What’s the first thing someone sees when your bank or credit union catches their attention for the first time? Surely it’s your incredible rates on auto loans or your high-yield certificates of deposit? How about your branches that are open on Saturday or your checking accounts for recent graduates starting out? Or your vast network of ATMs?
No, no, no, and no.
The first thing they see is your logo. And, believe it or not, based on that one symbol, a huge number of people in your target audience will start making up their minds about your bank before they ever look at checking fees, interest rates, or bank card options.
Your brand’s visual identity—represented by your logo and choice of colors and fonts—is the literal face of your bank or credit union. Building that brand into one that is known, recognized, and trusted requires careful attention and intentional effort.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can help ensure that your bank’s visual identity is working to build trust among your audience effectively.
Bank Visual Branding, Pt. 1: What to Look for in a Bank Logo
Your logo is the single most influential piece of visual identity branding you own. Over time, as more people come to associate your logo with your bank or credit union, it will become increasingly recognizable in the market until it becomes almost universally recognized by your audience.
Your logo should convey your core values or your primary value proposition, either directly or indirectly.
How do you convey an idea like “trust” directly with one symbol? It’s not easy. Prudential’s “The Rock” logo, ING’s Lion, and UBS’s three crossed keys all work towards that goal by implying strength, power, and security. Look through a gallery of bank logos, and you’ll see countless icons like these, symbols that suggest that an institution is a secure, reliable place to keep your money.
Other banks choose to create a completely abstract logo and rely on their additional branding efforts to build the association between the logo and the company’s values or uniques. Selecting a completely non-representational logo means you’ll have to work harder on the front end to build that mental association. It also means that your logo is unlikely to be confused with someone else’s or that its meaning will be misinterpreted.
Regardless of the direction you go, remember that every shape and color you use in your logo will reflect on your business. We’ll get deeper into what various colors represent below, but your logo’s symbols carry meaning as well:
- Logos with strong geometric shapes and bold designs will convey a sense of solidity and permanence.
- Logos with lighter-weight geometric designs can suggest a level of tech-savviness or even an online-only banking operation.
- Simple logos such as initials or basic shapes can indicate a smaller local bank and an associated sense of accessibility and friendliness.
- Logos that use global or national symbology (flags, globes, etc.) can indicate a bank with an extensive reach or big aspirational goals.
Every design decision will affect how people think about your bank and how easily they make the association between your logo and your actual financial institution. Designing a bank logo is not a process to rush or entrust to anyone other than a professional designer who can take your core identity and make it into an instantly recognizable symbol.
Bank Visual Branding, Pt. 2: Find the Colors That Are Right For You
Another critical part of your visual identity is the colors you choose to represent your brand in visual materials. Colors elicit an almost instinctive emotional response in people (and there have been about a million research studies proving it), and few design decisions can communicate brand voice as effectively as picking just the right color.
Every color carries an emotional payload that you can leverage to help communicate your values or benefits in every single piece of visual material you produce.
While each shade or tint may have slightly different connotations:
- Colors like dark blue, dark grey, and black all convey seriousness and solidity.
- Colors like gold and silver convey a sense of wealth and prosperity.
- Warm colors like reds and yellows are exciting, welcoming, and attention-grabbing.
- Green is perpetually associated with the color of money, at least in the US.
- Deep purples can convey a sense of luxury.
- Browns, dark greens, and other earthtones can suggest a bank that serves an agricultural client base.
When choosing colors, look at many different palettes and see which one(s) makes you “feel” right about your bank.
Bank Visual Branding, Pt. 3: Serifs? Sans Serifs? Choosing Fonts
The final part of your visual brand we’ll discuss this week is the fonts or typefaces you choose to include in your visual branding efforts. Just like colors, individual typefaces can carry heavy connotations and emotional loads that allow you to leverage every letter on every webpage, flyer, or digital ad to convey your values.
Serif fonts, like Garamond and Times New Roman, are extremely traditional. When people see these fonts in logos and on branded material, they convey a sense of history, longevity, and formality.
Slab serifs, like Rockwell and Memphis, are both modern and traditional. They tend to have a slightly less stuffy feel than traditional serif fonts, and their resemblance to printshop typefaces used in the American West in the late 1800s gives them a feeling of rugged individualism and independence.
Sans serif fonts, like Gotham and Helvetica, are primarily seen as contemporary, and companies that use them are welcoming a younger, more tech-savvy audience. Sans serif fonts tend to be easier to read in digital environments, so you will see them commonly used as body fonts on bank websites and landing pages.
Let M&R Help You Build Your Bank’s Visual Identity
Your bank’s visual identity is core to its brand and your success. When it’s time to launch a new brand, refresh your old brand, or get guidance on how to leverage your existing brand, we’re here to help. Our talented team has created logos for banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions across the Southeast and is ready to bring our talents to bear on helping you stand out above the crowd!
Call Today: 478-621-4491
Did you love this article? Then sign up for our monthly eNewsletter so you never miss one.
Detailed Marketing Deets
Want some profound insight into all things marketing? Check out our Definitive Guide Series for detailed information, tips, and advice regarding: