How do you enable an established financial brand to reflect its true strength as a global powerhouse while effectively communicating across sixty countries? This was the challenge Standard Chartered brought to Lippincott. ​

The bank has been on the cutting-edge of financial expertise across the world’s most dynamic and diverse markets for over 160 years, with headquarters in London and a unique footprint across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. ​

With a legacy of evolving its capabilities to meet and exceed client needs across this range of diverse markets, Standard Chartered recognized that its existing brand no longer reflected its aspirations or ongoing digital transformation. This, coupled with the need to connect with a younger generation of wealth creators, sparked an opportunity to evolve. ​
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Lippincott partnered with Standard Chartered on a full-scale evolution to develop a digital-first brand that communicated the full breadth and power of its network, drawing in new audiences and inspiring​
the bank’s existing base across the globe. ​
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The Trustmark, Standard Chartered’s symbol for over 50 years, was redrawn to be simpler and bolder. It builds on existing visual equities, while pivoting towards a digital-first future. It is a symbol of unity, crafted with simplicity in mind to perform across a wide variety of platforms and formats. The accompanying logotype is set in lowercase to convey approachability, using a customized typeface that expresses generosity through its wide aperture, and echoes the angularity and bespoke elements from the Trustmark. ​

Since Standard Chartered’s presence across diverse geographies​ and markets has led to regional, informal monikers for the brand,​
the symbol acts as a beacon to drive recognition and consistency wherever it’s seen in the world. The evolved brand also champions the bank’s commitment to sustainability by elevating the ‘here for good’ promise, giving it a contemporary visual treatment that complements the logotype. ​ ​

The brand colors were refreshed to perform better on-screen, providing more depth, vibrancy and vitality. A blue gradient was introduced for contrast and to help elevate the experience.

A disarmingly simple style of icons was designed to help break down complexity, guide the eyes in digital interfaces and bring a human touch to communications and platforms. The icons were crafted to match the soft geometry of the Trustmark and reinforce the brand’s ownership of the green and blue colors. ​

Along with the refreshed colors, a bespoke typeface, digital design system, brand voice and a people-first culturally relevant photography style, the new design principles allow the bank to flex where needed to stay agile and relevant locally — a process achieved by working as partners with the client and their network of agencies. ​

Following the refresh of the visual identity and a rigorous engagement across stakeholders, we developed a future-facing brand architecture to enable the ongoing evolution of the bank’s propositions and assist in further propelling Standard Chartered to become a Go-to Brand. ​

The new Standard Chartered brand was revealed to the world in February 2021 with an overwhelming response with employees rallying around the new brand and reinvigorated by the evolution. ​