Designing a premium brochure to show-off a unique cloth

We all know that there’s a huge global trade in counterfeit goods. Whether its dodgy watches or knock-off handbags, there’s something to snare the unsuspecting buyer and damage the real quality brand. The textile trade has suffered more than its fair share, with fake designer dresses and suits damaging brand’s reputations and costing billions of dollars globally. This is where SigNature DNA developed by Applied DNA Sciences (ADNAS) and working with the Textile Centre of Excellence in Huddersfield comes to the rescue.

These two organisations have developed a remarkable cutting edge technology that impregnates cloth with a unique DNA signature. SigNature DNA can be invisibly woven into any fabric, meaning that a designer suit or perhaps a dress fresh off the catwalk can prove its authenticity by looking for its unique DNA sequence. 

The brief was simple: design a brochure that introduces a highly technical and scientific product to premium quality brands and tells them that this is the solution to their counterfeiting problems. My solution was to design a brochure that looked modern, clean and technological, but with a considered design feel. It had to work as both as a technical brochure and a brand brochure, so I art-directed the technical photography taken in the research centre and made it as engaging as brand photography. I also hinted at the DNA that was invisibly woven into the cloth by playing with type transparency and highlighting the letters C, T, G and A, that are used to describe DNA sequences. Like the technology, the look isn’t just skin deep.