American International Group (AIG) is a global insurance organization headquartered in New York, providing property casualty insurance and other financial services to businesses and individuals in more than 200 countries and jurisdictions.[1] The company’s visual identity has undergone a significant transformation tied directly to its corporate recovery following the 2008 financial crisis.
Design and History
In October 2012, AIG unveiled a new corporate logo as part of an ongoing rebranding effort.[2] The updated mark replaced the traditional white capital letters in a dark-blue box with light-blue capital letters on a white background in a framed, light-blue box.[3] The new design uses a simpler font in a sky blue and white color palette.[4]
The logo change accompanied AIG’s decision to return to the AIG name for its core insurance operations, replacing the Chartis brand that had been adopted in 2009.[5] Chartis, a Greek word for map, and its compass logo were developed in 2009 with the help of brand strategy and design firm Lippincott, which had concluded the AIG brand “was damaged beyond repair” following the federal bailout.[6]
By November 2012, AIG’s global property casualty franchise began using the AIG name and deploying the new logo and brand promise in marketing and advertising.[7] The rebrand also introduced a new brand promise, “Bring on tomorrow.”[8]
Meaning and Symbolism
AIG President and CEO Robert H. Benmosche described the new logo as reflecting “a rebuilt and forward-looking AIG, contemporary, dynamic, transparent and revitalized.”[5] The company’s own brand materials described the new logo as “an icon of openness, transparency, and the AIG brand, today and tomorrow.”[9]
Commentators noted that the brighter palette, sans serif font, additional white space and slightly longer profile lightened the visual weight of the logo, conveying a message of openness.[10]
Typography and Design
The 2012 logo uses a sans serif typeface for the “AIG” lettering, a departure from the previous mark’s heavier presentation.[10] The design features light-blue capital letters on a white background within a framed, light-blue box.[3] No designer or agency attribution for the 2012 logo has been publicly documented.
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