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BNP Paribas Identity Design A & Company, Paris, France
BNP Paribas is a bank with global reach. It has three core com-
had to suggest the values of innovation and dynamism and
petencies: corporate and investment banking, retail banking, and
express an international reach.
asset management. The company as it exists today is a merger of two separate banking houses, former competitors BNP (which can trace its origins back to 1848) and Paribas (created in 1872). So, the new company has a long history of serving private and
The new design does all these things and more. It evokes the stars on the European flag as well as the image of a swallow, a bird that migrates vast distances, suggesting freedom and movement. The design is certainly dynamic with its forward-
public investors as a solid, staid entity.
moving trajectory. At the center of the logo is a suggested globe. Therefore, in 2000, when its management decided it was time for
The bird spans the globe, flying seemingly even beyond the
a major identity overhaul, it was a significant event. Five large
Earth’s stratosphere.
identity firms, which together submitted more than 100 design proposals, competed for the prize assignment. The winner was A & Company, of Paris, who created what is now known as the “tak-
For color, A & Company designers chose green because they felt it evoked the power of imagination in creating an entirely new bank. Green is also traditionally symbolic of hope and knowledge,
ing flight” logo.
as well as of transparency and concern for the environment. The company’s design is appropriate on many levels. The client had asked the designers to heighten its visibility, which A & Company took literally with its ascending star design. The design also
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logolounge 2
Job no:82185(CTP) Title : RP-Logolounge 2 Client : Pro-vision Scn : #175 Size : 228.6(w)279.4(h)mm Co : M6 C0 O/P: CTP Dept : DTP D/O : 27.08.04 (Job no:000000 D/O : 00.00.01 Co: CM0)
Black Text
Job no:8 Scn : #17 Dept : D