Chase, the consumer and commercial banking arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., has been identified by a blue octagon symbol since the early 1960s. The mark was designed by the New York firm Chermayeff & Geismar (now Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv) and is one of the earliest abstract corporate symbols adopted by a major American company. The octagon remains in active use today, a rare example of a mid-century logo that has survived decades without a fundamental overhaul.
Design and History
The octagon symbol was created for the Chase Manhattan Bank, formed by the 1955 merger of Chase National Bank and the Bank of the Manhattan Company. At the time, few American corporations used abstract symbols for identification, but the designers believed the bank would benefit from a simple mark that could unite the two merged corporate cultures and stand in for the company’s unwieldy name. The firm’s own account notes that Chase Manhattan had tremendous advertising resources that could quickly establish an abstract symbol in the public mind. [1]
Chermayeff & Geismar proposed the mark in the late 1950s, and it was ultimately approved in 1960 by David Rockefeller, who had become president of the bank. The design was considered radical at the time, as no major American company then used an abstract symbol to identify itself. [2] The firm’s own records date the symbol’s introduction to 1961, when the Chase National Bank and Bank of the Manhattan Company merger was completed. [1]
The original mark was constructed from the repetition of four shapes around a square to form an octagon. [3] The design was met with resistance from some executives but stood out from the competition, leading other corporations to adopt abstracted corporate logos. [3]
In 2005, following the merger with Bank One, JPMorgan Chase launched a new brand campaign that reintroduced the trademark Chase octagon. The company’s press release stated that the octagon, first introduced by David Rockefeller in 1960, had been updated to reflect a more fresh and contemporary look, appearing in blue with the new Chase typeface in black. [4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The blue octagonal mark is abstract but not without meaning. According to the designers, it suggests a Chinese coin or, with the square enclosed in an octagon, a bank vault and by extension the notion of security and trust. [5] The 45-degree angles of the inner square give the mark motion and dynamism, even a hint of three-dimensionality, yet it remains quite simple. [1]
The abstract nature of the design was deliberate. As Tom Geismar later wrote, the experience of introducing the Chase mark became an important touchstone for the firm: people can transfer their positive associations with a company onto even the most simple and abstract of designs, even if it is utterly foreign at first. [2]
Typography and Design
The 2005 brand launch introduced a new Chase typeface in black, paired with the blue octagon. [4] The current Chase wordmark is a custom sans-serif typeface with sharpened edges, designed specifically for the brand. [6]
The octagon symbol and the Chase name are both trademarked by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co. [7]
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