In 2016, Mastercard has changed its logo into two circles and two primary colors: yellow and red overlapping each other only. The word “MasterCard” has moved from the middle to the bottom of the two circles. Michael Bierut, who works in Pentagram, is the designer of this new Mastercard logo. He believes the new logo is simple with shape and color, an “elegant return to basics.” and it is one of the most recognized brand marks in the world today1. In advertising, the logo is put at the left or right corner, but it is clear and well-seen. “We’re living in a world where getting nasty tweets about your work is the second worst thing that can happen to people launching new logos—the worst is that nobody notices.” He said2.

The Mastercard image has changed several times before the well-known logo appeared. Credit card began in the late 1940s while several franchises developed the concept. One of them was the Interbank Card Association (ICA) in 1966, which became Mastercard in the future. At the same time, the first logo was created. It comprised of the letter “I” that personified the participating members of the Interbank Card Association. The letter “I” was surrounded by a black circle with “INTERBANK” at the lower part of the logo.

The earliest version of the MasterCard logo was created in 1968. It consisted of two simple circles overlapping each other. The two circles represent the corporation between the East and the West after the first Japanese partner joined³. Besides, the logo was created to reflect the Japanese flat and the power of “sun” and “golden”⁴. A wordmark “master charge THE INTERBANK CARD” was on the logo and it is in a sans serif typefaces.

The name has changed to “MasterCard” a decade later in 1979. After that, the logo was redone and turned into the one that is the most well-known, two circles with horizontal lines in it. The red and the yellow circle overlapped each other and created the orange in between; after the redo, the horizontal lines appeared and no orange color again. The red and the yellow lines overlapped each other, and the word “MasterCard” became a Helvetica italic font.

From 1996 till 2016, the logo stayed similar. The logo reduced the number of lines and the designer added drop shadow to the wordmark. This is the most well-known logo in MasterCard’s logo history. They used the logo for twenty years and you can see this logo in different website and advertisement. It shows how important a logo is and make the public know the company.

Work Cite

1. Coming Full Circle(s) , Brand New, Jul. 14, 2016 by Armin https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_and_identity_for_mastercard_by_pentagram.php
2. “Bierut Geeks Out Over the Color Theory Behind the New Mastercard Logo” Aoga Eye On Design: https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/pentagrams-michael-bierut-geeks-out-over-the-color-theory-behind-the-new-mastercard-logo/
3. https://brand.mastercard.com/brandcenter/more-about-our-brands/brand-history.html
4. MasterCard’s Venn Diagram Trademark ,Box Vox, February 1, 2013 https://beachpackagingdesign.com/boxvox/mastercards-venn-diagram-trademark