Meet Groq, the future of compute.

Grok, if you’re unfamiliar with the word, may sound strange. But the meaning is simple: to grok something means to understand it so thoroughly, so intuitively, that you’re almost one with it. Complete comprehension. It’s fitting, then, that it inspired the name of our client. Groq builds ridiculously high-performance, but astonishingly simple chips that are powering the next generation of machine learning. To do this, they’re taking a radical approach to chip architecture — they’re simplifying it, reducing compute to just the most essential elements. They, in essence, grok. Complete comprehension. Our branding process began with joining the Groq leadership for a multi-day workshop to explore the brand. We wanted to know everything: where it’s been, where it’s going, their competition, and the entire industry. Then we got busy creating. Drawing. Writing. Arguing. Breaking for lunch. Then doing it all over again. In the weeks that followed, our designers used the insights from our workshop to develop Groq’s full brand system. It had to send the signal that Groq’s technology is truly a generational, revolutionary advancement of chip innovation, while also conveying Groq’s mission: to simplify and reduce compute to its most essential elements, everywhere.

Mockup of groq business cards and letterhead

Mockup of two posters labeled "Quick Start Guides"

The Products

Once we wrapped up all branding, messaging and web design, Groq came back to Big Monocle to help set their stage for their products in development. With a product roadmap in the works that included an AI chip, a board and more, Groq needed a product nomenclature that was clear and concise, as well as assistance with packaging and product design.

Nomenclature

With a product roadmap in development, Groq came back to Big Monocle to help them set the stage for a family of product names that echoed the simplicity and sleekness at the rebrand’s foundation. After a deep competitive analysis and research into the current AI market, we discovered three challenges to avoid while developing the nomenclature:

Challenge 1

Avoid creating a complex, convoluted product nomenclature that has little recognition outside of the org. (i.e. name Infiniti’s models vs BMW’s)

Challenge 2

Avoid creating a brand problem where products have a stronger utility and brand than the parent (i.e. Autodesk VS. AutoCAD).

Challenge 3

Avoid having to transfer equity from products up to master brand down the road at massive cost and effort. (i.e. creating a “house of brands” rather than a “branded house”)

Product Design

Product names aside, we worked across the table with industrial designers, fabricators, engineers and C-Suite to design the groq™ card™ and groq™ node™. Our design solutions set groq apart from the bleak industrial design the majority of their competitors products have, while still supporting the technology within.