Tecan Group AG is a Swiss provider of automated laboratory instruments and workflow solutions for the life sciences, biopharmaceutical, forensics and clinical diagnostics sectors. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Männedorf, Switzerland.[1]
Design and History
Tecan’s current visual identity dates to a comprehensive brand refresh that began in late 2014. After a global agency search, the branding and communications firm UP was appointed in December 2014 to realign and reposition the Tecan brand. The project involved a study of what Tecan stood for as a brand, reaching out to over a thousand scientists, as well as internal brand workshops held in Switzerland, North Carolina and Shanghai involving more than 80 Tecan employees.[2]
UP was tasked with creating a new brand identity and gaining acceptance of it both internally and externally. The resulting strategy was approved by senior management and the board of directors, and the new brand was rolled out in 2015 together with a new website and content marketing strategy.[3] The visual identity was described as a “tremendous success” internally and was well received at brand engagement sessions.[2]
The current Tecan logo consists of a circular emblem in red and white, accompanied by the Tecan wordmark. The mark is available in full-size and icon/symbol versions, including a variant designed for dark backgrounds.[1] A 2024 international trademark registration for Tecan Trading AG, the group’s trading entity, claims red as a colour feature of the mark.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
Documented meaning for the Tecan logo’s circular form or colour choices is limited. The 2016 annual report references a Tecan “Brand Book” that comprehensively describes the elements of the Tecan brand, but the document itself is not publicly available online.[5] The same report introduces the company vision “Every lab. Every day. Empowered.” which accompanied the brand repositioning.[5]
Typography and Design
No official documentation is publicly available identifying the specific typeface used in the Tecan wordmark. The logo’s red colour is claimed as a feature in trademark registrations, but no official Pantone or hex specification has been published in accessible sources.[4]
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