BE

Turning Energy into Sovereign Compute.

Role: Creative Direction, Brand Strategy, Digital Project Management

Context

BE builds and operates clean energy-powered data centres for AI and high-performance computing.

With an IPO on the horizon, the business needed a brand that could hold up to institutional scrutiny, attract enterprise clients, and tell a coherent story across every touchpoint - from the website to the business card.

I was brought in to lead the creative direction of that transformation.

The Brief

The existing brand was not fit for purpose at the growth stage the business had reached. The challenge was threefold: sharpen the positioning, build a complete and scalable visual identity system, and deploy it across digital and physical touchpoints before the business entered public markets.

My Role

I led the creative direction of the brand refresh end-to-end, working with an external design agency. This meant translating business objectives and positioning into a clear creative brief, making decisions on brand strategy, visual language, typography, colour, and nomenclature, and ensuring every output met the standard required for an IPO-stage company.

Since the refresh completed, I have continued as Creative Director for BE, overseeing day-to-day creative and marketing operations.

Approach

Brand strategy first. The brand promise, "Powering Sustainable Innovation" was the anchor. Everything else was built to express that: a company at the intersection of clean energy and high-performance technology, where environmental responsibility and commercial performance are not in conflict.

A system, not just a logo. The core identity centres on the Catalyst logomark: a plus sign that symbolises additive value and the convergence of energy and technology. From that single element, we built a full system - wordmarks, extended brand family lockups for each vertical, co-branding rules, and clear misuse guidelines.

Colour with purpose. The palette is built around Evergreen (deep teal, the dominant brand colour), Horizon Blue (fresh, modern), and a set of accent colours - Terra, Solar Flare, Hydro used sparingly to create energy and hierarchy without noise.

The usage ratio framework ensures consistency across all formats.

Typography that works at scale. ABC Diatype as the primary typeface, Manrope as the web-optimised equivalent, and Arial/Helvetica as system fallbacks. Weight hierarchy replaces the need for multiple typefaces.

Nomenclature standardised. As of May 2025, the corporate name was formally standardised to "BE" across all written and verbal communications - a small but significant step in brand coherence ahead of public markets.

Digital-first deployment. The brand system was built to live online. Photography principles (Natural, Connected, Visionary), glassmorphic UI treatments, icon and illustration guidelines, and a data visualisation framework were all developed to give the digital team - and any future agency partners, a complete working toolkit.

What We Delivered

• Complete brand identity system: logomark, wordmark, horizontal and vertical lockups, tagline lockup, co-branding guidelines
  
• Full colour system with primary palette, usage ratios, light/dark themes, and tint guidance
• Typography system across print and digital environments
• Photography direction framework
• Visual elements library: icons, pictograms, geometric shapes, illustrations, glassmorphic UI
• Data visualisation guidelines
• Brand asset suite: collateral, merchandise, ID and access materials
• Website redesign and deployment at bec.uk

Outcomes

The brand refresh translated directly into stronger digital performance. Following the revamp of bec.uk, BE saw growth in organic search traffic and improved on-site engagement - both indicators that the new brand was landing with the right audiences. Brand affinity increased across stakeholder groups, and the business entered its IPO process with a significantly more credible visual presence.

The identity system continues to underpin all marketing activity, including the ongoing B2B campaign targeting enterprise CTOs and CIOs.

Ongoing Work

I continue to lead creative and marketing operations for BE as Creative Director. Current work includes the BE Brand Re-boot campaign, covering brand refinement, a second-phase website refresh, business cards and merchandise, and a testimonials and marketing workstream.