A long-standing partnership

In 2006 Saffron designed the brand and visual identity for one of Spain’s leading banks, Bankinter. As Spain’s first digital bank, Bankinter is proud of their history of innovation.

The identity refresh aimed to remove the distinction for the client between offline and digital. We developed a visual system that is format agnostic, behaving dynamically to adapt to any touchpoint or scale. It allows impact and clarity of communication, optimized for each space, from mobile to outdoor.

The system allows the composition to flex to the requirements of messaging, which change with the realities of the day to day. The result is a more direct connection with an audience accustomed to a digital domain, without losing the attention of the traditional audience of Bankinter.

The full-stop that rounds off Bankinter’s logo is an iconic characteristic of the wordmark. It represents the company’s proudly-held values: trustworthiness, reliability and success. We selected this as the starting point from which to generate the complete visual system.

We added two secondary shades to the brand’s iconic orange colour to add options to the messaging system. The result is a freshened palette, that is completely unique within the financial sector, augmented by a metallic option for the premium private banking arm of Bankinter.

The relationship between a bank and its customers has drastically changed not only in the means by which they communicate, but also in the language and tone that they use. Whilst in the past banks have kept a more formal and traditional tone, with this revision to the tone of voice, Bankinter is now able to address their customers in a closer, more contemporary and easily understandable manner.

The typography of Bankinter is one of the great hallmarks of the brand. Designed by Saffron in 2006, it became a unique and powerful asset for the bank. Adapting to the bank’s current communication needs, we have now complemented the font family with a new Sans Serif style to optimise digital performance. It maintains the personality of the original typography but adapts to the smaller scale of mobile without losing legibility or character.

Bankinter has a variety of touchpoints that require iconography and illustration, including wayfinding in physical spaces, digital navigation systems and illustrated communiqués. We created a family of icons derived from the wordmark’s personality and characteristic curves. These icons were adapted to 4 different scales to ensure readability across the formats.

We defined a photographic style that can communicate simple ideas that bring the bank closer to their customers. The photography highlights the individual, framed by bright colours and space, allowing for clear and uncluttered messaging.

Saffron has adapted Bankinter’s identity to the realities of a changed world, and future-proofed the system. With the elasticity to adapt to current or future needs, we have provided true flexibility and longevity. The enhanced retail service design has delivered a customer-centric space with multi-functional possibilities. In a sector undergoing constant change, this is a brand designed for tomorrow.

Saffron did not just look at usability relating to the user, but also for the internal team. We created a brand portal with all the necessary tools to design Bankinter material from any device at any time. In this way we are able to really make brand work from initial conception to continued implementation.