Goldman Sachs is launching a new logo as part of a wider redesign inspired by its recent past.
The new logo is a plain, black-and-white text design that vertically connects the "G" in Goldman with the "S" in Sachs — a nod to a logo the investment bank used for decades and largely retired in 2020, people familiar with the new visual assets told Business Insider. Two of these people said the aim of the years-long redesign — which also includes a fresh look for the Goldman website — was to give the firm's marketing materials a more "premium" feel.
The redesign was also driven in part by federal accessibility rules governing web design, a company spokesperson said.
The visual refresh comes as CEO David Solomon pivots the firm away from its money-losing consumer-banking ambitions and refocuses on its core business pillars, including trading and advising corporate clients on mergers and acquisitions.
The return to connecting letters in the logo symbolizes the bank's "heritage" and "culture of partnership," according to a 180-page document explaining the changes, which was sent out internally in April and reviewed by BI. The document says the new logo was inspired by Goldman's wide range of past looks, including a black-and-white crest from the 1970s. The bank disconnected the "G" in Goldman and the "S" in Sachs from its logo in 2020, according to reports from that time, which suggested the goal was to make it easier to read.
"The Goldman Sachs wordmark is a piece of custom typography inspired by our heritage," the brand guidelines obtained by BI say. "Through consistent and appropriate usage, we reinforce the firm's precision and prestige while strengthening familiarity among our clients."
Along with the logo, other branding changes include altering the shade of "Goldman Blue," incorporating new text fonts, and using a "substantial, agile, precise, and personal" tone of voice in marketing materials.
Not all company insiders are happy with the outcome, however, given the number of years and estimated cost spent by the team led by Goldman's Chief Marketing Officer, Fiona Carter. BI spoke to roughly half a dozen people with knowledge of Goldman's marketing changes, all of whom insisted on anonymity since they were not authorized to discuss company matters with the press.
Three of those people said Goldman has been working on refreshing its marketing materials since at least 2021, and two said that it hired the British design firm Jones Knowles Ritchie — which has also had clients like Burger King and M&M's — to handle the redesign. These people say they understand the changes cost Goldman Sachs millions of dollars. The bank declined to comment on the cost or its hiring process.
"We're proud of the team's work to implement a clean, consistent, and unified look that reflects the firm's history," a Goldman spokeswoman said in a statement to BI. "The new guidelines ensure that if you go to our website, or an event, or a presentation, you're going to see consistent fonts and logos and our own Goldman Sachs blue."
Years in the making
A debut of the updates is imminent, starting with the firm's website, which could be refreshed as soon as the end of this month. The firm is still using the blue-box logo in many places, like its profile icons on social media. But Goldman has already begun quietly incorporating elements of the new look.
For example, the new logo can be seen in some of Goldman's social media posts and on the GS Alumni website. It even appeared in some of the firm's Investor Day presentations last year.
The company spokesperson said that Goldman's iconic logo — white lettering inside a blue square — will be phased out from its website. One driving force behind these changes, the spokesperson said, is the company's need to comply with guidelines laid out under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"The update goes along nicely with the real need we had: to update digital assets and rebuild our website to reflect our business's excellence in execution," she said.
Goldman's iconic blue box "is now used as a container for content," the brand guideline document said. However, the spokesperson told BI that the blue box, which Goldman's website says was introduced in 1970 to reflect a shift to services beyond investment banking, will still be used to frame the logo in some offline settings.
The firm rolled out its very first logo in 1921 and has made only a handful of changes since, according to Goldman's website. At one point, the logo was changed to simply GS&Co.
Previous attempts
Goldman was supposed to roll out a more dramatic logo and brand upgrade in 2022, according to two people familiar with the effort. It was referred to as "Project Richmond" internally, the people said, with one noting that the changes would have included adding orange to Goldman's brand colors. The people said the project was ultimately scrapped before launching amid slumping performance due to a tenuous deal-making environment that was soon followed by layoffs.
Notably, this was around the time when the bank was going all-in on building its consumer business. With products like the Apple card and Marcus savings accounts, the firm was branching out its appeal to Main Street consumers, in addition to the high-net-worth clients it historically prioritized.
"It would be odd not to explore new options, even if you decide not to use them," the Goldman spokeswoman said. "We're always testing new ideas."
One former executive questioned whether the bank's top brass would ever approve of a dramatic change to its look. The culture carriers who have been with Goldman for decades can be resistant to change and territorial over the company's image, this person explained.
Still, the new logo and color scheme is not without its critics, some of whom questioned why it took years to implement seemingly incremental adjustments. One insider said they felt the outcome didn't justify the millions of dollars likely allocated by the bank. A second person — a former executive familiar with the years-long process — said it was seen as a "head-scratcher" internally because of how long the process took to produce results that appear difficult to detect.
"Honestly, it looks the same," said a third person familiar with the changes. For example, the person said the new blue appears to be "about one shade different."
Goldman's brand book describes it this way: "We took the best of our blue and what it has come to represent-performance, reliability, and relatability-and made it better. Now fresher, brighter, and optimized for digital, the new Goldman Sachs blue is the only Goldman Sachs blue."
In addressing criticisms that the overall changes felt incremental, the spokesperson said: "Yes, that's the point. Keep it consistent with our history, while updating our digital assets."
Are you an insider on Wall Street or at Goldman Sachs? Contact these reporters. Emmalyse Brownstein can be reached via email at ebrownstein@bjinnox.com or the encrypted app Signal at 305-857-5516. Reed Alexander can be reached via email at ralexander@bjinnox.com or SMS/the encrypted app Signal at 561-247-5758.
