Since placing second in the Creative Business Cup Sweden 2021, Nathalie Berezina – CEO and Founder of Norbite – has kept busy. In May 2021, Norbite was accepted into the ESA-BIC space incubator, and Berezina been featured in a wide range of Swedish news outlets, ranging from Expressen to NyTeknik.
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But behind the scenes, a re-brand of the start-up was being tackled in a digital design challenge held by xPlot’s creative director, Hossein Lavi. During only three weeks, students in the Digital Content Designer program at Medieinstitutet were asked to re-design the Norbite website and corporate identity. With guiding principles from Berezina, 30 students, divided into eight groups, set out to create a visual identity that aligned with Norbite’s values and principles. We sat down with the winning team and the two runner-ups to talk about form, function, and how to communicate winning ideas to a sometimes skeptical audience.

By means of an insect-based biorefinery, using the plastic-digesting larvae of the Galleria mellonella moth, Norbite can upcycle and transform plastic waste into sustainable goods, such as feedstock for agriculture (and nutritious food for humans), as well as fertilizer and make-up, to name a few. At the heart of it, Norbite uses science to solve one of the world’s most pressing issues – plastic waste, consumption, and climate change; but the process is complex and can be difficult to understand. (Read more: A green revolution with plastic-digesting larvae: This is Norbite) 

“We got to spend an hour with Nathalie at the start of the digital design challenge, just to pick her brain,” explains Lisa Örtlund, the cartoonist and illustrator who was the head responsible for creating illustrations in her team. “The current website has a lot of potential, but we thought it was difficult to really grasp what Norbite is all about by just reading what’s on there,” she continues. Her teammate, Katarina Montnémery – entering into the project with a background in publishing and customer-business relations – continues: “Yeah, I think as soon as we got to hear from her and ask questions and so on, we were all just mind-blown, really” she says. “There was this moment after Nathalie left class where we were like ‘wow, what a revolutionary idea!’ – and we thought it was such an interesting topic to work with.”

Many of the students had never encountered Norbite – or similar ideas – before. “I was like, ‘this sounds so cool – but I don’t get it!’”, says Mikaela Eile – head responsible for the UX design in her team – laughing. “But it was really fun for us to familiarize ourselves with a sector of work that’s so far from what we’re used to. There needs to be a level of understanding when designing for a client, and that process of research and digging deeper into the insect and plastic industry was something I really enjoyed,” she continues. Her colleague, Sofie Dagsberg, who designed the logo and was responsible for the brand identity in their group, explains that the complexity of the process was the biggest challenge, too. “Our focus throughout the entire process was to create a website that was easy to understand, even at first glance, because the actual insect-based biorefinery process is so complicated,” she says. “We wanted the website and visual identity to be quite minimalistic to reflect a professional and trustworthy process that was still concise enough to understand.” Alexandra Belfrage, the team’s copywriter and head of UI-design chimes in: “Using lots of white space and being very specific about what fonts we were using created a website that felt professional, yet simple,” she says. “But we were also keen to bring forward the fact that while Norbite uses technology that is very high-level, they’re working to solve real-life problems, so when I was copywriting, I tried to integrate some humor to ground their process and make it more human.”
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As it turns out, the human aspect was a lot more important than one might expect. When Lisa Örtlund, Katarina Montnémery and the rest of their team sent out a form to survey how their communities felt about an insect-based upcycling of plastics, responses were varied and polarizing. “There were really strong reactions at both ends of the spectrum,” they explain. “Some were really positive and accepting, thinking that this is our future and something we need to get used to, while others thought it was disgusting and something they felt icky about.”

To combat the controversy around the upcycling of insects, the three teams all had somewhat similar strategies: focusing on the technical aspects of the process, the environmental good of the end products – and showing as little photos of the Galleria mellonella larvae as possible (or in some cases, even by making them cuter). “The representation of the larvae was something we struggled with,” says Mikaela Eile. “It felt obvious to us that they needed to be included since they are such an important part of the process – but showing photos of, you know, a whole pile of larvae felt like it’d be off-putting for many,” she smiles. Instead, their group opted for an illustrated representation of the Galleria mellonella, whereas other groups chose to exclude the larvae completely.

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So how do we communicate something so reactionary – but perhaps necessary – as the potential for using insects in several different aspects of food production?‍

For the winning team, consisting of Daeun Jeong, Emma Frank, Martina Axtelius, and Sandra Runbert, the answer was found in a compelling visual identity blending science, technology, and nature. Coming together from different backgrounds, with Sandra being a graphic designer, Emma having a background in marketing and communications, Daeun having several years of experience as an artist and art curator, and Martina being a freelance stylist – the team designed a new logo, iconography and infographics, as well as a brand new visual identity for Norbite.

“Our biggest aim was to simplify everything. The process, the brand identity, and the visuals. We wanted it to be concise and easy to understand for any audience,” Sandra explains. “At the same time, since the main target group was investors, we wanted the website and brand identity to exude a feeling of legitimacy and professionalism,” Emma adds. 

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The logo is shaped to resemble the wings of a moth – six wings, representing the six branches of upcycling that Norbite does, turning plastic into: food for human beings, medicine, pet food, chitosan as elicitors, fertilizer for organic farming, and skin care and cosmetic products – while the transparency gives a nod towards the plastic that is being upcycled. “The logo uses a combination of three colors – a blue, representing technology, a green, reflecting sustainability and nature, and a yellow which inflicts a feeling of hope,” says Daeun, who was head responsible for the logo. “The transparency of the wings also adds a layer of movement; as in that Norbite is the future – and we’re slowly getting there. It was important for us to find a visual combination of the high-tech process that Norbite has, with their environmental mission and tangible solutions that could have a great impact on our everyday life.”

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As such, the group settled for a playful visual identity that, despite its professional look, feels natural, playful, and human. “It was all about accessibility for us. The website and Norbite’s branding needed to be informative, casual – and thus also normal and down-to-earth,” Emma says. 

“Our front page image, for example, shows a plastic bottle being taken over by nature; with some larvae action going on. It evokes a feeling of naturalness in regards to the process and promotes this feeling of environmental good that is very important.” Sandra adds that they were also very conscious about whether or not to show the larvae. “People freak out! They’re like ‘uhm – am I supposed to eat that?!’” she laughs. “Yeah, there’s simply no need,” Daeun adds. “There are better ways to represent them visually. We chose to focus on the scientific process and the end results, and illustrated the larvae instead of using photos of them, in order to include them but not make them central to the visual identity.”

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The team ended up scoring the highest out of all eight groups. “We are so honored,” Emma says. “Our classmates did such a good job and we’re happy we could put our minds together and create something beautiful together.”

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Cover image infographic via Daeun Jeong, Emma Frank, Martina Axtelius, and Sandra Runbert.