Correos, national postal service, is a brand with more than 350 years. Witness of all the changes that spanish society has undergone, it has evolved to adapt to them and to technological advances by launching new courier and parcel services. However, society felt Correos as an endearing brand, traditional but not at all innovative. That’s why Correos needed to adapt its identity to reflect its own reality: a company that has been innovating in services since 1756 and continues to do so.
To embrace its essence and communicate it in a more contemporary and direct way to its audience, Correos counted on Summa to develop the brand project. Our task was to update the brand and position Correos as another player in the current industry, leaving behind the times where the brand expressed itself only in its fleet, facades and mailboxes, and covering every outcome across physical and digital media.
We started the project with the study of the symbol, the most important identity element of the brand. The symbol appears today in many more applications than in previous decades, but could not behave in the desired way in small or digital scenarios. Our strategic proposal consisted of applying more oxygen between its lines, redefining some of its elements, and lightening its shapes to turn it into a flexible symbol.
For this, we simplify the morphology of the crown, but maintaining the symbolic recognition of the brand. Anchoring the redesign in the most recognizable element was essential, since the cornamusa is even used as a symbol of urban navigation as well as others such as the Red Cross or the spanish Police.
In line with the simplification of the symbol, we release all unnecessary elements to the visual identity, focusing on the two most representative anchors: the yellow colour and the cornamusa.
Through this economy of elements and this simple and purist treatment, it is possible to increase the iconicity of any support, increasing the representativeness of the brand.
An important element in the renewal of the visual identity for Correos is its new typeface. Together with Monotype, we designed a new font exclusively for Correos that we have named Cartero (Postman) in honour of these emblematic professionals that has shaped the company since its early days.
The new typeface brings elegance and modernity, and reinforces the essential attributes of the new Correos. Its simplicity ensures the proper functioning of it in all types of messages (from corporate to commercial, from digital to traditional environments) and at the same time will make it last over time without losing relevance.
From the first urban postman in 1756 to the use of the telegraph or the creation of postcodes in the 80s, the history of Correos is a story of innovation. Especially in recent years, the company has expanded exponentially the portfolio of products and services offered to citizens.
For all this, and taking into account that Correos communicates through multiple channels, it was essential to ensure consistency between the messages. To do this, we created an additional identification element: the label.
