Xylem delivers advanced water solutions worldwide and Cristaux partnered with Xylem to implement a custom employee recognition and corporate awards program supporting its global workforce.
Inspired by this Custom Award?
Contact Us and we’ll use this as visual reference when discussing your future project.
Cristaux partnered with Xylem to create a recognition program that visually reflects the company’s commitment to excellence across its global operations. With a strong emphasis on safety, efficiency, and productivity, Xylem developed a certification program to evaluate its factories through key performance metrics. To bring this program to life, Cristaux designed a series of plaques that not only celebrate achievement but also embody Xylem’s innovative and purposeful brand identity. Each piece was carefully crafted to highlight the progress of individual facilities while reinforcing the larger story of Xylem’s dedication to advancing smart, sustainable solutions.
The program was built around a four-tier structure, with each plaque representing a milestone of success. Beginning with Bronze, factories were recognized for meeting essential standards, and as performance advanced, facilities could earn higher tiers of recognition that demonstrated greater efficiency and impact. Rather than a single award, the four plaques were designed to come together as a cohesive set, symbolizing the collective strength of Xylem’s operations. This approach created a powerful visual representation of growth and achievement, inspiring teams across the company to continually strive toward higher levels of excellence.
hours of design time used to create this piece
One of the biggest challenges we faced in creating this recognition piece for Xylem was how to represent all four levels of achievement—Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum—within a single design. Our initial approach was to capture every element in one plaque, but it quickly became clear that the details and hierarchy of the certification program were being lost. Shifting to four individual plaques solved that issue, but it introduced a new set of challenges: maintaining Xylem’s corporate branding across multiple pieces, integrating personalized data for each factory, and ensuring the design worked as a unified whole.
Precision was absolutely critical in bringing this concept to life, as each plaque was intentionally designed to be slightly different from the next. This variation allowed the set to reflect the progression of tiers, but it also meant the engineering had to be flawless. Even the smallest machining error—off by just a fraction—would cause the central “X” motif to lose its alignment and appear distorted. Because the “X” served as the visual anchor of the entire design, maintaining its symmetry and consistency across all four plaques became one of the most important and technically demanding aspects of the project.
To ensure the plaques were displayed in the exact format it should, we engineered a custom inlay system that allowed the plaques to rest flush against the wall. We developed a specialized T-bar mounting solution to guide recipients on exactly how to align and space the plaques, ensuring perfect installation every time. This solution not only preserved the integrity of the design but also elevated the functionality, making it simple for Xylem’s facilities to proudly display their achievements without error.
The final creation for Xylem was a recognition program designed to feel both comprehensive and deeply connected to their brand. At its core was a series of four plaques that came together in a symbiotic way, symbolizing a pathway to success and aligning with Xylem’s long-term initiative for all facilities to reach platinum-level efficiency by 2028. Each plaque represented a tier of achievement, with the iconic “X” of the Xylem brand serving as the central inlay—a negative space that unified the entire design and reinforced the company’s identity. This was the first time we approached plaques in such a modular format, creating a structure where individual pieces stand alone yet combine to tell a larger story of growth and accomplishment.
To make the program even more meaningful for recipients, we expanded beyond plaques and developed medallions, lapel pins, and keychains that echoed the same visual language. These additional pieces offered personal keepsakes that employees and teams could wear, carry, and display with pride. Together, the collection created a layered recognition system that honored both the collective success of each facility and the individual contributions driving Xylem forward.
