Mirage’s pixel-focused identity for TiHive finds inspiration in the electromagnetic spectrum

TiHive is here to disrupt the quality control industry. A tech start-up based in Grenoble, France, TiHive combines artificial intelligence with TeraHertz to help companies increase production efficiency, quality and sustainability. Berlin-based design agency Mirage were invited to shape a brand strategy for TiHive and develop a visual environment for various touch points, both online and offline. Working with the company’s employees, Mirage focused on innovation – resulting in a visionary identity that embodies the futuristic and vivid character of the start-up.

The new identity serves as a visual representation of TiHive’s system – the output as monitored and seen by its end-user. Most notably in the custom logotype, which Mirage’s Founder Mike Piepers describes as representing “a futuristic character, focused on technical progression.” The new visual language also prominently displays a depiction of ‘image heat mapping,’ incorporating dynamic and multicolour pixeled gradients that morph in shape across the various outputs.

Glowing across black backgrounds, the colours of the electromagnetic spectrum provide a foundation for the colour palette. “We started with royal purple as the main, corporate colour,” Piepers reveals. “From there on we extended the palette according to the visual spectrum of electromagnetics (TeraHertz waves),” he adds. The natural phenomenon ‘aurora borealis’ also provided inspiration when fine-tuning the multi-coloured gradients. “Instead of choosing alternating colours or colour triads we took a long gradient from green to purple and split it into shorter ones,” Piepers continues. “Thus we have covered the parts of the visible spectrum and applied different gradients to different departments of the company.”

The typographic choices round out the identity with a future-facing and functional flair. Florian Karsten’s Space Grotesk is utilised for headlines, and is paired with Brownfox’s functional and slightly eccentric Swiss sans serif Formular for body text. For all technical information (and details such as phone numbers, engraving on the hardware system, calculators and digits) Colophon Foundry’s Space Mono is used. “With this selection, we intend to convey a progressive character, by creating a personality based on futuristic, technological industrialism,” Piepers concludes.

Mirage

TiHive