COLLABORATIONS
Science developed for brands.
Our Approach
At Helnium, we collaborate with brands, laboratories and creative teams to build visual concepts directly from the science behind their products. Rather than designing around a product, we begin with the product itself, its molecules, ingredients, formulations and materials, and explore what they can reveal through chemistry, crystallization, microscopy and scientific imaging. The result is imagery that is not simply inspired by your brand. It originates from it.
GLARNER KAFFEE × HELNIUM
From their coffee. To their molecule. To their design.
Starting with coffee roasted by Glarner Kaffee in Frauenfeld, I brought the material into the laboratory and extracted its caffeine through organic extraction techniques. The isolated caffeine was then further purified and studied using sublimation, spectroscopy and microscopy, before being transformed into the final scientific artwork.
The artwork was first produced as a large aluminium print for Glarner Kaffee’s Kafi-Bar in Frauenfeld and was later integrated into their coffee packaging, extending the same molecular identity from the laboratory to the product itself. The collaboration is now continuing with new applications, including ceramic coffee cups.
COFFEE · CAFFEINE EXTRACTION · ORGANIC CHEMISTRY · SUBLIMATION · SPECTROSCOPY · MICROSCOPY · PACKAGING · PRODUCT DESIGN
PRESS FEATURE
From the laboratory to Glarner Kaffee
The collaboration was featured in Thurgauer Zeitung Switzerland, highlighting the process behind the project from extracting and imaging caffeine to transforming its microscopic structures into artwork for Glarner Kaffee in Frauenfeld.
THURGAUER ZEITUNG · FEBRUARY 2026
READ THE ARTICLE →
