WØRKS’ crisp, structured brand pulls focus to the technology powering biomaterials company erthos® — The Brand Identity – Home of the Greatest in Graphic & Brand Design

By harnessing cutting-edge technology, erthos® is developing efficient biodegradable substitutes for plastic. The visual identity of this pioneering biomaterials company has been redefined with the help of New York-based creative studio WØRKS – encapsulating their innovative approach to sustainability through biodegradable plastic substitutes – and has been timed strategically to coincide with erthos® transitioning from a materials supplier to a technology-driven material studio.

The central objective of the rebrand was to convey a sense of trust, expertise, and a profound optimism for the future, with a look intended to resonate not just with industry-leading businesses who would be their clients, but also with a younger, climate-aware audience seeking thought leadership. The resulting identity is a marriage of emotive imagery, sophisticated typography, modular data design, intentional colour usage, and a clear and concise logo system, all of which express the brand’s strategic formula of ‘Trust, Education and Optimism.’

“The brand immediately instils confidence and clarity, a sense of mastery, and an energising and positive view of a plastic-free future,” says Partner & Creative Director Haris Fazlani. A three-dotted circle leads the brand image, described by Partner & Designer Roy Cranston as “an essentialist form representative of both circularity and our planet, and nods to historic and iconic symbols of planetary health.” Having working with erthos® since the inception of the brand, WØRKS refined the logo to ensure it functions seamlessly across all applications without losing its familiarity or equity.

A key part of the design strategy was the development of a gridded, compartmentalised visual system. This was crucial to ensuring the complex, highly technical information erthos® often needs to communicate could be transmitted in an easily digestible, visually-appealing way.

“We’ve always been deeply inspired by the standards and systems that allowed innovative institutions like NASA and the NYC Transit Authority to scale through decades without compromising their integrity,” Cranston notes. Inspired by these timeless design artefacts, the modular system provides flexibility and clarity – featuring adjustable grids and compartments. These can support ever-changing data, adapting to the needs of each project, while colour is used intentionally to highlight key points and create clear hierarchies. “The proportions of each touchpoint were deeply considered and intentional, and we made sure to create a repeatable system through spacing and sizing standards, as shown in our breakdowns,” Cranston adds.

Calling upon the mid-century design aesthetics of the standards manual era, typography for the identity is simple yet striking, utilising only one typeface, Suisse Int’l Regular by Swiss Typefaces, inone weight. “We chose to speak simply and directly, to take an almost extreme approach to element reduction for the sake of clarity,” Cranston explains. “While this looks simple, we have very specific rules as it pertains to tracking, proportions, colour and leading, which is often the difference that takes Suisse from being a beautiful typeface to the height of sophistication.”