With a project philosophy rooted in place, Park City Design + Build was pushing the boundaries of site-responsive, minimally intrusive, energy-efficient, and highly-crafted American Architecture. Despite its forward-thinking approach, the name was geographically-limited and the brand lacked a strong story and identity.
We began with a broad immersion phase, starting with an intense dialogue to understand the philosophy and ecological ethos of carbon-efficient design. We crafted a narrative that matched the firm’s mission: to harness nature both inside and out, by uniquely responding to mountain and desert environments through responsible designs that complemented its beauty and respected its fragile integrity.
Next, we established a new name: Klima, a Latin word meaning latitude or inclination and adapting over time to mean climate. From there, we created a consistent, deeply-rooted visual identity to match Klima’s powerful ecological and architectural objectives.
With a custom drawn primary wordmark, the word KLIMA is able to play to its strengths—the structural letterforms, direct sounds of the K, and angular notches all combine to give this punchy wordmark a composed and crafted form that reiterates the firm’s practices and approach. The K can be rotated and minimized to form their shelter-like symbol, creating a thread between the name and what it represents.
The color palette reflects the simple brand story of climate. Klima’s scheme uses the warm red as a representation of heat and the other colors as a representation of the lack of heat. It’s that simple.
To communicate the Klima mission clearly, we chose Everrett, a contemporary and versatile grotesque typeface that reflects the straightforward aesthetic of Klima’s work. The consistent use throughout the brand allows for its scalability and recognition.
Using a functional and pragmatic approach, the website communicates the way Klima’s founder and principal Chris Price does—straightforward, transparent, and approachable. There’s an honesty to Chris that he imbues into every aspect of his work. Our strategy was to build a digital architecture and implement a brand language that moves and talks in a way that conveys complex ideas to those who aren’t in the industry. We established a hovering-and-scrolling system, a consistent visual and interactive infrastructure that is utilized throughout the site—without it feeling like a template or too repetitive.
Following Chris’ example, we were transparent in sharing informative details about each project—ideation sketches, location information, footprint specifications, specific methods used, and behind-the-build photos. We provide all the information people really want to know about Klima’s work so they can make specific plans for their sustainable dream home. Our intention was to demonstrate how each project varies, giving viewers an accurate idea of what they want.
The icons were inspired by symbols used in engineering and construction documents. They allow for the methods to be distilled into efficient marks, easily understood while communicating something that is emblematic of the entire brand.
By building a durable brand foundation, matching it with thoughtful, consistent design, honoring its eco-friendly vision, and creating an interactive website and brand language that is as transparent and approachable as Chris Price, Klima can continue to build in collaboration with the environment, not against it.
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Website Development: Mitchell Barton
Motion: Jordan Dastrup
Photography: Kerri Fukui
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