Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, leasing, credit cards, and consumer finance.
Meaning and history
The iconic equestrian stage is a symbol of Wells Fargo‘s values, heritage and image. At first, it was represented with a black and white logo, and then continued to be used as an icon. This is an important part of the visual identification of the bank, which in the past owned the largest postal wagon empire and was dedicated not only to express delivery, but also to passenger transport.
1852 – 2009
The first emblem of the celebration features the Concord Coach stagecoach, designed specifically for uneven roads. The damask and genuine leather interior, the curved frame, the perfectly balanced wheels make this type of transport unique.
The logo is detailed – the artists even depicted silhouettes of people. They are messengers who calmly transported treasure chests: checks, documents, money and gold bars. They were not afraid of bandits because they were well armed. However, a rogue managed to rob Wells Fargo twenty-seven times.
Stagecoaches were used where there were no railways. They crossed deserts, mountain passes and quicksand, and climbed the most difficult routes to demonstrate the reliability of express delivery.
2009 – 2019
In 2008, the famous American company merged with another large American banking network – Wachovia. This caused the logo to be changed, which became square in the new version. Inside the red rectangle was a word mark. The letters were yellow and capitalized. The long serifs gave a royal charm to the letters.
The postal stage, as a permanent symbol of Wells Fargo, has moved into the category of icons. They began to depict it in more detail and color. The artists paid attention to detail, making the drawing as realistic as possible. The bank’s motto was marked in the upper right corner: “Together we will go far.”
2019 – Present
Wells Fargo has been through several scandals, has been accused of fraud multiple times and has been fined for numerous violations. To regain the shaken brand image, management launched a full campaign under the banner “This is Wells Fargo.” An attempt to rehabilitate itself involved updating the logo and icon.
The advertising agency BBDO-San Francisco developed a concept that was supposed to help the bank move towards progress. True, the changes turned out to be minimal: the designers left everything as it was on the main sign and simply repainted the inscription in yellow. The stagecoach turned black and white again, and the number of horses was reduced to three.
Symbol font and color
In 1852, a six horse harness received the status of an iconic Wells Fargo symbol. It reflects the history of the bank and is associated with postal services. Below it was the name of the organization, separated by a horizontal black line.
The current emblem has nothing to do with the past of the financial institution. It looks like a simple red square with Wells Fargo written on it. Even the latest attempt to change its image was not very successful: the holding company never modernized its visual identity, although the marketing campaign was aimed at demonstrating progress.
The oldest banking institution uses the Clarendon Bold font, created by typographer Robert Besley, for the word mark. This font is the same age as Wells Fargo: it was developed in 1845. The antiqua capital letters are painted bright yellow (# FFFF00), and the square behind them is dark red (# CD1409).