Founded in 1969, FuelCell Energy has been a beacon of optimism, innovation, and strength in the energy sector. Over the years, the company has evolved to become a leader in clean energy—its global fleet of SureSource™ power plants spans three continents and is leading the industry with millions of megawatts of ultra-clean power produced. Utilizing state-of-the-art fuel cells, their SureSource plants provide environmentally responsible solutions for various applications such as utility-scale and on-site power generation, carbon capture, local hydrogen production for both transportation and industry and long-duration energy storage.

But although the company had significantly evolved in its practices and focus, its brand identity had fallen behind in communicating its new core mission effectively.

VSA Partners joined FuelCell Energy to take their renewed corporate purpose—to enable the world to live empowered by clean energy—and translate this into a communicative brand expression system.

VSA Partners helped FuelCell Energy reimagine their entire identity to better focus on their role as a provider of safe, secure, and practical solutions for achieving carbon zero output. FuelCell Energy is not only making their industry more sustainable, they’re also empowering the world with clean energy. This empowerment and creativity, as well as ingenuity, needed to play out across the brand expression system.

We delivered a new brand look that includes a logo redesign, typography, creation of a bright and progressive color palette, and a new brand expression system that informs FuelCell Energy’s communication platforms, assets, and advertising.

The final brand identity is full of symbolism and moments of ingenuity meant to express the creativity and connectedness of the FuelCell brand. The design’s use of gradients signals the journey the customers are taking towards carbon zero. The reductive footprint of the border design system reinforces how frictionless adoption of clean energy can be.

FuelCell was also equipped with a color scheme associated with lower ink toxicity that, ironically, hues like green can have. Instead, the blues and purples signal creativity and scientific prowess.

The typeface ABC Diatype was selected because of its clean yet warm appearance, and its ability to reinforce the overall brand commitment to being minimal and waste-free.

Finally, the logo is a very clever, thoughtful embodiment of the brand’s work and identity. The design of the logo is inspired by the bonds between molecules that are broken and formed in the chemical reactions of their fuel cells. The letterforms also incorporate F-C-E-L—FuelCell Energy’s stock ticker. The segment in the upper-right also completes the “zero,” which all visualizes the company’s mission of leading the journey towards zero carbon emissions.