Banco Itaú América was the name used by the Brazilian bank Itaú during a transitional period in the 1960s and early 1970s, before the institution consolidated its identity under the simpler name Banco Itaú. The bank’s visual identity from this era was designed by Aloísio Magalhães, one of Brazil’s most influential graphic designers, whose work helped shape the country’s modernist design language.
Design and History
Aloísio Magalhães began working on the Itaú brand project in 1964, according to accounts of the bank’s design history.[1] At the time, the bank operated under the name Itaú América, and its mark was described by advertising executive Madia, who worked with the bank in the early 1970s, as “cold, straight, in the last throes of art deco.”[2]
Magalhães’s logo for the bank presented the letters “FI” of Federal Itaú in a distinctive triangular composition, a design that was later replaced when the bank’s name was simplified.[3] The bank, which had been formed through mergers including Banco Federal de Crédito and Banco Itaú in 1964, faced a chaotic corporate image as a result of these consolidations.[3]
When the name was changed to simply Banco Itaú, designer Alexandre Wollner was hired to develop a new signage system for the bank’s headquarters. Wollner’s work, completed with Hugo Kovadloff, replaced Magalhães’s earlier design with a Helvetica Bold logotype, while retaining the square element used in the second version of Magalhães’s design.[3] This 1972 mark, featuring a black square with rounded corners and the Itaú name in white lowercase letters, became the foundation of the bank’s identity for decades.[4]
The bank’s own communications acknowledge Magalhães’s role in the 1960s as part of the brand’s evolution, alongside Francesc Petit, who introduced the stone symbol and orange color in the 1970s, and Alexandre Wollner, who systematized the brand in the 1980s.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The name Itaú derives from the Tupi-Guarani language, meaning “black stone.” This meaning was visually reinforced in the 1972 logo, where the black square with rounded corners served as a direct reference to the word’s significance.[4] Wollner explained that using black justified the design and the contrast between black and white in the logotype.[4]
To complement the black square, Wollner introduced two orange strips on either side of the logo, a practical solution for increasing the bank’s visibility from a distance and making its branches easily recognizable in what the designer described as the “colourless urban context.”[4]
In the 2023 rebranding, the bank’s design team stated that the symbol represents the stone, and that the rounding of the logo’s corners signifies the stone being “polished” to present itself in a more organic and fluid form.[6]
Typography and Design
Wollner’s 1972 redesign used Helvetica Bold for the Itaú logotype, replacing Magalhães’s earlier design.[3] The work was further revised by Wollner in 1990, with small changes made to the logo and adjustments to the typeface in 2003.[4]
In 2023, the New York-based studio Pentagram, led by designer Michael Bierut and typography specialist Fabio Haag, evolved the corporate identity in a more substantial way. The studio introduced a squircle holding shape, described as the most significant change to the logo since Wollner’s 1972 version.[4] The project involved 22 months of work, more than 70 color studies, and around 100 typographic studies.[5]
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