Bank invests in river identity from Landor

The European Investment Bank has introduced a new identity created by Landor Associates in a bid to bring its image up to date, and to mark 40 years of lending in support of European integration.

Landor worked with EIB to agree the bank’s “brand essence”. EIB’s role was perceived as being to enable principles to become practice, and to combine idealism with pragmatism to further Europe’s future.

The identity resulting from this exercise features a river as a “creative driver”, flanked on either side by land, to signify the dynamic nature of the bank. It also seeks to distance it from the power-oriented identities of commercial banks.

The identity replaces one designed in 1963, which showed a map of Europe surrounded by the seal of the United Nations, a crown of laurels. Although that identity had been updated on several occasions, the bank’s directors felt the pace of change in its activities – brought about by the introduction of the Euro, and the reunification of Eastern European countries – necessitated a full change.

Landor is believed to have beaten an international line-up of 30 competitors to win the project.