State Street Corporation, the Boston-based financial services firm, introduced its first new brand identity in more than 50 years in September 2023. The redesign, developed with the global brand consultancy Lippincott, replaced a long-standing clipper ship emblem with a new symbol the company calls “The Street.” [1] [2]
Design and History
State Street traces its roots to Union Bank, chartered in 1792 in Boston, and the company’s identity has evolved alongside its transformation from a regional commercial bank into a global custody bank and asset manager. [3]
For much of the late 20th century, State Street used a clipper ship as its corporate logo, a reference to Boston’s maritime history. In 1997, as part of a global branding campaign that also dropped “Boston” from the company name, State Street redesigned the clipper ship logo. The New York marketing firm Diefenbach Elkins handled the effort, which included considering a modern abstract drawing as an alternative. [4]
The current identity launched on September 18, 2023, alongside the opening of State Street’s new global headquarters at One Congress Street in Boston. The company described the new brand as a “digital-first visual identity” designed to reflect its innovation and history of firsts. [5] [1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The new logo evokes the State Street name itself. According to Lippincott, the central “street” within the symbol represents the journey State Street designs for its clients, helping them stay on track and turn market change into potential. The central line of the symbol extends across the broader brand system, serving as both an underlying grid and a visible connective element through photography, patterns and icons, acting as a nod to the platforms that underpin financial markets. [2]
State Street’s chief marketing officer at the time, Brenda Tsai, described the symbol this way: “We refer to our new symbol as ‘The Street,’ representing the journey we design for our clients, helping them stay on track, turn market change into potential, and be the stabilizing force that’s reshaping the industry.” [2]
Typography and Design
The 2023 identity adopted a modern serif typeface and reenergized State Street’s legacy blue. The firm retained some of its traditional fonts, modernizing them into a more digital-friendly and contemporary form. [2] [6]
Tsai noted that the color blue remained part of the new brand “with a little bit of a modern twist,” connecting the refreshed identity to the company’s history while reflecting the digitalized world. [6]
The brand system also introduced distinctive mezzotint images, combining the bespoke quality of engraving with a modern digital language. Lippincott created a brand architecture approach intended to unify more than 20 sub-brands under a more cohesive story. [2]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
