Featured Project: Modo Fuels

Smarter fuels for a changing world

Modo is an innovative company that transforms waste into fuel that powers today's modern fleet of jets, trucks, cars, trains, and ships.

The challenge

When this forward-thinking client approached One Design, they had a brainy company name, a visual identity that blended in with their competitors, and a dense website geared towards industry insiders. To reach their visionary goal of solving sustainable transportation, they needed to reassess their brand and truly define their story. They turned to One Design to develop a unique brand strategy, a memorable and meaningful company name, a thoughtful visual identity, and a more engaging website.

Brand positioning

We leveraged the Vision-Culture-Image Model to evaluate the opportunities, strengths, and limitations of Modo’s existing brand. Our goal with every project is to bring these three areas into alignment to support and strengthen each other.

One Design assessed Modo’s industry and competition to identify trends and opportunities for differentiation. We evaluated these findings alongside analyses of their business goals, organizational culture, audience psychographics, and broader cultural trends—particularly related to cutting-edge technology and sustainable transportation.

Naming the brand

One Design renamed Joule in tandem with our brand strategy work. During the naming process, we identified four key themes and developed dozens of possible names for each. The final name, Modo, is Italian for “way” and conveys a method of getting from point A to point B. It evokes day-to-day travel as well as the broader, collective journey towards sustainable transportation.

Developing a tagline

During the brand strategy phase, we explored different ways of concisely capturing Modo’s vision. The expression “Smarter Fuels for a Changing World” resonated with the client so much that they adopted it as their tagline. Today, the phrase is used across the board as a way to quickly connect and inspire.