Challenge

A new-to-market DTC company founded by technology and climate industry veterans was looking to launch an app that provides climate insights and daily tips, empowering people to make more climate-conscious decisions and ultimately accelerating the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. The company approached Prophet to help create a name and visual system that would deliver on its value proposition and create differentiation in a fast-growing category—all before the app’s launch. 

Solution

After immersing in the established strategy, Prophet’s verbal branding experts mobilized a sprint to explore new names for the company. We looked at numerous territories and styles, ultimately prioritizing names that felt conversational, optimistic, and unique. We landed on the name Upward Climate—which evokes encouragement with a nod to the phrase “onwards and upwards” and reflects a departure from the green or earthy category naming trends.

From this, we created a new brand purpose, “We believe happiness comes from being in the flow in all activities we do at home.” We then created brand principles, tone of voice, and the tagline “Work. Flow. Home” to bring the brand to life in a unique and distinctive way against other competitors. The name “Beflo” came out of the idea of being “in the flow” when everything you do works seamlessly and effortlessly.  

Beflo began developing a desk prototype, combining motorized height-adjustable settings with modular tech accessories around cable management, charging features and other productivity tools. As part of that, we worked with them to create brand principles based on their new purpose that would have implications for their product design.

The visual identity also used the “flow” concept to create a simple and ergonomic-looking logotype with rounded letterforms and the curved ligature between the “f” and “l” that mimicked the side profile of the curve on the desk’s legs.

We then crafted a visual expression for Upward Climate. We abstracted the “U” from the brand’s name to create a distinctive mark with repeating lines connoting data visualization. An understated, earthy color palette conveys a calming, steady grounding in the climate space, while pops of a bright hero yellow bring both positivity and urgency to the forefront of the brand’s identity. We designed the company’s new name and visuals to be integrated into its launch site and app, with iconography that extends from pictograms for branded moments to functional icons for in-product navigation. 

Results

The brand concept, name, visual identity and product design successfully came to market in 2023. The branding was recognized in the 2021 Transform Awards as the Best Visual Identity in Technology, Media and Telecommunications. 

Results

Prophet developed the name and new visual identity, complete with motion elements in just under five months. As the company just launched its launch site and app, additional impact will be defined in the coming months.