Beyond the product: Driving co-innovation in the med-tech industry

Co-innovation as a service: This project was definitely not about designing a sleek, animated logo – it was about putting the focus on the people who work and live in the space, with one main goal: empowering co-innovation. We supported and mentored Aesculap AG throughout the entire construction phase, from the initial idea and planningto the interior design, branding and the cultivation of a startup-like working culture.

The Brand
The naming of werk_39 is based on the founding year of the B. Braun Aesculap division in 1839. The living digital brand concept was designed in order to be suitable for different applications from digital channels to the signage sytsem in the building. In close collaboration with illustration artist Markus Färber, key visuals and graphics for posters, postcards and walls were created to complete the overall visual design system.

The Innovation Space Interior Concept
The co-innovation lab was set up in a former factory building on an area of 942 square meters. The creative interior design accommodates an event room, team rooms, themed rooms for meetings, a makerspace with 3D printers, a kitchen and a library. Inspired by start-ups the working environment was designed to be very functional and hands-on to offer best conditions for creative thinking, rapid prototyping and the testing of service and business ideas.

Co-creating an innovation work culture
werk_39 was built as a central platform for collaboration, sharing ideas and activating the innovation potential of 60,000 employees. Thats why we developed a co-creation framework with an customized innovation process and an innovation toolkit including a method set, canvas templates for workshops and different event formats.