Enterprise IG ignites Onesea

Enterprise IG has created a Jules Verne-inspired global identity for the first fibre optic submarine telecoms network linking the Mediterranean countries. Called Onesea, the £600m project features the strapline “ignited through fusion” and aims to achieve impact in the crowded telecommunications market.

The visual identity features iridescent blue photography of sea creatures such as starfish and shells, which extends to the website, also by the consultancy. As fibre optic cables deliver light underwater, the identity reflects the characteristics of “liquid light”, a phrase used by Jules Verne in “Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea”.

Contemporary lower case lettering in Bell Gothic font is used for the brand name and strapline, and promotional postcards feature a full-length quote from the novel. The name and identity are due to be launched in Barcelona in September.

An Enterprise IG spokeswoman says the client was forward-thinking and open to more unusual branding ideas which gave the consultancy creative freedom: “The designers tried to picture literally what role the fibre optic cables performed,” she says. “They then romanticised the idea with reference to Jules Verne.”

The network will connect 320 million people to low-cost, advanced broadband communications technology, linking Europe, Africa and Asia with each other and the Indian sub-continent and Americas.

Up until now, Mediterranean countries have had to rely on satellite links for their telecommunications, which can pose threats to security and reliability. Onesea aims to bypass these and the technology is being rolled out in three phases until 2003.

The partners behind Onesea are Siemens and Ray Dutton, founder of telecoms network company Iaxis, which has achieved a turnover of $1,8bn (£1.2bn) in less than two years. They have created a “tel’e’incubator” fund for the telecoms sector, which has funded this project.