mBank is a Polish universal bank that traces its origins to 1986, when it was established as Bank Rozwoju Eksportu (Bank for Export Development). The mBank brand itself was created in 2000 for the first internet bank in Poland, operating as part of the BRE Bank group. Today the bank’s visual identity is built around a rectangular logo featuring the white wordmark “mBank” set against a background of vertical colored stripes of varying widths.
Design and History
The current mBank identity dates to June 2013, when the bank introduced a completely new logo as part of a broader consolidation of the BRE Bank group’s brands. The redesign unified four separate brands, mBank, MultiBank, BRE Bank and BRE Private Banking & Wealth Management, under a single name and visual system. The new identity was designed by the Warsaw-based agency BNA (formerly Brand Nature Access), which had previously won Rebrand 100 awards for its work on the Empik and Reserved brands. The 2013 rebrand was itself recognized with a Distinction in the Rebrand 100 Global Awards 2014 and a gold award at the Transform Awards 2014 in London. [1] [2]
The 2013 logo replaced an earlier mark that observers described as resembling a flower or a rooster. The new design was built around vertical colored bands, which the bank’s own staff described as evoking three associations: a barcode, a military ribbon bar, and the traditional striped fabric known as the Łowicz pasiak, a reference to the region between Łódź and Warsaw where the bank operates. [3]
The identity was designed with five color variants, each corresponding to a different customer segment: a primary “umbrella” logo for the retail mBank brand, an affluent version for premium clients (replacing MultiBank), a corporate version (replacing BRE Bank), a version for entrepreneurs, and a private banking variant. [1] In the Czech and Slovak markets, only two color mutations were used, red for personal clients and green for business clients. [4]
In November 2020, mBank introduced a refreshed version of the logo. The bank described the changes as subtle and possibly imperceptible to most observers, but explained they were intended to adapt the mark to digital screens. The refresh introduced a new sans-serif font designed primarily for digital media, updated shades of the bank’s existing colors to comply with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) accessibility standards, and standardized the arrangement of the colored stripes so that every version of the logo uses the same number of colors and proportions. The logo also adopted a strict rectangular form, while the icon versions (such as a globe or smartphone) that had previously served as logotypes were retired from that role, though they remain part of the bank’s graphic standard. The 2020 update was a collaboration between the bank’s marketing and UI/UX teams and the BNA agency, which had designed the original striped logo. [5] [6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The striped design of the 2013 logo was intended to convey the bank’s ability to recognize the different needs of its customers. According to the BNA agency, the new logo uses color and stripe width to symbolize the bank’s capacity to precisely identify the very different needs of clients across its corporate, small business and retail segments. [7] The color palette was chosen to build on the colors of the previous logo and to express closeness to customers and understanding of their needs. [8]
Typography and Design
The 2013 identity used a custom typeface called FS Lola, which combined serifs (referencing the original flower logo) with soft curves intended to give the brand a human, friendly character. According to Andrzej Rozen, brand consultant at BNA, this font had limitations in digital environments. For the 2020 refresh, BNA designed a new font that is contemporary, geometric and scales well, while retaining serifs in some letters to preserve brand identity. The new typeface was designed primarily for digital media. [6]
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