Kohler Energy: Bringing
a Century of Design Leadership Into the
Future of Energy
Challenge: Kohler had spent more than a century building a reputation for design and innovation, yet its energy business remained largely in the shadow of Kitchen & Bath. As the market shifted toward cleaner, distributed energy, Kohler needed to transform a traditional power business into a modern energy resilience leader, without losing the equity of the masterbrand.
Opportunity: The opportunity was to bring Kohler’s design-first philosophy into energy, creating a brand that could make power feel as considered and desirable as the products people proudly bring into their homes. Rooted in resilience and collective progress, the identity needed to balance bold design, technical expertise and optimism while flexing across residential, commercial, industrial and utility audiences.
Transforming Resilience
Into a Premium, Forward-Moving Brand
Team:
Cristina Vasquez
Raissa Schpatoff
Alice Sunaryo
Julia Smith-Epstein
The Beacon
(Kohler’s internal brand/design studio)
Solution: We created a cohesive identity that drew directly from Kohler's strongest equities while establishing a distinctive expression for Energy. We retained the iconic Kohler mark and its predominantly black-and-white world, introducing a brighter energy blue to signal innovation and optimism. A modular system of typography, imagery and iconography created flexibility across audiences, while light, movement and unexpected perspectives expressed resilience as continual forward motion.
Alongside the visual identity, we developed the brand architecture, nomenclature and signature system to bring clarity to a complex portfolio and make its offerings easier to navigate across four distinct customer groups.
Results: The new system gave Kohler Energy a unified, premium presence across its complex portfolio and audiences, connecting the business more closely to Kohler’s design legacy while signaling its evolution toward a more innovative, sustainable energy future.
The work created a clearer, more cohesive expression for the Energy business during a pivotal period of transformation. In 2024, the business was acquired by private equity and established as an independent company, setting the stage for its next chapter.
