Like fireworks at night

Successful corporations are like monoliths in the landscape. They represent stability, security, and continuity. Attributes, as if set in stone, that do not do justice to the inventive spirit of BKW, one of Switzerland's largest companies in the energy sector.

To position BKW's new technology and innovation lab, Endaprime by BKW, as a driver of change, we developed a unique, luminous brand identity with a recognition value.

Old roots, new shoot

Visual design is largely responsible for how people perceive a brand. They associate colors, shapes, and fonts with certain attributes, which are then automatically associated with the brand. As an offshoot of a large corporation like BKW, Endaprime's challenge was to find a brand identity that not only stands out but also signifies the new: the future world of energy.

A manual for building a unique brand identity 

Working closely with Endaprime, we created a manual that defines and captures key brand characteristics in the logo, fonts, key visuals, and color palettes – optimized for digital, but also suitable for print. It serves as a foundation and reference for building an authentic and strong brand identity across multiple channels and customer touchpoints. A prime example of this is the landing page for Endpaprime’s very first product.

The product as starting point

Endaprime entered the market with the launch of HIVE, a digital application for visualizing the future energy landscape. To help the product succeed, we developed its user-centered interface, and realized early on that it was not just about giving a face to a new application, but to an entire brand. It was the starting point for building a global brand identity. To achieve this, we developed visual design tokens that served as a base for the design system of HIVE as well as new elements for the Endaprime landing page and for the development of new products as well as for future sales, marketing and communication materials.

Characteristic logo and expressive font

First things first: the logo. Together with Endaprime, we designed a logo that optimally represents the company as a brand, while working seamlessly for its products as well. The suffix "By BKW" fits easily into all logo variations without the logo losing clarity and recognition value. This is due in particular to the strong character and concise letterform of the Swiss font "Whyte Inktrap". Its extremely pronounced ink traps at the intersections are memorable and reminiscent of energy flows. The inktraps are also reflected in  the titles and subtitles of the whole brand. For all other text elements, a light version of “Whyte” came into play to ensure readability, even on small screens.

Futuristic key visual and electrifying color palettes

Endaprime is all about the energy system of tomorrow. A future that we represent for the HIVE application with a grid of cells, but that needed to become more tangible for marketing and communication purposes. So we developed a key visual that represents the energy system of tomorrow in a more illustrative way, while remaining graphically reduced. With lines, radically simple shapes and an isometric view, we perfectly captured the futuristic and disruptive character of the brand. Its underlying color palette consists of midnight blue color moods, complemented by bright accent colors that become dynamic energy streams on the dark background, like fireworks in the night sky.

From product to strong brand

Doing business means inspiring people with great products. But also building a brand around it that attracts people (visually), embodies the company values, and sticks in people's minds. For new players in the market, especially offshoots like Endaprime, this is not easy, as they have to differentiate themselves from what already exists. But unlike many others, Endaprime by BKW was aware of this challenge. And together with us, they tackled it "right" from the start.

The result was the creation of a brand identity that all internal stakeholders were a part of and was challenged by the target group. It’s based upon the most important design elements, such as logo and brand colors, that can be (re)used for the further and continuous development of a strong brand.

Project facts

Project team