Mehran Bio Energy

The problem

Energy branding defaults to green and a leaf. Using both is a cliché; avoiding both loses the category signal. The mark had to earn the green rather than assume it.

What I did

• Leaf mark constructed from a droplet, so it reads as both energy and organic
• Single green with a near-black, deliberately limited
• Business cards, cups and signage
• Mobile app screen and social templates
• Mark tested in one colour for embroidery and stamping

The brief

Brand identity for a bio energy company. The category has a visual cliché so entrenched that avoiding it entirely is as much of a problem as using it.

The green and leaf problem

Energy and environmental branding defaults to a green leaf. Using it means looking like every competitor; avoiding both green and any natural reference means losing the category signal that tells a viewer what the company does.

The approach here was to earn the green rather than assume it. The mark is built from a droplet that resolves into a leaf, which reads as both energy and organic depending on how it is held. It uses the category’s language without repeating its most tired form.

Palette

A single green with a near-black. One accent colour, deliberately limited, which reads as disciplined rather than as a company reaching for environmental credibility through colour alone.

The green is specified for print and screen separately, because the vivid green that works on a display turns dull in CMYK without a specified alternative.

Testing for reproduction

The mark was tested in one colour, reversed, embossed and embroidered before sign-off. Energy companies produce a great deal of physical material — vehicle livery, safety signage, workwear, cups — and much of it is reproduced by processes that cannot handle gradients or fine detail.

A mark that only works in full colour on screen is a mark that will be redrawn badly by a supplier within a year.

Applications

Business cards, cups, workwear, signage and a mobile app screen. The digital application matters increasingly in this sector, where customers track usage and billing through an app.

Typography

A clean sans throughout, with weight rather than a second face carrying the hierarchy. A single family keeps licensing simple for a company that will produce material through several suppliers.

What was delivered

Logo suite, single-colour and reversed variants, colour specifications for print and screen, application artwork and usage guidelines.

The stack

• Branding & Graphic Design