FLEX/design - Work - Lely Red Rules

Work

Red Rules

Design guidelines for the smart farm

We’ve been working with Lely for more than two decades, and during that time created the 'Red Rules' to help establish their brand identity. With the portfolio transitioning to the fully robotized farm, it was time for an update. We wanted the new guidelines to showcase their products as smart systems. The result is a clear, step-by-step PDF guide that defines how every Lely product should be designed, while supporting Lely’s internal design process. Our team also provides reviews, tweaks and design support to ensure everything aligns with their vision.

Client

Lely

Services

Brand and portfolio strategy

3D brand identity

Industrial product design

Context

The fully robotized farm

Lely is dedicated to building the dairy farm of the future: sustainable, profitable, and enjoyable. Combining innovative technology and intelligent software, the aim is to offer farmers a complete portfolio for the fully robotized farm, from milking robots to feeding robots, from monitoring systems to animal care.

From mechanised tools to intelligent systems

Lely’s products used to be more traditional and mechanical. Now they are more and more part of an intelligent ecosystem. This offers more precision which benefits both farmer and animal.

Transition

Towards smart farming

Transition

Towards smart farming

Transition

Towards smart farming

Transition

Towards smart farming

Concept

A step-by-step design manual

Specific design guidelines for a Lely product depend on the category it's in: is it a stationary robot, a moving robot, a farm structure or is it infrastructure/support? For each category, we defined 7 building blocks: a step-by-step approach to get to the optimal design. Making it as easy as possible for product developers to create a consistent appearance.

Signature elements

With a cleaned-up shape language referring to sophisticated consumer electronics, signature elements were designed to highlight the intelligence inside.

Accelerate

Sketch in the front-end

Sketches are vital early in product development, enabling designers to visualize concepts and explore ideas. They provide a framework for engineering teams, ensuring consistent design and guiding new architecture while aligning with brand identity.