SALVIA Medical – Strong Investment in Design

From product design to brand renewal, Salvia Medical GmbH has reinvented itself with the support of WILDDESIGN’s team. This happened in a very short time (about 30 months) with so many individual projects, that you simply must speak to their holistic, strategic approach. Now, the rejuvenated company is optimistic about the future – something to be proud of in the extremely competitive market of clinical ventilators.

While in the past Salvia was satisfied with excellent technique and their own designs under a different identity, today they proudly display contemporary style, innovative technology, and a regularly updated Facebook page with thousands of likes.

How Could it Come to this Paradigm Shift?

“If you ask me, chief designer Markus Wild, how it all began – I believe it began with the appointment of a new CEO and visionary at Salvia Medical, with Christian Hartmann.”

Salvia was the first to work with us to revise their existing line of products, “clinical ventilators.” Shortly after we began, Hartmann joined the team and quickly became a supporter of this “small redesign approach” holistic design strategy. Not only has the flagship Elisa 800 been completely redesigned, but 10 other products followed. Salvia had laid the foundations for this in previous decades, in which functionality and product quality were the only factors through which one could be distinguished.

Salvia’s Culture – A Holistic Approach

Hartmann, the new CEO, brought fresh ideas to the team. This included the most important decision, which was to bring to us products under its own label already on the market. A difficult task when one has not yet become particularly noticeable in the market, but with more than 50 years of experience, is no longer a newcomer in the industry.

And when you start something daring, you must do so correctly – otherwise it can mean devastation. But, in addition to this determination, it was also important to draw experienced engineers and renowned experts in the 40-strong Salvia team to a new target: to make the products not only technically sound, but improve the design, usability, and approach to their own marketing. Basically, he was out to make Salvia more “user-friendly.”

Design as more than just an indicator – Design as a link

Design improvements were not this year’s only success: this year, the new Elisa 800 won both important design trophies worldwide: the Red Dot Design award, and the IF Design award for outstanding product design. (Be sure to read the second article on the design of the Elisa 800 VIT.) More importantly: our design factors and team were the link between the old and new features of the brand Salvia. With the help of very simple sketches, complex representations were recorded in an image understood by all – from the fitters and service technicians, all the way to the executive floor.

“What Should a Good Respirator Be?”

It is particularly important to bring the end-user and the medical experts on board. As part of our design development, users were interviewed regularly to give the engineering team valuable information to improve usability – one of many important factors. The more you concentrate on a few factors, the more intensely you must focus. Salvia even helped contribute to our self-developed methodology, the “24 Design Factors“. These factors help to give a complete picture of an object and its material aspects quickly. We make sure that our ideas are not only short-term solutions, but also provide paths of development in the long term, creating added value for the market.

Here you can find the complete collection of 24 design factors with the main product, brand, and project management. We also used this design strategy tool for the development of Salvia’s brand.

Branding as a Strategic Decision

What is the real reason that Salvia is green? When you look back at the end of development and the newly established brand, it is unbelievable how much “green” power emanated from the first redesigned brand elements, the logo, and the new color. Until this change, Hartmann was perhaps a bit timid with his plans and vision, considering radically different design themes, advocating for a consistent strategy and always ready to pour over the smallest of details.

Consider the new slogan, “breathing like nature.” The idea behind it softens the otherwise very technical aspects of artificial respiration. For example, integrated ventilation tomography of the lungs (VIT), a frontrunning innovation in the industry. Now it is possible to see at a glance, in real time, whether the patient’s lungs are correctly ventilated, and to choose appropriate, customized therapy. This will certainly save lives in the future.

Or, observe the new Salvia Android and iPhone app “Fashion Finder”. During market analysis it was evident that there is real conceptual confusion in the ventilation industry because each vendor uses their own technical and brand terminology. The Fashion Finder will be the friend of nursing and medical staff, because it translates the different terms and makes general understanding easier.

Or, take the new Salvia Android and iPhone app “Mode Finder”. During market analysis it was evident that there is real conceptual confusion in the ventilation industry because each vendor uses their own technical and brand terminology. The Fashion Finder will be the friend of the nursing and medical staff, because it translates the different terms and makes general understanding easier.

Salvia has in many respects reinvented itself. Its function and design will serve as a progressive industry benchmark. Moreover, Salvia quickly became a synonym for innovation in the industry, and even outside the narrow medical cluster, flagship Elisa 800 VIT has recently become known across town because “Elisa” is now regularly seen in the ARD daily soap “in aller Freundschaft” (“in all Friendship.”)