Company
Bulb
Position
Lead designer
Building a high-growth energy brand
From zero to £732K ARR in six months and getting acquired by Centrica
After Bulb ceased trading, its customer base and operations were acquired by Octopus, but the core product and technology were left untouched.
With funding from Sequoia Capital, a new company—Zoa—was founded to build tools for the next generation of energy providers.
I was responsible for shaping Zoa’s brand identity and digital presence from the ground up. Working closely with the Product Director, I defined the brand strategy, visual direction, and tone of voice—then translated those foundations into scalable UI components and a design system.
I led a team of designers to bring this vision to life across internal tools, customer-facing platforms, and marketing assets.
I was also hands on creating most of the assets, building and managing a website.
After six months, Zoa launched its first product and signed its first customer. We saw traction in the home energy management space and quickly pivoted our focus, refining the brand and messaging to reflect the shift.
The brand and site played a key role in early traction — supporting lead generation, helping close one our biggest customers, and contributing to £732K ARR before acquisition by Centrica.
Direction
Zoa was intentionally positioned away from the cold, techy, or corporate aesthetic dominating the energy space. While competitors leaned into dark, mysterious, or traditional looks, we carved out a space that felt light, human, and contemporary — a "cozy tech home" in a crowded, impersonal market.
Direction
We’ve thought about how people live in a sustainable, electrified world — taking inspiration from interior design and smart home electronics to create a brand that feels warm, intuitive, and quietly confident. The modernism of the energy future.
Zoa blends neo-modernist clarity with soft domestic warmth — combining clean typography and utilitarian iconography with playful 3D graphics and a palette inspired by home: cozy lights, natural greens, and ambient warmth. It feels like smart tech designed for your living room, not your server room.
Brand feel
It balances a modern sans serif with the hand-drawn, script-like character of the “z” and the fluid shaping of each letter. It feels organic yet confident — a mark that’s as friendly as it is functional.
I designed and built Zoa’s marketing site in Webflow, with a strong focus on content marketing and lead generation.
From design to deployment, I handled everything from structure to CMS, integrating Planhat and Google Sheets for automation.
Collaborated with another product designer to evolve the design system for white-label flexibility.
Crafted a scalable approach for 3D illustrations that worked seamlessly with tokens — enabling the app to be rebranded effortlessly for any energy provider.
In a little over year, we built Zoa from zero — launching a new energy brand, shipping a scalable design system, and closing our first customers.
I shaped the brand vision, led multi-product design execution, and delivered tools that helped unlock £732K ARR and an acquisition by Centrica.
Design as a growth engine. Strategy, craft, and systems — all working together.