X-Energy is a really exciting company that’s redefining nuclear energy, and designing planet and people-friendly nuclear reactors and fuel.
Because of their trailblazing work, our intent was to bring their branding up to speed to match their modernistic views, and to make nuclear and the future of a green planet feel consumer friendly and accessible. This was an exercise entirely from the ground up — developing both look and feel, wordmarks, logos, socials, landing pages — everything.
THE PROCESS
STEP ONE: LOOK AND FEEL
To find the right look for the new branding, we collected a large amount of comps, all with different themes and genres to better help pin-point what direction we should be moving in.
TECHNICAL
organic
CONSUMER
The first major hurdle to overcome was an inconsistency present in the brand’s existing logos that are used over their three sub-companies, and in nailing down a consistent colour palette to use across the entire brand. The client loved the feel of an organic and consumer friendly look and feel, so we pushed forward on those two inspirations, testing out two different palettes and two new logo options in addition to their existing.
INITIAL DESIGN DIRECTION
EXISTING LOGO + ENERGETIC CONSUMER TEAL
NUCLEAR ORGANIC LOGO + ENERGETIC CONSUMER TEAL
FUTURISTIC & MODERN LOGO + PASTEL PALETTE
EXISTING LOGOs
With the brighter pastel palette taking the lead in terms of preference, the next steps involved exploring options for the logo, symbol, and wordmark fonts. We offered alternative options to their original, current symbol in an effort to understand what direction would be ideal. The previous symbols we’d shown — the Nuclear Organic and Futuristic — weren’t quite right. We explored a multitude of options, and selected some final possibilities to share based on the companies’ goals.
SYMBOL, WORDMARK AND FONTS
We settled on keeping the original symbol, and moved forward with Yapari as our chosen font for our wordmark. Next was to customise it, to help it feel bespoke, and to implement it to our client’s sub-brands: their fuel and generator companies, as well as a stacked styling.
WORDMARK
COLOURWAYS, PHOTOGRAPHY, ICONOGRAPHY
Still searching for the right colour palette to best represent X-Energy, we introduced two new separate ideas, as well as a photographic guide and two iconography options.
COLOURWAY ONE: BLUECOLOURWAY TWO: SUNRISE/SUNSETICONOGRAPHY OPTIONSPHOTOGRAPHY GUIDEUse reflections, refractions, shadow play, and layered materials alongside human figures. Evoke innovation, energy, and the unseen mechanisms that power our future.
ABSTRACT FIGURES
ABSTRACT PATTERNS
Focus on patterns, materials, light phenomena, and texture. Can be used as backgrounds or full-bleed visuals.
NATURAL & ORGANIC
Embrace natural textures—leaves, water, earth, wood, stone. Showcase our deep commitment to the Earth—clean water and sustainable energy.
HUMAN & RELATABLE
Focus on candid, emotionally real moments. Capture diversity in age, culture, and geography of people who can benefit from X-Energy.
BLACK & WHITE
Prioritize strong contrast, shadow play, and clean compositions. Pair with bold layouts or minimal text for maximum impact.
FINAL COLOURWAY SEARCH
Still searching for the right palette, we explored now multiple newer options, basing our picks off of the meanings and symbolism of our chosen colours.
COLOURWAY ONE: SUN & SEACOLOURWAY TWO: PROMISECOLOURWAY THREE: UNITYCOLOURWAY four: auroraCOLOURWAY four: TRANQUILITY, SAFETY AND INNOVATIONCOLOURWAY FIVE: TODAY, TOMORROW, THE UNKNOWNTHE FINAL
With our wordmark, logo, photography, typography and colour palette locked and approved, we set to work implementing the final brand application.
