CREATING A FACE FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
CREATING A FACE FOR ENERGY
INDEPENDENCE
A BRAND DESERVING OF TIER 1 WORK
Tier 1 Solar brings new alternatives to a world stuck on the power grid by charging into the energy industry with bold, new solutions to power problems. Our goal was to forge a new visual identity with imagery that felt fresh, yet strong enough to challenge the incumbents of the industry.
Since our rebrand for Tier 1, they have raised over $1M in funding.
Off-grid is no longer off-topic
Since its inception, the power grid has been the default for energy systems in the United States. Through the past few decades, power grid alternatives have been plagued with the branding of being ‘hippie’ and only accessible to people who live in remote locales.
Shake ups to modern lifestyles like the work-from-home movement set the stage for a new wave of thinking - maybe we don’t need all of the same infrastructure that has been the constant for home life. New technologies can give us the independence we need to have more granular lifestyle control, first at work, and now at home.
Centered around the concept of personal energy independence, we aimed to make a brand that felt normal in our tech-centric world; no longer the outsider looking in.
Visualize the future of power
With many of Tier 1’s products being unusual to the average consumer, we were tasked with making easy to understand videos and photos about how the Tier 1 batteries and energy systems work and how they can seamlessly fit into everyday life.
We needed to show how critical the importance of lifestyle design is to the minds at Tier 1, so we shot on location in many different corners of daily life. By capturing how different types of people can use clean and silent portables, we were able to communicate the versatility of skipping gas generators and reliance on the power grid.
Colors charging ahead
straddling two identities
Being a company pushing new, innovative ways of powering your life, Tier 1’s visual identity needed to feel modern, simple, and understandable from a glance. The company's look needed to be simple to match Tier's ability to boil down complex problems to consumers.
The brand is trying to aim at both the energy industry with their home power systems implemented by developers, and to consumers with their portable electric generators. The new visual identity needs to feel appropriate and approachable to both markets.
iconic power
Making a company that felt strong and identifiable to the energy industry, yet approachable enough to individual consumers was a unique challenge to tackle. What we ended up with was bold fonts and simple shapes with softer and rounded corners.
With ‘Tier’ being a pretty generic word in terms of a company name, we aimed to create an icon that could carry the weight of the brand with or without the wordmark present. The Tier power icon helped instantly align consumers with the pillars of the brand - tech, power, innovation - with the ‘1’ reinforcing the position that Tier is putting itself in the market - bringing new technologies to market first.
power up
We helped take all of the visual elements we built over the year to live in the new Tier 1 hub - Tier1.solar. The site is full of life with heavy reliance on beautiful lifestyle images.
This new home for Tier will help them give a place for their products to live for years, spreading the wealth of energy independence to whoever is ready for it.
Having been the team to create every aspect of the visualization of the Tier brand, we were able to make a cohesive, tight knit understanding of the goals of their company - much greater than just a box with a battery in it.
the next switch to flip
We are grateful to continue working with Tier 1 Solar on new challenges as they move to create full neighborhood developments with their home power systems in countries across the world.
Special thanks to Ryan Duarte and the Tier 1 team for letting us give a face to their budding endeavor.