The History of and Story Behind the Capital One Logo
No two logos are identical (although some come weirdly close, as we'll see shortly). But there are certain things that all logos (the good kind, anyway) have in common. They're distinctive, they're simple enough to convey a specific intention, and they're appropriate to the brand they represent.
Speaking to Smashing Magazine, graphic designer and creator of some of the world's most famous logos, Paul Rand, sums things up with the comment, “A logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign. A logo does not sell, it identifies. It is rarely a description of a business.
A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around. It is less important than the product it signifies; what it represents is more important than what it looks like.” To be successful, a logo needs to represent a brand's identity.
And it can only do that if the conceptualization and execution are on point. So, what about the Capital One logo? As the emblem of one of the biggest credit card lenders in the US, it's certainly got a clear enough message to convey. But does it do it justice? Everyone has their own opinion, of course, but considering it won a mention on Brand New's list of the worst logos of 2008, we're going to go out on a limb and say 'no'....
The Brand
If you haven't heard of Capital One, you either live under a rock or prefer to keep it old school by doing all your financial transactions in cash. Over the past few decades, it's carved out a solid place for itself as one of the country's leading 'bad credit' lenders - in other words, if you're got a history of forgetting to pay your bills on time, they're still likely to send you a nice new flexible friend in the mail.
Having expanded its repertoire to include auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, Capital One now ranks as one of the largest banks in the United States and the 5th largest credit card issuer by purchase volume, offering 755 branches and 2,000 ATMs.
It's also the 2nd largest auto finance company in the United States (Ally Financial just pips it to the post) and, by all accounts, a great place to work, regularly appearing in Glassdoor's Best Places to Work reports and ranking number 20 in Fortune magazine's 'Fortune List of the Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2020'.
So, it's a company that has a lot to say for itself - a company, you'd think, that wouldn't find it too hard to come up with a logo that conveyed a little of what it stood for. So why exactly it chose a 'swoosh' logo that was already a decade out of date by the time it launched is anyone's guess.
The Logo
Since Capital One was founded in 1988, its logo has undergone only one substantial change. Prior to its 2008 makeover, it consisted of a simple wordmark with the company's name. The font was simple enough: although likely a custom job, it utilized a tilted, extended sans serif for 'Capital' and an equally tilted Minion Italic for 'One'.
Although it ticked the box for simplicity, it didn't exactly have the wow factor. In 2008, Capital One decided its logo was looking a little stale and boring. It was time for a makeover.
The Makeover
As makeover's go, the 2008 revamp of Capital One's logo was hardly the most impressive. In some people's' eyes, it was downright dismal. Rather than embrace the nineties with something new and exciting, it decided to revisit a concept that, by then, was already looking a little tired around the eyes.
After putting its thinking cap on, Capital One decided that if a swoosh was good enough for Nike, a swoosh was good enough for them. And that's as far as their thinking took them. The word plate stayed the same, only now it had a swoosh arching left from the 'O' of 'One'.
It wasn't big, it wasn't bold, and it certainly wasn't clever. The swoosh was intended to appeal to the younger generation, but by using a symbol that had already seen its better days at the hands of a very different company altogether, Capital One was unwittingly tapping into a generation that were no longer young and probably in no mood for any more swooshes. But apparently, it was the best they could do. 12 years later, the swoosh is still there....and so are its critics.
The Sporty Update
While the 2008 update represents the only permanent change the Capital One logo has ever experienced, another, very temporary change took place a decade later.
Capital One has long been associated with the field of sport: it's been the principal sponsor of the college football Florida Citrus Bowl since 2001; it's one of the top three sponsors of the NCAA; it sponsored the Capital One EFL Cup, an English Soccer Competition, from 2012 to 2016; it sponsored Sheffield United F.C. from 2006 to 2008; and it's been the official sponsor of the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. since 2017.
All in all, it's fair to say that Capital One is a company that likes sports. In 2018, it showed the true level of its devotion when it changed its logo to support the Washington Capitals as they prepared to take on the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals Monday. In a show of blatant favoritism, it updated its logo on its website to include the team logo's official font, complete with the signature hockey stick "L".
The Copycat
Beware imposters, especially imposters bearing swooshes. Back in 2006, a small bank by the name of First National Bank of Marin was being accused of all manner of shady financial dealings by the Feds. Publicity was growing - it was time for a do-over.
And what's a do-over without a new name? And so First National Bank of Marin became Credit One. With the name change came a new identity and a brand-new logo. In place of the boring old green and white logo of yesterday, Credit One decided a swoosh was more representative of its brand identity.
For two years, it scrapped by. Those with bad credit knew its name, but not many others did. And then by happy coincidence, along came Capital One and their all new logo. Like Credit One, Capital One offers credit to risky lenders. Unlike Credit One, it was a bank with an established history and a mammoth reputation.
“And so, began the improbable story of how one of the top U.S. card lenders… gave an accidental advertising boost to a then-obscure rival,” Jennifer Surane reported at Bloomberg.
Strangely enough, it didn't take Credit One too long to start pulling in the customers - although how many of them thought they were applying to a different bank entirely, who knows? That infamous swoosh might not have done the world of good for Capital One, but at least someone's benefited...
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Written by Lily Wordsmith
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