(Industry)
Cryogenics
Brand Identity
Creative Direction
Art Direction
Making the brand as upbeat as it's people.
[Situation]
01
Cryogenics is an unglamorous business that a lot of other industries quietly depend on. Liquid nitrogen, CO2, LNG, medical oxygen, none of it moves without the valves, hoses, dewars and fittings built to handle it. Ratermann Manufacturing is one of the major suppliers with George Ratermann starting the company in 1997 out of a shed with two parts to sell. It now stocks more than 20,000 parts, shipping from warehouses in Livermore, California and Nashville, Tennessee to welding distributors, fill plants, breweries and labs. Three decades of reputation had been built on the founder and the people answering the phone. The brand had never been asked to carry any of it.
[Solution]
02
Ratermann's edge was always that someone knowledgeable picks up the phone. The challenge in the design work was making the brand carry that attitude instead of relying on the people who built it. Nothing could go offline, so the I had to refresh the brand using existing assets rather than a teardown, moving the identity into a cohesive system that was approachable and easier to navigate. The new system needed to work easily between teams and programs so focus was given to basic design elements used in interesting ways along with the occasional event and promo to maintain the upbeat and positive culture in the company. Over two years the work extended into new landing pages, updated hero pages and an AI prototype for customer service that led to year over year growth and new partnerships.
