations should be simple, technical and accurate with minimal frivolous detail.
The style should be isometric or flat line drawings.
Modules - Overview
Modules can be used in two ways; for container layouts or for product devices.
Modules are the rounded boxes we see everywhere in the Formlabs brand. They can be used to form interesting layouts or to describe our product ecosystem.
Modules - Container layouts
Container layouts are a defining asset of the Formlabs brand.
Container Layouts: Boxes that define the layout of the page, they can contain type, image, or material texture. They can make high information density layouts more digestible and they can make low density information layouts more dynamic.
Modules - Container layouts - Grid system
We use this grid system to determine layouts of modules and other content.
Modules - Container Layouts - Usage
Modules can be used in a multitude of ways to create interesting layouts.
Modules - Product device
Product Devices make our product offering easier to comprehend.
Product Device: A lockup which defines the product line and also the individual product in a unique visual way. They help users understand the product ecosystem and what products belong to which systems.
Download product device files here.
Modules - Product Device - Usage
Filled in modules are for larger product lines such as Form and Fuse, whereas outlined modules are used for individual machines or products.
Modules - Product Device - Alignment
The alignment of Product Devices is crucial to maintaining brand consistency.
Product Devices are aligned to mathc up products and lines. The space in between the modules is always the width of the captial letter "F".
Modules - Product Device - Examples
Examples of how the Product Device can be used.
Modules - Misuse
The module system is the base for the Formlabs brand, it should not be tampered with in anyway. Here are some basic rules.
Follow these rules to ensure correct use of the module system.
Textures - Overview
Material textures can be used in a variety of ways.
Out material textures are a reference not only to the materials that Formlabs offers but also the construction of Formlabs products themselves. Cropping in on these textures allows us to bring users into the Formlabs experience in a unique and engaging way.
Textures - Library
We pull textures from both printable 3D material and the material used to make Formlabs printers.
Textures - Usage
Material textures have many different uses within the Formlabs brand.
Material textures can be used in both big and subtle ways to bring the user in and provide contrast against flatter designs.
Textures - How to crop
Cropping from larger textures allows us to get multiple uses out of one material render.
When cropping into material textures it’s important to not show the edge of the object. The textures should feel like infinite macro shots.
Document Owner: Ashley Marshall
ashley@formlabs.com
For questions or support, contact the design team at #ask-design on Slack
