Offshore Wind Collective Naming & Identity

The brief was to generate names and brand identities for 6 proposed offshore wind farms and their 'mother' holding company.

I worked with my clients to shape a brand strategy which arched over the collective. It became clear that our company names & identities should convey:

·  That the company deals in offshore energy and is respectful of the environment /

biodiversity of area and locals

·     A sense of connection to the local people & places

·     Hope for the future

·     A fully Irish company

·     Transparency & experience

·     Compassionate

·     Inclusive

·     Aims to save the planet!

·     Strength / Leader/ Anchor/ Empower/ Collective

During my research and brainstorming I was drawn to ancient Irish language & design and the sea, water and wind related words and imagery I stumbled upon. There seemed something powerful in summoning these ancient words and harnessing some of their potent energy in our time.

The ‘Mother’ company was to be called ‘Tethra’ which is both the name of an ancient Irish sea god and the Word for sea in the ancient poem “Song of Amergin”. “Am tond trethan” - “I am wind on sea.”

The six sister wind farms were to be called:

·     Aniar – Westerly wind.

·     Rian - Flowing sea / course / path / Power of movement / action / energy

·     Lir - The sea / Great sea god. 

·     Voyage

·     Haven - Artificial reef / Biodiversity haven.

·     Tulca - Large sea wave / Speaking fluently.

I wanted the design to be clean and contemporary yet distinctly Irish, somewhat reminiscent of a cultural institution’s identity. Something trustworthy and familiar. I also gravitated towards a more organic & feminine feel to the curves and lines ( hard not to when inspired by Irish design’s spirals and curves!) and actively diverged from a masculine and technical aesthetic.  I felt that this approach suited the compassionate traits of the brand’s personality. Also it would go to set them apart from the oceans of masculine/industrial logos out there in the renewable energy sector.  As our approach to the climate emergency needs to change so might our treatment of brand identity in this sector.

The Aniar logo was the first to be created. It is composed of a wind/wave curved motif which forms the 'A'. This became the DNA which was incorporated into each wind farm name, with each first letter taking on the wind and wave motif.

For the Tethra logo design the challenge was to work backwards towards the source and imagine a mother brand from which all of the 6 wind farm logos came from. I wanted this mother brand to possess mature and serious traits while still being approachable and Irish. To appear established and solid. 

To create the imagery for the holding Company logo I took elements from the 6 logo designs and manipulated them to create a logo mark which possessed the same DNA as the entire suite. The wave and wind lines which make up the Initial letter of each wind farm logo became the building block which I used to build the new design. On its own it stands as a depiction of wind and wave but repeated and rearranged it can project themes on the collective, on harmony and growth. 

I chose the font 'Perpetua', a serif font which fits with Tethra's brand personality of ; established, trustworthy and mature. It also ties in visually with the symbol as it has curved details.

The muted colour brand palette of green, blue and shell were inspired by imagery from the coasts of Ireland. We were very aware that we didn’t want to use the bright greens and blues synonymous with renewable energy logo design.

I went on to create tag lines for both Tethra and Aniar, sourced brand imagery for their websites and worked with my client and their web designer to shape the aesthetic and language of their websites to tie in with the brand identity.

Tethra:

'Solutions Are In Our Nature'

Aniar:

'Irish Wind, Empowering The Future'