Carbitex:
New Names for A New Standard

Carbitex is a pioneer in carbon fiber technology. Traditional carbon fiber, typically used in the automotive and aerospace industries, is known as a rigid material. Carbitex was the first to develop flexible carbon fiber composites, which have entirely new applications that can be harnessed in a multitude of ways.

The Carbitex portfolio has three unique carbon fiber material technologies, each with different properties: CX6, which provides exceptional flexibility; AFX, which is flexible one way and stiff the other; and DFX, which is flexible to a point but provides stiffness as it bends. The company is currently focused on performance footwear, partnering with brands like Adidas and Saucony to employ the use of flexible carbon fiber composites in shoes for running, cycling, snowboarding, and more. Their materials and their unique flexibility, however, have the potential for applications in a wide range of industries from prosthetics to aerospace.

There was one problem: their names.

On top of being too similar to each other and too technical, CX6, AFX, and DFX were simply not memorable. Instead of helping start a conversation about the novel nature of the technology, the names posed a barrier.

Carbitex came to us to develop a family of names for their portfolio that would resonate internally and externally: names that could ideally stand alone and telegraph, in a simple word, what makes each product distinct.

So we hit the ground running. After conducting stakeholder interviews and generating hundreds of names, we developed a new naming convention for Carbitex. CX6, known for its all-around flexibility, is now OmniFlex. AFX, rigid one way and flexible the other, became MonoFlex. DFX, which changes stiffness as you need it, providing geared power, was renamed GearFlex.

The new descriptive names are able to convey each material’s unique properties, describing how they perform and the benefits they bring to the context of each application. Short, simple, clear—these are names that can create a baseline for understanding, names that can get the conversation going. As Carbitex continues to grow in scale and develop new materials, this set of names also provides a blueprint for naming future technologies.