PayPal Brand Identity

With all the exciting innovations around us today, it is a perfect time to create a bolder, more progressive expression of PayPal—the original innovator in the digital payments industry. Working closely with PayPal, we designed an identity to better express its innovative DNA and future as the leader in digital payments. The result is a system with a bolder wordmark, stronger monogram, more vibrant colors and a dynamic angle graphic that increases user perceptions of trust and innovation.

strategy

Since 1998, PayPal has become the innovator and the leader in digital payments. But over time, it started to resemble the establishment it once challenged. We conducted a comprehensive visual audit to find opportunities for improvement, and jumped at the opportunity to design a new identity that would solve the brand’s key challenges.

Our recommendations became our success criteria: better functionality for small screens (mobile); more impact and distinction in look and feel; more extendable and flexible elements to support the logo.

The new identity strengthens PayPal’s equities and prepares it to continue leading the industry. Research has revealed increased user perceptions of trust, youthfulness, innovation and energy.

brand

PayPal is the original innovator in digital payments, but its visual identity was designed for a web 1.0 desktop era. The fuseproject brand and user experience team jumped at the opportunity to create a new PayPal identity that would better represent its pioneering history and address its goals for mobile, online and real world growth.

We focused on two key themes for design: connection and forwardness. For connection, we designed a new monogram with overlapping double P and transparent effect to emphasize human connection. For forwardness, we strengthened the italics that have always been a part of the PayPal logo — harking back to the brand’s heritage, and affirming a forward thinking spirit.

To extend this spirit and communicate PayPal’s unique brand personality, we partnered with Monotype to create a custom typeface for use in all communications across all mediums. Inspired by Futura, PayPal Forward is a geometric sans-serif typeface with subtle humanist characteristics for improved legibility. Like PayPal itself, it is sharp and modern, yet friendly and approachable.

Recognition

Awards

  • Spark!

    • Bronze - PayPal Brand Identity, 2015
  • iF Award

    • PayPal Brand Identity, 2015
    • IDSA
    • Finalist – PayPal, Design Strategy, 2015
    • IDA
    • Gold - PayPal Brand Identity, 2015

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