Website and Brand Support for Civitas Resources

Challenge

When two large Colorado-based oil and gas producers, Extraction Oil & Gas and Crestone Peak Resources, merged, they brought Haystack in to introduce their new entity with fresh verbal and visual branding. The merger of these two industry leaders created a forward-thinking energy company with a deep commitment to its stakeholders and ESG at the heart of its operations. Our branding would honor that and other core safety, innovation, and integrity values.

Once the new brand identity was finalized, Haystack was called upon to update marketing materials and build a state-of-the-art website to showcase the new brand. Our goal was to create a digital space to demonstrate a cleaner, people-centered approach to oil and energy and host informative content for investors and community members.

Approach

Haystack explored several band themes with the client, including environmental sustainability, community, and Colorado-specific historical references. After three rounds of presentations, the client settled on the name Civitas, which means community in Latin. The name echoes a sense of civic duty to their communities and employees while exuding a stately gravitas aimed at building investor confidence.

The concept of an abstract globe image inspired the logo. The modern, three-dimensional design nods to the earth while its cyclic form ties into a sense of sustainable, multi-source energy and ESG priorities. The marque has a sense of motion as it wraps around itself, suggesting infinite continuity and a holistic embrace of its people. The blue-grey color palette grounds the logo and feels clean while avoiding the standard use of green to represent their environmental priorities.

Building on the brand colors, the website design is sleek and professional, using san-serif fonts and plenty of white space. The information architecture was streamlined to speak clearly to target audiences and make core content easy to navigate.

Results

Haystack’s branding and website teams created a sophisticated verbal and visual identity for this energy merger. We developed an excellent working relationship with the client, which led to the expansion of the project into all corporate identity, marketing, social, and digital assets.

Currently, we are working with the Civitas leadership to help define the new company culture by developing and implementing its mission, vision, and value statements.