Barren Energy

People think that because of climate change the future is cactus. Ensight are saving the world because the future IS cactus. By growing cactus on arid land and converting it into biodiesel, Ensight aims to save a gigatonne of greenhouse gas emissions per year, every year. This offers incredible opportunity for regional communities to rejuvenate land, power and economies. They have a vision of turning Australia and South Africa into the world’s largest renewables exporters. Ensight CEO Francis Barram asked us to build a brand and name for their new company.

Barren Energy. The Future is Cactus. Barren are explorers at heart. They seek out the discarded, the unexpected and the overlooked — the “barren” — in order to transform it to the valuable. Francis Barram’s surname, the CEO and visionary of Ensight, inspired the company name. We developed the Barren Energy tagline, “The future is cactus”, to neatly capture both the challenges of climate change and the innovation of possible solutions in a beautifully Australian way. The cactus icon is instantly recognisable and decidedly irreverent. The use of pink is intentionally divisive in what’s typically a very conventional industry (energy & resources) and complements the irreverent tone.