Is your financial
services logo working
hard enough?
Fin International | June 2016
Company logos, we’ve all got one; on our business card, in
our reception, or perhaps proudly projected in three metre tall
letters on the façade of our HQ.
We’ve taken a quick look at the main style of logos
used in financial services to help you review if your
logo is working hard enough to define the type of
company you are or want to be. We’ve also included
a quick checklist at the end of this piece (go there)
to help you take a second look at your logo and see
if it might need a bit of a refresh.
“Perhaps your logo’s
origins have been lost
in the mists of time”
© Fin International 2016 www.fininternational.com
1 So, logos then. Wherever one resides, varying
degrees of thought have been put into its graphical,
colour and typographical arrangement, all
conceived to say something about your company.
Your logo may be a historical nod to the founder, or
the illustration of a key differentiator for your market,
proudly displayed for all to see.
Perhaps your logo’s origins have been lost in the
mists of time, leaving many employees scratching
their heads as to what it’s all about.
Whatever your logo is, does it project that
something special about your company to
employees, clients, prospects, competitors and
the whole wide world?
Is your logo who you are?
Every company wants to be unique in its offer and
the logo needs to ensure you’re not projecting
yourself as another ‘me too’.
Your logo may be relevant to your current activities,
it may say something relevant about your company
from a few years back or, due to a merger, it might
be the fresh face of a newly unified organisation.
Whatever it does, it should stand out for the
right reasons, differentiate you from your peers,
be appropriate (to your business), and be versatile
for use across multiple channels of delivery.
What’s in a logo?
For the sake of this discussion we have broken
down the subject into three broad categories:
type-only, type with a marque and logos with a
secret message,
Fun logo fact...
The term ‘brand’ comes from the
practice of branding cattle in
the US as proof of ownership...
© Fin International 2016 www.fininternational.com
2 1 Type only (logotype)
A purely typographical logo offers a serious first
presentation of identity. Sober, reliable and trustworthy
it is a ‘route one’ solution for the risk-averse.
For these reasons it is probably the most prevalent
of logo styles in financial services. A straightforward
typographical solution reflects a no-nonsense
approach. Black Rock, JP Morgan and Amundi have
all taken this approach to be the best fit for their
identities and all to great effect.
Such an example from the Fin archives is the
evergreen Brevan Howard logo. A logo formed from
type to reflect robust, solid and confident qualities,
but in varying type weights to bring a little emphasis
and elegance.
In this instance, a type-only route served to
elevate a name to premium status. Incidentally the
name is a composite word made from the initials of
Brevan Howard’s founders.
Fun logo fact...
...This was turned to an advantage
by Samuel Maverick who refused
to brand his cattle so any new born
cattle not branded were claimed as
his own. His actions are the source of
the term ‘maverick’
© Fin International 2016 www.fininternational.com
3 The first trademarked logo was
Bass, the brewer
2 Type with a marque
Others want to present a message about the company
within the logo, usually through the use of an illustrative
element, an icon, badge or marque (pronounced ‘mark’).
This can be as literal and visually apparent as
the likes of Vanguard’s boat, named after Horatio
Nelson’s flagship, or the Schroder family crest. The
marque makes the brand’s heritage quite clear.
At other times the marque can become more
abstract representing a specific feature or value that
differentiates itself from its peers.
In the example to the left is our logo for investment
manager Emso, we can see their continual travel
to seek out and review investment opportunities
creating a marque which graphically represents the
many flight paths taken in their global search.
Or the Deutsche Bank logo that reflects positivity
(in the oblique) and solidity (in the box).
Graphical evolution not revolution
Having a graphical icon does not necessarily mean
a static, in perpetuity, ball-and-chain tied-to-thecompany identity.
Many high-profile brands are regularly refreshed to
ensure they stay current but retain the integrity of
the logo and brand’s cache.
The Norwich Union metamorphosis into Aviva is one
of the best-known examples, more notable as it also
involved a name change. The original Norwich Union
spire was retained while being evermore abstracted.
Heritage was retained and contemporised without
retaining any of the limitations within the original.
Aspect Capital (another of our own clients) went
through a similar process when updating in 2013.
A desire to be more current but not throw the baby
out with the bathwater, resulted in the before and
after to the left.
Or our evolution of the Hiscox logo. A modern
look achieved without any loss of the brand cache
and heritage.
© Fin International 2016 www.fininternational.com
4 3 The secret message
In some cases the purpose of the graphical element in the
logo may not be obvious to all. A secret message is included
which illustrates something more about the company and its
identity. As well as the name we’re presented with a ‘big idea’.
Our number one example of the big idea hidden in
the logo comes outside of financial services, and is
FedEx. Not spotted the hidden arrow? Very subtly
we can see the negative space in the Ex, used to
denote direction, speed and precision, all strongly
FedEx brand values.
Another non-financial services logo with a message
is Amazon. Did you spot the arrow underneath? The
smile of a happy customer and an expression of the
organisation’s aspiration: whatever you need,from
A to Z, you will find it available at Amazon.com.
This logo, for the internet’s original heritage brand,
delivers the company’s whole modus operandi with
two strokes of a graphic designer’s pen.
Now, moving back into financial services, did you
ever notice the umbrella in the Citi logo? This is a
classic symbol of protection. Once a more obvious
stand-alone symbol of an umbrella signifying safety
and reliability it has now been integrated into the
typography to become a near-hidden visual secret.
Fun logo fact...
One of the key reasons the Panda
was saved from extinction is that the
World Wildlife Federation needed a
cheap logo (ie not colour), so chose
the best monochrome endangered
species as its logo – the Panda.
© Fin International 2016 www.fininternational.com
5 3 The secret message
Merging identities
Recent mergers in financial services have delivered
two examples of similar big ideas. As two companies
come together these changes have been built into
the NewCo logos, and it’s great to see this approach
being embraced.
The union of Columbia Management and
Threadneedle Investments to form Columbia
Threadneedle Investments is depicted in an
interesting marque that has a number of facets to it.
The structuring of the ‘C’ and the ‘T’ representing the
merging of the two parties forms a cube to depict
solidity and strength. Perhaps less obvious, is that
the T has been designed to also depict an arrow
projecting dynamism and growth.
The second and more recent example is the merger
between Brussels’s based investment private bank
Bank Degroof and financial group Petercam.
Presented as a union of equals, the new logo
marque of the co-joined organisation shows the
‘D’ of Degroof and the ‘P’ of Petercam within a
percentage symbol, a 50:50 merger, in which each
party holds 50% of the new company, each reliant on
the other to make the new whole. A simple but very
striking logo.
Logos that come alive
Moving more into the digitally focused Fintech
and retail sectors we are very proud of our work for
the new start-up, financing company Oodle. Named
and created by Fin, we developed an incredibly
flexible, modular, concept logo inspired by the
ubiquity of emojis.
Oodle is a company with its sights trained on car
financing, living almost exclusively in a digital
environment. First representing a car it can be
adapted to express a variety of personalities, much
like the retail consumers it will serve. This is just
the beginning.
© Fin International 2016 www.fininternational.com
6 A check list for you
and your logo
So, is your logo working hard enough and how does all of
this help you? Try taking a second look at your company logo
and ask yourself:
• Does your logo differentiate you from your
competition?
• Can you remember the last time it was updated?
• Did I ‘get it’ when I first saw it?
• Does it require an explanation in order to
appreciate it?
• If you asked a client to describe your logo,
could they?
• Does your logo reflect your proposition?
• Does your logo look fit for the 21st century?
• Does it work in digital?
• Do any of the following words apply when you
look at your logo: confusing, tired, undifferentiated
If any of your answers to the above questions are
‘No’ (except the last question about the words), then
perhaps it’s time to take another look at your logo.
We are always available to offer an experienced
and insightful opinion and very happy to have a
non-committal discussion.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Fun logo fact...
The first trademarked logo was
Bass, the brewer.
© Fin International 2016 www.fininternational.com
7 Justin Mould, MD
[email protected]
+44 (0)20 7253 2828
Creativity in
Financial Services
If you’d like to
get in touch, just pop in,
or send an email to
Justin, our MD,
[email protected]
or call us on
+44 (0)20 7253 2828
Fin International is an integrated branding and digital
communications agency specialising in financial services.
Established and successful for over 28 years we are experts in branding, marketing and digital
communications, and because we work only in this sector our people have built an unbeatable
in-depth knowledge of the issues and solutions that are unique to financial services.
With the creativity and strategy from our London office, we are supported by a network of account
directors based globally allowing us to provide a truly international service.
Our services include
Brand Positioning
Brand Messaging
Naming
Brand Visual Identity
Web & Digital
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© Fin International 2016 www.fininternational.com
Vox Studios 401a 1-45 Durham Street London SE11 5JH t +44 (0)20 7253 2828 www.fininternational.com
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