Credit Suisse, the Swiss financial services firm, introduced its most recent visual identity in January 2006 as part of a move to a single global brand. The identity was developed by the London-based brand agency Enterprise IG and replaced a blue and red logo that had been in use since 1997.[1][2]
Design and History
The 2006 mark consists of the Credit Suisse name spelled in dark blue on one line, followed by two overlapping triangles resembling sails.[3] The sail-like symbol is a reference to the Tea Clipper logo of the former First Boston investment bank, which had featured a clipper ship.[4] The wordmark uses a lightly serifed, all-caps letterform.[5]
The redesign accompanied a strategic shift. In December 2004, Credit Suisse announced a new “one bank” strategy, and in mid-2005 it said it would drop the Credit Suisse First Boston name in investment banking and adopt a single brand across private banking, corporate and investment banking, and asset management.[2][1] The new identity took effect on 1 January 2006.[1]
The previous logo, launched in 1997, used blue and red and was created by the identity firm Wolff Olins as part of a relaunch of CS Holdings as Credit Suisse Group.[2][6] A UK trademark filing from April 1997 for a series of three marks claims blue and red as an element of the third mark in the series.[7]
Meaning and Symbolism
Credit Suisse said the new logo was designed to express “dynamism and innovation” as well as “discretion and prestige.”[3] The stylized sail symbol represents the tradition of investment banking while conveying the idea of pioneering and navigating.[4] The company described the new brand as combining the dynamism and innovative strength of a global financial institution with the stability, discretion and experience of a traditional Swiss bank.[8]
Typography and Design
The 2006 wordmark uses a lightly serifed, all-caps typeface, a deliberate contrast with the previous logo, which was seen as tilting toward “modern.”[5] The identity was developed by Enterprise IG, The Global Brand Agency, in London.[1][5]
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