Coloplast Timeline
“Telling the story of stoma innovation over 70 years.”
Coloplast is a global healthcare company supporting people with intimate medical needs. One of its core commitments is to improve the lives of people living with a stoma – through its products, education and support.
Coloplast was preparing to attend a major healthcare industry exhibition and wanted to create a large-format visual installation for its stand. The aim was to showcase over 70 years of innovation in stoma care — not as a technical product list, but as a compelling, accessible story that reflected the brand and its values.
The audience for the exhibition was broad and influential, including healthcare professionals, NHS decision makers and industry peers. Coloplast needed something that would stand out in a busy exhibition environment, communicate trust and credibility, and spark meaningful conversations on the stand.
Central to the story was the company’s origin. In the early 1950s, nurse Elise Sørensen developed the world’s first adhesive stoma bag to help her sister, who was nervous about going out in public in case of leaks.
From that simple but powerful idea, Coloplast was born. The challenge was to bring this story to life visually – in a way that felt human and innovative.
We began by researching different approaches to timeline design, exploring how complex histories can be made engaging and intuitive in a physical space. We wanted to do more than present a purely linear timeline, and looked for ways to create depth, movement and emotional connection.
We developed three distinct visual routes, each aligned with Coloplast’s brand guidelines but offering a different way to experience the story. A key decision was to place Elise Sørensen at the heart of the narrative, to immediately connect with healthcare professionals and reinforce Coloplast’s commitment to care-led innovation.
Once Coloplast selected their preferred direction, we refined the design into a large-scale wall graphic tailored to the exhibition stand. Typography, colour and layout were carefully balanced to ensure the timeline worked both from a distance – to attract attention – and up close for visitors to engage with the detail.
Throughout the process, we worked collaboratively with the Coloplast team, ensuring accuracy, sensitivity and brand consistency at every stage.
The finished timeline became a focal point of the Coloplast stand, drawing delegates in and creating a natural starting point for conversations with the on-stand team.
Many attendees were already familiar with Coloplast as a brand but were surprised and engaged by the company’s origins and the people behind its innovations. The timeline reinforced Coloplast’s position as a market leader with deep roots and purpose.
The success of the exhibition piece led to further collaboration, with Coloplast commissioning a four-minute animated video based on the same content.
This extended the life of the story beyond the event, creating an engaging asset for corporate presentations, internal communications and digital channels.
