Our approach started with an audit of all the existing identities and guides, as well as tracking every touchpoint and application that it’ll be seen in to provide a project scope and understand what boundaries we have to work with.

We found that the previous system, while functional, offered room for improvement in terms of meaning and connection to the product. Additionally, it presented an opportunity to enhance flexibility for accommodating new variations and expanding product families. We presented three design routes that varied in style and approach, all three options were well received but we decided to pursue a creative and contemporary style that used a grid-based layout and bold icons to highlight each product's unique features and benefits.

Internally, we ran a co-ideation session to research, map and sort all the creative opportunities we could follow before delivering a playback session with the client to align the working team on direction. We find working closely with the client early and often really beneficial for both parties, streamlining and cutting down the time to final execution. We agreed on a visual aesthetic route we wanted the identities to take, so from here we developed 3 concept styles with examples varying in complexity and creativity.

The experience was being shown at events so it needed to be engaging. We developed a birds-eye view with marked touch points in differing areas of the manufacturing lifecycle to immerse customers in the story.  A clean white muted style would only elevate the product imagery and new product identities so that they were front and centre of the experience.  

Our solution was bold, abstract and engaging, layered with meaning and endless opportunities.

After some refinement and testing, we had the logic and detailed guidance in place to ensure that the creation stage was viable. Setting a creative style which has the breadth to cover over 800 software products, all categorised across solutions, suites, mobile applications, product extensions and add-ons, is no mean feat. We worked hard to ensure the families of products had unique styling so it was easy for customers to differentiate, but enough visual recognition that they sat harmoniously together.

Building an immersive showroom full of possibility

Nexus was officially unveiled at the annual HxGN Live conference in Las Vegas, where the 3D-style showroom allowed attendees to explore the benefits of Hexagon's software and hardware products in real-time. It is optimised for events and web usage, ensuring reliable performance regardless of the user or time of access.