Brand Identity for Solar Startup

UnderOne Energy
Project Brief — Brand Proposition & Logo / Visual Identity
Prepared for the appointed brand & design studio
Commissioned by: Paudie Dennehy, Co-Founder & Sales Lead, UnderOne Energy Ltd (CRO 800460)
1. Project snapshot
What we need: A full brand identity for UnderOne Energy — brand proposition and messaging, a primary logo and variants, and the core visual system (colour, typography, usage) needed to launch and scale a residential solar and energy-services business in Ireland.
Why now: UnderOne Energy is newly trading, with its first installations completed. We need a coherent, trustworthy identity in place to support sales, marketing and a year-long customer education programme already in development.
Primary audience: Irish homeowners first; business and commercial a clear secondary.
Scope of this brand: UnderOne Energy only. The separate Window & Lock division is out of scope for this identity and should not constrain the design.
Anchor mission: #OneBillionBack — a mission to deliver €1 billion in energy savings to Irish homeowners. The brand should be able to carry this campaign.
2. About the business
UnderOne Energy is an Irish residential energy-services company based in Kilcock, Co. Meath, founded by Paudie Dennehy and Trevor McCarthy. We design and install solar PV, battery storage and related energy services for homes, with a focus on helping households generate, store and use their own clean energy and cut their bills.
We are entering a market where homeowners are interested in solar but wary of the sector. Pushy sales, inconsistent quality, and installers who disappear after the job have left many people cautious. Our opportunity is to be the opposite of that: straight-talking, dependable, and genuinely on the homeowner’s side. The brand has to earn trust on sight and hold it through the relationship.
Founder note on personality:
We want to be seen as trustworthy and approachable rather than corporate or aggressively “disruptor.” Confident and modern, yes — but the dependable, plain-speaking choice, not the loudest one in the room. This is the single most important steer in the brief.
3. What the brand and logo must achieve
• Build immediate trust. Look established, credible and safe to invite into someone’s home — not like a here-today-gone-tomorrow operator.
• Feel approachable and human. Warm and clear to an ordinary homeowner, free of technical or corporate coldness.
• Carry the mission. Work alongside and visually support the #OneBillionBack campaign and the idea of savings going back to households.
• Scale with us. Function from a van and a polo shirt to a website, a quote document, social media and signage — and still look right as the business grows.
• Stand apart. Be distinct from the sea of generic green-leaf, sun-ray solar logos, while still reading clearly as an energy brand.
4. The brand proposition (to develop and refine)
We are not asking the studio to invent our strategy from scratch — the direction below is our starting point. We want it sharpened, pressure-tested and turned into clear, usable messaging. Treat these as a strong draft, not a constraint.
Who we serve
Irish homeowners who want to cut energy bills and take control of their energy, but want a provider they can actually trust.
What we do
Design and install solar PV, battery storage and energy services that let homeowners generate, store and use their own clean power.
What makes us different
Straight-talking, dependable and homeowner-first — long-term partners, not a one-off sale. Anchored by a clear mission to put money back in people’s pockets.
The mission
#OneBillionBack: €1 billion in energy savings returned to Irish homeowners.
The feeling we want
“These are the ones who’ll do it right and won’t leave me stranded.”

Deliverable for this section:
• A refined positioning statement and a short brand proposition.
• A tagline / strapline option set that works with, and distinct from, #OneBillionBack.
• Defined brand personality and tone-of-voice guidance, with a few written examples (e.g. how a quote intro or a social post should sound).
• Three to five core messages we can use consistently across sales and marketing.
5. The visual identity
Logo
• A primary logo for UnderOne Energy, plus the variants we’ll need in practice: horizontal and stacked lockups, an icon / symbol that works standalone (for app icons, social avatars, van livery), and one-colour and reversed (on navy) versions.
• The name “UnderOne” carries meaning — everything under one roof, one trusted provider, homeowners and installer on one side. The studio is encouraged to explore whether the mark can express that “under one” idea without being literal or gimmicky.
• Must remain legible and recognisable at small sizes (a social avatar, a favicon) and at distance (van, signage).
Colour
• Existing brand navy: #1A2744, used with white. This is established across early assets and should remain the foundation of the palette.
• We are open to one carefully chosen accent or supporting colour to add warmth, energy or a sense of “savings,” provided it keeps the navy-led, trustworthy feel. Recommend, with rationale, rather than assume.
• Please avoid: defaulting to the generic “solar green” or rainbow eco-palette that makes most installers look identical. If green is proposed, it must be justified.
Typography
• A clear, modern, highly legible typeface system — a primary for headlines and logo, and a practical secondary for body, web and documents.
• Must be readable for an older homeowner audience and work across print quotes, the website and social graphics.
• Where possible, favour widely available or licensable fonts so we can use them consistently in-house (e.g. in proposals and email).
6. Where it will be used
Design with these real touchpoints in mind. The identity must hold up across all of them:
• Website and customer solar proposals / quote documents.
• Social media (profile, posts, and the daily energy-tips content programme).
• Van livery, signage, installer workwear and site presence.
• Email, letterheads and basic stationery.
• The #OneBillionBack campaign as a sub-brand or campaign lockup.
7. Deliverables checklist
Strategy & messaging
• Positioning statement, brand proposition, tone of voice, core messages and tagline options.
Logo & identity
• Primary logo plus horizontal, stacked, icon, one-colour and reversed variants.
• Defined colour palette (with HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone) built on #1A2744.
• Typography system with usage rules.
• Source and export files: vector (AI/SVG/EPS), PNG (transparent), and PDF.
Guidelines
• A concise brand guidelines document covering logo usage, clear space, minimum sizes, colour, type, do’s and don’ts, and at least a couple of sample applications (e.g. a social post and a quote cover).
8. Mandatories and guardrails
Must do
• Build on the existing navy (#1A2744) and white foundation.
• Lead with trust and approachability over hype.
• Work for a residential, homeowner-first audience while not looking off-putting to a business client.
• Be practical and reproducible by a small in-house team without a designer on hand.
Please avoid
• Generic solar clichés — literal suns, leaves, rays and green gradients — unless used in a genuinely distinctive way.
• An overly corporate, cold or “utility company” feel.
• A loud, aggressive disruptor tone that undercuts trust.
• Designs that only work in full colour at large size and fall apart small or in one colour.
9. Practical information
Company
UnderOne Energy Ltd, CRO 800460, Kilcock, Co. Meath, Ireland.
Key contact
Paudie Dennehy, Co-Founder & Sales Lead (primary decision-maker for sign-off).
Budget
[To be confirmed — please quote against the deliverables above, and feel free to propose phased options.]
Timeline
[To be confirmed — please propose a realistic schedule with key review points.]
Approval process
Concepts reviewed by the two co-founders; Paudie leads on final sign-off.
10. What we’d like in your response
• A short statement of how you’d approach the proposition and identity for a trust-led, homeowner-first energy brand.
• Relevant examples of identity work, ideally where you’ve built trust for a service brand.
• Your proposed process, timeline and key milestones.
• A clear cost breakdown against the deliverables, including any phased or optional elements.
• Confirmation of the file formats and guidelines you provide as standard, and ownership / licensing terms for the final identity.
A final word on what success looks like
Success is an identity that makes a cautious Irish homeowner feel they’ve found the dependable, straight-dealing energy provider they were hoping existed — and that gives our small team a clear, confident system to apply everywhere, from a van to a quote to the #OneBillionBack campaign. Distinctive, trustworthy, and built to grow with us.