SCA (Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget) is a Swedish forest products company founded in 1929. Its corporate logo has undergone two documented updates in the 2010s, each tied to a broader transformation of the company’s business and brand strategy.
Design and History
In March 2013, SCA launched an updated logotype in connection with the publication of its 2012 Annual Report. The company said it had decided to modernize the logotype “to include it in the transformation of our company and to better reflect our business operations.” The update featured stronger, more distinct colors and softer lines, and the communication concept “Care of life” was written out in full to clarify how SCA makes a difference for people, nature and society.[1]
The 2013 update was developed by the design agency Design Bridge.[2] SCA’s communications director described the change as “not a revolution but an evolution,” noting that the logotype had not kept pace with the company’s development, particularly as hygiene products had grown to about 80 percent of the business.[2]
Following the 2013 introduction, SCA began endorsing its customer and consumer brands globally with the corporate SCA brand as of July 1, 2014, positioning the corporate logo alongside brands such as TENA, Tork, Lotus, Libresse, Tempo and Libero.[3]
A later, more extensive visual identity was created by the Stockholm agency BOLD (also credited as Bold Scandinavia). The project, titled “A Force of Nature,” was built around the idea of an infinite cycle, the circular movement and transformation of material. The agency described the result as “The SCA Universe,” an industrial ecosystem driven by the force of the forest.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
SCA’s icon is based on an old pagan symbol known as a valknut.[5] The 2013 version was given “stronger, more distinct colors and softer lines.”[1]
According to SCA’s communications director at the time of the 2013 update, the green color in the logotype stands for sustainability, the light blue for water with a connection to the hygiene segment, and the dark blue for the company’s history.[2]
A Canadian trademark registration for the “SCA CARE OF LIFE” mark describes the figurative elements as “several triangles, juxtaposed, joined or intersecting” and “triangular figures with one or more truncated or rounded angles.”[6]
Typography and Design
As part of the later identity created by BOLD, the agency developed a custom typeface called SCA Sans. According to the project description, it is based on the round shapes found in nature combined with industrial and visually graphic cuts, with inspiration drawn from how a circular log is transformed into industrially manufactured wood products such as planks and paper.[4]
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