IMG_5733_Facetune_07-01-2020-14-00-34

We have a new website and this is why:

You are now looking at a brand new website (version 4.0). Not only the appearance, but certainly also the functionalities, have undergone major changes. We take you along in all innovations and are naturally curious about your opinion! A thorough update was   (desperately) needed: “the website was in need of improvements, modernisation, responsiveness for mobile devices and lacked the necessary information for our stakeholders”.

But before we go into all the trimmings, let’s get back to basics for some people among you who do not know who we are or what we do. OpenMotics is all about building automation. With our software & hardware platform we increase the comfort of residents and owners while optimizing energy management in your house or building(s) by providing a detailed analysis of electricity, water, gas… consumption.

Our mission at OpenMotics is to make building automation as relevant as running water or electricity.  

A BRAND NEW LOGO

When we started creating a new and more cohesive visual identity 4 months ago, the first thing we changed was the logo. Firstly, it’s not change for the sake of change. That said, change is inevitable, and something to be embraced, but that’s not a good enough reason to change a logo. A good reason to change a logo is that it’s not doing the job you want it to do, and because a simpler, more distinctive evolution of it could do that job better.  

Our first logo was created in 2012, together with the first commercial launch of the OpenMotics offering. It was taken literally;

  • Green: eco
  • House: home automation
  • Plug: energy
  • O: ‘O’pen Source or ‘O’penMotics

It was also extremely easy to get wrong. Lot of customers thought that we were “PenMotics” instead of OpenMotics. 

We partnered with a branding company CASTAAR. who developed different versions of the logo. They were all pretty good … but by getting together to brainstorm, we quickly came to the conclusion that it was not cohesive and that was what we as company were looking for. We were no “ new company “ and the important thing about being a brand is that whenever people see you in the wild, they should (still) recognize that it’s you. With this in mind, CASTAAR. developed an even simpler color palette and design, we believe that it’s more refined, but still contains the spirit of the original.

Our logo has been refreshed: it is all tighter – you see fewer round corners. It’s an evolution, and one that can scale easily, and work better, in many more places.

Over the last few months, you have seen all the other visuals around OpenMotics align around this new direction: on social media, brochures, presentations, advertising and in some places in and around our platform (though not in a way that will keep you from the important business of getting your house, building, community automated, of course). It’s still us. We’re still OpenMotics. But more consistent and, we hope, more instantly recognizable.

A BRAND NEW WEBSITE

The next BIG step was a new website! And with the content of our new website we want to translate the code created by our developers over the past 12 years to human language. This by offering quality, leading-edge content in all forms that explains what our software & hardware platform can do, as we want to offer our community a good service based on content and needs.

The graphic design of the logo – in particular the colors as well as the font – were extended towards the website: black, white & green, as you can see (or will see). The new website gives images and text space, making texts easier to read. The new lay out, concept and user interaction has been thought out by our marketing team Céline de Geeter and me (Natasha Hendrickx). Designs have been realized by CASTAAR. for which we are extremely grateful. Their creativity, possibility of interaction and enormous patience was the key to success.

Building the website, didn’t happen over night, months and months of work preceded it. But now that big moment has arrived. And we are therefore very curious about your opinion and reactions to the new website. What do you think about it? We invite you to click on it, search, read and discover and share your experiences with us. Of course we hope that the new website passes the test and that you, just like us, get excited about it. In the future, too, we hope to continue to receive feedback from you as a reader on the things that you find beautiful, useful, intelligible, striking or incomprehensible, or that are still missing.

Let us know what you think – all feedback is welcome.
marketing@openmotics.com