Kohler

We partnered with Kohler not only to develop names for many of their most innovative new releases, but also to evolve their very approach to naming brandwide. The objective: move to a more relevant and differentiated naming convention and help Kohler’s brand names better support their BOLD positioning and product design aesthetic. Accomplished: The many names we’ve developed for Kohler include ELEVANCE for their innovative rising-wall bath, REFINIA and ALTEO for lines of premium bathroom fixtures – and additional names will be launched soon. Consistent with Kohler’s refined strategy for naming brandwide, each name imparts a deeper meaning than the beauty on the surface: replacing a category-ubiquitous trend of empty vessel place- and heritage-inspired names with more meaningful and evocative expression

When Kohler set out to create a beautiful, design-conscious alternative to the typical institutional looking (downright ugly!) easy-access walk-in bath tubs on the market, they needed a name as bold and beautiful as the product. We created the name Elevance communicating the tub’s elegant design and its unique rising wall technology.

A faucet of subtle elegance with soft lines inspired by nature is carried by a name that says “refinement” with graceful open-ended phonetics to carry on a Romance language-rooted namescape.

Simple, sleek and confident in its design, the Alteo signature faucet is anchored by a short, phonetically impactful name with European flair.

Applied to a kitchen faucet with a traditional design yet a graceful pour, the name Cruette nods to a cruet, a pouring vessel, with a sweetly diminutive French suffix to add an ownable, coined twist.

In true Kohler design, Aparu is as artful as it is functional. With a unique “sheet flow” of water that emerges from the spout, we coined a name that speaks the magic of suddenly appearing.

A toilet marked by high efficiency, this model called for a  name with rhythmic, powerful phonetics, another anchor point on Kohler’s namescape as it expands beyond more traditional, American-sounding names.

“Misto” meaning Italian for mixed, we developed the name Mistos to speak to this clean, bold faucet’s ability to toggle between a gentle spray and powerful stream effect.

Supporting other Romance-rooted names in the Kohler namescape, Bellera speaks to a faucet that is beautiful in it’s understand elegance.