Context
Visual Brand Language for Asco
Why make an effort to bring design into a product that is rarely seen? As part of the team at Zukun, I helped design a Visual Brand Language for Emerson Asco— uniting their diverse product offering with consistent design decisions that make sense for both function and form.
Design for industrial products is unique in that it goes hand-in-hand with engineering and embraces manufacturing processes in a way that consumer-facing products just don’t.
Zukun Plan
Emerson Asco
Team
Client
Source: emerson.com
We started by gaining a deeper understanding of Asco’s brand values. By studying Asco as a brand and then studying their representative products as well as competitors, we had a holistic view from which to start designing the visual brand language.
Developing Signature Elements
Expertise (Confidence)
Reliability (Ruggedness)
Performance (Dynamic Flow)
Following research and through design exploration, we translated Asco’s brand values into physical characteristics that could be applied to every product. These physical characteristics worked with both the function of the product and the manufacturing method.
Applying the New VBL to a Diverse Family of Products
The VBL (Visual Brand Language) we developed is flexible enough to adapt to products with different form factors— still communicating flow and reliability while considering manufacturing constraints. This step required detailed design intent CAD modeling that could be passed on to Asco’s engineering team.
Applying the new VBL to Asco products refreshes their catalog and aligns all products with a family resemblance.
Applying the new VBL to the ASCO Series 158 Gas Valve and Series 159 Motorized Actuator
Final Production
Previous Design
Final Concept
Careful consideration of material, manufacturing methods and constraints results in a final design language that carries through to final production.
Abstract Renderings Created for Inspirational Wall Art
Holistic consideration of engineering optimization, manufacturing processes, and brand legacy resulted in a visual brand language that makes sense for Asco’s industry-leading products.
As an industrial designer on the project, I contributed to design research, concept ideation, concept refinement, visualization, and modeling for design intent.
What I enjoyed most about this project was the freedom I found within constraints. With the function of the product being the utmost priority, industrial design efforts focused on highlighting this function and elevating the brand.
Asco filed various design patents based the new VBL application.