The MasterCard branding project wished to tackle the issue of optimizing the brand for digital contexts which is an “increasingly important part of MasterCard’s business”, whilst at the same time aiming to highlight and emphasize “connectivity and seamlessness” (Pentagram 2016). The end result was a clean logo with two vibrant intersecting circles with a lowercase “contemporary sans serif that is FF Mark” indicating “mastercard”, as the goal was to “generate a completely coordinated system of shapes, colours and typography” (Pentagram 2016). Particularly the three colours in the logo, over hundreds of tests were conducted to find the “perfect hues” that’d allow for the logo to work in every environment – print or web, and on any coloured background (Pentagram 2016). The emerging practice behind the process was viewing the problem through a historical context, looking back at the evolution of MasterCard logo over the course of its inception. By examining the previous logos, Pentagram took the most effective patterns, namely, the two simple overlaying geometric circles used in the 1968 to 1979 logos, whilst opting to go in the direction of the brighter colours seen in the 1990 and 1996 logos. The 1969 “master charge” type could be seen as an inspiration behind the new “mastercard” type, with the latter adopting a modern sans serif with larger x-heights and bowls to more effectively form a contemporary aesthetic. Pentagram also identified a pattern that was not as effective, which was, the interlacing effect of the two circles, starting from 1990 onwards. It conveyed the notion of connectivity however it does not portray the idea of seamless and effortless connections (Pentagram 2016), especially in a digital space.
Sources
Pentagram 2016, Blog details | Pentagram, Pentagram, viewed 20 August 2016, <http://www.pentagram.com/#/blog/132700>
Emergent Practices 