Thermalytica: Building a Global Brand for the Next Energy Era
THE CHALLENGE
Thermalytica had developed breakthrough thermal-management technologies with the potential to reduce energy loss across industries. Yet its visual identity and communications did not fully convey the sophistication of the technology, make a complex materials story easy to understand, or reflect the scale of the company’s global ambitions. As Thermalytica prepared for its next stage of growth, it needed a brand that could build confidence with customers, partners, and prospective talent.
THE OUTCOME
Anchored in Thermalytica’s ambition to advance the next era of energy efficiency, the company, in partnership with D4V and designer Ashley Szukalski, developed a new corporate identity and a connected identity for its flagship product, tiisa®. The work brought both brands to life through a new website, a coherent visual system and guidelines, and key applications including business cards, product packaging, and labels—creating a clear, credible foundation for growth in Japan and around the world.
Thermalytica is a deep-tech company founded in 2021 to commercialize advanced thermal-management materials originating at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). Its flagship product, tiisa®, is an advanced aerogel material engineered to combine exceptional thermal-insulation performance with cost-efficient deployment. Its potential spans buildings, manufacturing, energy infrastructure, batteries, mobility, and aerospace—places where managing heat can reduce energy consumption, improve performance, and cut emissions.
But the more powerful and versatile the technology became, the harder it was to communicate simply. Thermalytica needed to speak credibly to technical decision-makers while remaining clear to customers, collaborators, investors, and future employees who might be encountering aerogel technology for the first time.
D4V saw an opportunity to help the company present itself as professionally and ambitiously as its technology deserved. Together, the team set out to create a brand platform that could make an advanced scientific proposition understandable, distinguish the company from conventional materials suppliers, and support expansion into new markets and applications.
Making Complex Technology Clear
The project began with research and inspiration: understanding Thermalytica’s ambitions, reviewing the competitive landscape, and exploring how a technical story could become a compelling brand. Through conversations with the team, D4V and Ashley translated the company’s priorities into three clear communications goals: appear experienced and credible, articulate complex technology more simply, and present an organization as ambitious as the future it is working to create.
Rather than treating the logo, website, and sales materials as separate outputs, the team approached them as parts of one system. The identity needed to work at multiple levels—from a corporate story about sustainable thermal management to precise product information for tiisa®—without losing clarity or coherence.
Designing Two Connected Identities
The team developed a new logo for Thermalytica and a new product logo for tiisa®. The challenge was to give each a distinct role while ensuring they felt part of the same brand world: Thermalytica as the company and long-term innovation partner; tiisa® as a versatile, high-performance material with applications across industries.
The design process moved from broad logo ideation and multiple expression concepts toward a single direction that could support both brands. As the system was refined, typography, color, imagery, layout, and graphic elements were brought together into a consistent visual language—one that could communicate scientific rigor without feeling inaccessible.
When exploring potential directions for Thermalytica and tiisa®, they both originated in the same ideas of representing thermal energy and the complexity of the innovative technology. Thermalytica takes a subtle approach with a small nod to heat, meanwhile tiisa® uses a mark to clearly visualise 3 characteristics of the identity; the suspended particles in which heat can move, the ‘container’ showing a cube to represent the various tangible forms tiisa® can have, and finally the colour hints add the origin of tiisa® being created and produced in Japan. The role of the Thermalytica brand is to act as a conduit for tiisa®, and any new innovative products they may imagine in the future, so the visual impact of the product brands takes priority for visibility.
Building a Website Around Proof
The new website gives Thermalytica a clearer way to introduce its technology, explain why thermal management matters, and demonstrate value through real-world applications. The experience leads with a direct promise—“Advanced Thermal Materials For The Next Energy Era”—then separates the company’s two core solution areas: tiisa® aerogel materials and EB-PVD thermal-barrier coatings.
Just as importantly, the site turns technical performance into evidence. Case studies foreground measurable outcomes such as heat retention, heat reduction, lower heat loss, energy savings and operational gains, helping potential customers connect material science to practical business and environmental value. The result is a more confident story for audiences ranging from engineers and industrial partners to government organizations and prospective employees.
Bringing the Brand Into the Real World
A brand for an advanced-materials company has to perform beyond the screen. The team extended the identity to key places where customers and partners encounter Thermalytica in practice, including business cards, product packaging, and labels. The system was also designed to support product specifications and sales materials, creating a consistent experience from an introductory meeting to product evaluation and deployment.
The final brand guidelines documented how the identity should be used, giving Thermalytica and its collaborators a practical foundation for producing future communications as the company grows. Together, the system helps every touchpoint reinforce the same message: this is rigorous technology, clearly expressed and ready for real-world impact.
Looking Ahead
Thermalytica’s technology addresses a challenge that is both enormous and largely invisible: the energy lost as heat across everyday life and industry. The new identity makes that opportunity easier to see. It gives the company a clearer way to explain sophisticated materials, build trust across markets, and show how advanced thermal management can deliver both economic and environmental value.
This project was not simply a visual refresh. It created a connected foundation for the Thermalytica company and the tiisa® product—one designed to support new partnerships, new applications, and a growing international presence. With a brand that now matches the ambition of its technology, Thermalytica is better equipped to help define the next standard in energy efficiency.
Rudder Wu, Founder & CTO (Managing Shareholder) at Thermalytica
Before this collaboration, our brand did not fully reflect the sophistication of our technology or the scale of our global ambitions. As a materials deep-tech company, we often found ourselves explaining complex science rather than communicating the real-world value of our innovations. Davide and Asumi from the D4V team, together with designer Ashley Szukalski, helped transform that story into a clear, credible, and cohesive brand system. The new identity and website make advanced materials easier to understand, strengthen trust with customers, partners, investors, and future talent, and provide a powerful foundation as we accelerate commercialization and expand into global markets.
Ashley Szukalski (Designer, Project Supporter)
"Having the opportunity to work very closely with the Thermalytica team and dive deep into the science behind their innovations made creating and exploring multiple potential design options a rewarding experience."
Ashley Szukalski is a Tokyo-based British design director who works across branding, products, and storytelling. His expertise includes graphic design, UI/UX, ideation, rapid prototyping, and design thinking. Ashley also collaborated with D4V on the AndGAMER brand transformation.