In the good old days, banks, building societies and financial institutions represented solidity, security and best of all, trust. Logo design reflected that, often being throwbacks to designs or symbols developed hundreds of years ago.The distinctive Black Horse logo of Lloyds TSB for example had its beginnings in 1677 when it was first taken on by Humphrey Stockes, a goldsmith and ‘keeper of the running cashes’. In 1884 Lloyds absorbed the Lombard Street bank of Barnetts, Hoares, Hanbury & Co who had inherited the symbol and this marked the beginning of the bank’s association with the black horse. Up until then, a beehive was the original logo of the Lloyds Banking Company and was used on their banknotes, would this have made the same impact over time. The horse is supposed to represent a “thoroughbred” or the “best in class”.Now you may think that a rearing black horse for a logo doesn’t exactly scream “financial services” but it has gained recognition and power through exposure using time.
That’s the problem with custom logos for the finance sector.Time is the best way to cement these (or any other) identifying marques in the business consciousness, but most companies don’t have a couple of hundred years to wait while the association between them and a symbol is firmly established within the mind of the public.The world now has changed rapidly.Most banks and financial institutions have lost a lot of the respect they once had thanks to the recession. The market for financial services is also far more competitive and far more trans-national than it was even a decade ago.
Financial companies are investing huge amounts of time and money in trialling and testing logo portfolio because they are aware good visual identity is the key to establishing a unique personality across many international markets and regaining trust and confidence.Choosing a design style and colourways for a financial logo is certainly something that is not easy. Practically speaking, strong, sober, colours rather than esoteric PMS shades and tones work best.Most print shops, no matter where they are in the world, should be able to reproduce these colours consistently and these strong basic colours seem to have a very powerful effect.
Styles for financial logos work really well when restrained or muted, but it is still possible to be dynamic enough to be remembered while remaining conservative enough in image for a business that deals with money, stocks and financial matters. The tried and trusted approach was to place the company name below the symbol, but in important non-English speaking markets this may not be meaningful and irrelevant. Fonts and slogans for financial logos should maintain the desired and dignified ethos you wish to project. Taglines and descriptors should be precise and fonts should always prize clarity and readability above how the typeface “fits a design theme”.In other words, the world of finance has had the 80’s and 90’s blitz of trendy, design-lead images, logos and identifiers.Now is the time for the financial services sector to get “boring” – but steady, reliable, transparent, trustworthy and secure at least the world hopes!
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