Amalgamated Bank is the leading financial institution dedicated to providing affordable banking services to working people, unions, and progressive organizations and businesses. Established in 1923 as New York City’s first labor bank, Amalgamated is now the largest union-owned bank in the United States, with locations across the city, as well as in Washington DC, New Jersey, Nevada and California. Pentagram’s Michael Bierut and his team have designed a new brand identity for the bank that updates its look while also honoring its legacy.
Amalgamated has its roots in the union Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, now part of Workers United, current majority owner of the bank. The bank’s heritage in the garment manufacturing union inspired the new mark, which weaves two forms together like fabric and resembles an abstract “A” and “B.”
The new symbol appears in a contemporary color palette of blue and orange, a nod to the colors of New York City’s flag. (Not to mention two the city’s beloved sports teams.) The identity is set in the friendly sans serif font Circular. Mercury Text serves as the secondary typeface.
Building on the folding action found in the mark, the designers created a playful suite of icons to support the Amalgamated brand online, in collateral and on ATM screens. The symbols bend the lines of the mark into new forms related to money, business and service.
