The opening of the bank is still a long way off, but the development of the bank’s corporate identity and design has already taken place. Why? Financial institutions operate in a highly competitive environment, the fight for potential clients begins long before all branches are opened. New employees, as the main carriers of the bank’s style, are imbued with the corporate spirit and traditions at the training stage, thus maintaining a certain image of the bank.
Functions of corporate style
- Formation of a positive, recognizable and memorable image of the company in the client’s mind. The formed positive image is almost always transferred to the services, increasing their attractiveness.
- Corporate identity, as a carrier of identity, binds together all the services of the bank.
- A recognizable brand allows you to distinguish a familiar company among similar ones, orienting the consumer in the right direction.
Classic style elements
In fact, the elements of corporate identity are large in number. These include: logo, corporate font and logo colors, slogan, brand legend, design of office clothing, design of internal and business documentation (business cards, letterheads, price lists), design of printed and outdoor advertising, design of corporate souvenirs (pens, key chains, calendars, notebooks, etc.), design of signage and transportation, website design and of course packaging design.
Creation of the bank’s logo
The world around you should remember the logo: the more successful it is, the faster customers will learn to recognize it. Deep creative work always begins with a detailed elaboration of the topic with the founder (owner) of the business. Only under this condition, the performers will be able to offer creative concepts that can be embodied in the design of the banking institution. The logo does not reflect the company’s goals or global mission, its main task is ease of identification.
A well-designed logo will not allow the client to confuse the bank with a competitor, except in cases of plagiarism. Therefore, the work on creating a recognizable and memorable logo should be entrusted only to professionals: the created masterpiece will pop up in people’s memory as soon as the name of the bank is mentioned (in writing or verbally).
How is a logo created?
In order for the logo to become a business card of the bank, the creative designer works with color scheme, with elements of decoration, with the game of fonts. Having tried a huge number of non-comparable and quite attractive options, the performer creates a unique specific image of the logo. Its peculiarity should be easy to read in a commercial, on paper carriers, on billboards, on employee uniforms, on the bank’s vehicles, and, most importantly, on branch signboards.
Slogan
A small phrase – a motto (slogan) characterizing the bank’s strategy and all its goals. The slogan should be easy and quick to remember, settle in the memory, be clear, concise, understandable, should not carry negativity, but only specific information. Create an effective slogan, constantly participating in the competition and winning, only professionals can do. The more information and clearer the task of development, the better the result.
Corporate identity colors
Absolute harmony of colors is the motto of corporate style developers. Staff ties, carpets in the office, table surfaces, wall coloring and shades of curtains – everything must serve the same image goal. Therefore, color solutions are created for banks according to specific canons:
- No sullenness or gloominess;
- The color should be pleasing to the eye, beautiful and easy to see;
- Signature colors should refer to only one gamut;
- Colors should evoke associations with specific services (financial transactions don’t tolerate fussiness or fun).
In some cases, the color is even better remembered than the logo: the combination of white and red is associated with Coca-Cola, and black stripes on yellow – Beeline.
In our company over the development of corporate colors are involved not only designers-colorists, but also psychologists: color contains the basis that affects the psyche and appropriate behavior of people.
Brand font
Selecting a font for a logo is a difficult task, but not paramount for the corporate style of a bank. Printed products made in a unique font mode allow recognizing a document, business card, billboard lettering.
For a competent designer, familiar with the history of Latin fonts application in creating styles for companies, the problem of creating his own (author’s) font, which creates a unique image of the bank in official reports, business cards, all kinds of letterheads, is quite clear. Thoughtless Russification of Latin fonts (creating a similar Cyrillic font) can create a situation when the bank will be forced to buy out the copyright.
To avoid changing the font “created” for the company, you need to be sure of a contractor who handles these tasks professionally.
Elements of corporate style
The nameplate presents elements, the design of which is most often ordered in the development of corporate identity. At your request, we can design other additional elements as well.
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| \The elements ofstyle. | \Tasks to be accomplished. |
| \Business card. | \They are usually made of three types: for ordinary employees, for executives, impersonal (corporate). They serve as a mechanism for dialog with clients and partners. |
| \Envelopes. Envelopes. | \Size range from A4 to E65, used for mailing notices, credit cards, pin codes, statements and reports. Creates recognition and protects business information. |
| \Forms. | \They are used for internal and outgoing documents. They form associations with the bank’s brand. |
| \Souvenir products | \From everyday “little things” (pens and notepads) to exclusive (VIP gifts), these elements foster trust and loyalty. |
| \Leaflets, brochures, catalogs. | \Current information should be communicated to the client on a daily basis. |
| \Badges. | \Employee identification. |
| \Branded apparel. | \The uniforms of drivers, security guards and cash collectors are not only a means of identification, but also a badge. |
| \t\t\tДресс-код\t\t\t | \Operators, cashiers, managers should be easily recognizable: a headscarf, a combination of company colors, branded details of clothing, form the customer’s trust. |
| \Bank transportation. | \A typical car, painted in accordance with the corporate style, with a logo on board, which states the bank’s distinctive features. |
| \Outdoor advertising. | \Signage, ATMs, flags – these elements are part of the corporate style, they work on memorization, on creating strong associations. |
After approval, all the elements are entered into the bank’s brandbook. It helps to use all the constituent parts of the corporate identity correctly. You can read more about it in our article.
Design and decoration of branches of the bank network
Any branch of a bank should be designed in the same style as the main office – the identification of a banking product has its own laws. Signage of any branch, color solutions, design of ATMs, design of entrance doors and internal premises, accessories of dress code of operators, uniforms of employees – all elements are decided in the same style. As a rule, design firms are engaged in the development of corporate solutions prior to the opening of branches and the bank itself. The corporate culture created within the walls of any branch should be unified throughout the entire network.
For the development of corporate identity of the banking network it is necessary to fill in a brief (questionnaire).In this document, agreed between the executor and the client (founder or manager) the most important parameters for the development of corporate identity of the bank are specified. On how carefully formulated the initial data (marketing message, preferences of the founders) depends on the adjustment of the firm-executor for the work performed.
In the brief, the customer usually provides information:
- Reference on the history of the bank’s development;
- Marketing information with product descriptions;
- Competitor and target audience analysis;
- A list of style elements to be developed.
The more detailed the brief is, the more confident the development company feels in the creative decisions made, and the more unique the resulting corporate identity.
To order a corporate identity from KOLORO, contact us by phone: 057-760-26-05, 099-618-87-50 or +7-499-677-58-69. Or send us a request to info@koloro.com.цасwith the appropriate mark and we will send you a brief to fill out!
