Modity, an energy trader from Lund, approached us while I was employed as Pyramid and Petra.
The brief was simple: make our brand stand out in an industry riddled with images of wind turbines and boring, technical copy.
The solution: Also simple.
Modity
A simple brand made impossible to ignore
"Simple"
Our team – Emma Widerberg, Torbjörn Buhré, Pontus Lindh, and myself – we uncovered what made Modity truly different: their ability to make energy trading remarkably straightforward. Together, we refined this insight into a guiding principle:
“A simple energy deal.”
This concept became the foundation for every decision we made, driving the design, communication, and user experience.
Keeping it simple
It was a common belief with the team and the client that in order to get the effect we wanted, we needed to take simplicity all the way. Externally, this was achieved by stripping all communication from complexity.
Simple clarity
All visuals were designed with a minimalist mantra, from the UI to magazine ads, to office posters.
A simple experience
A consistent and static left-hand column provided contact details, including dynamic status updates like when a representative would be back in the office. This made it easy for users to get in touch whenever they were ready.
The right column, which was the main content area, was scrollable and layed out with great typography and easy-to-understand graphics. At the end you got a quick link to the next section.
Focus made simple
One of my favorite features was a take on “reader mode”; made to keep distractions away when users were digesting Modity’s content. This was applied to content that didn’t need indexing, like news articles for logged in users.
Content was presented in a distraction-free overlay, giving users an enhanced reading experience while also eliminating navigation complexity.
Simply lost
I designed the 404 page to be dark, as if the lights were turned off. Luckily not the feature most people got to experience, but it was in line with our overall concept. To really make an impact, you need to care for the smaller things too.
Simple guidance
The concept was met with ovations and love from all directions. Now, it was time to document it. Author and copywriter Pontus Lindh captured the emotions, execution, and rationale in a brand book that I designed in collaboration with Torbjörn Buhré. It strikes a wonderful balance between seriousness and playfulness – just as life as an employee should.
Results
Just a few years after launching the new identity and strategy, Modity’s revenue had more than doubled. Of course, this success is a testament to Modity’s brilliant team and their relentless work ethic. But I can’t help but feel that our work played a part in paving the way for their growth by making their story impossible to ignore.
Retrospective
This is one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve ever worked on. Having the opportunity to collaborate with a company that truly wants to evolve, and doing so with a team like this, was absolutely fantastic. I wish we had the chance to gather more data and conduct interviews with Modity’s customers, both before and after the project, to measure the actual impact of our efforts.
