Qatar National Bank was the first domestically-owned commercial bank in its country. The headquarters were located in a government-owned building in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Originally, the bank had but 35 employees. The population of Qatar back then was small: 47,000 in 1960 and 110,000 in 1970. Taking that into consideration, the number of employees doesn’t look small. As the population went on growing, so was the bank. By 1975, two branches outside of the capital already worked. By 2015, the number of branches in Qatar was 76.
The QNB logo is pretty abstract. Its symbolic meaning isn’t immediately apparent. Yet, it is still possible to find some basic themes.
What is QNB
Qatar National Bank is a Qatar-based multinational commercial bank. Its subsidiaries and associates can be found in over 30 countries.
The company was founded in 1964 under the name of Qatar National Bank.
The logos used during the first decades of the company’s history featured the old version of the name, Qatar National Bank. It was rather long, due to which the logo just couldn’t look as compact as it does now.
In 2004, the company rebranded as QNB, which means that only the initials of the words forming the name of the brand were left. This decision set the scene for the introduction of a more minimalist and simple visual brand identity.
The result was the “snowflake” logo. Not only its shape, but the palette, too, contributed to the cool, refreshing style. It might feel pretty pleasant to look at such an emblem on a hot day in Qatar.
More importantly, though, we can see that the snowflake is formed by four arrows directed into a single point. Each of the arrows in the QNB logo might be interpreted as a visual representation of one of the types of services offered by the bank. The arrows together, in their turn, might symbolize the synergy.
Even though the pattern is repeated, each of the arrows looks a little different. That’s because of the color and gradient.
The top arrow is purple, while the lower three combine various shades of blue. The combination of the tints and the position of lighter and darker sports vary from one arrow to another.
To the right, the name of the bank can be seen. It is set in a dark shade of blue, which makes it perfectly legible even when the logo is scaled down. The shape of the letters echoes that of the arrows. You can see a combination of rounded and straight elements, and the widths of the lines in the glyphs and the arrows are similar.
The QNB logo features a combination of several shades of blue with several shades of purple. Also, there is a small addition of gray, which serves as an outline for the elements of the emblem.
The primary colors listed in the brand’s logo guidelines are the following: Crimson (Pantone 228), Sapphire (Pantone 289), Silver (877). The list of secondary colors includes Sky (Pantone 660), Velvet (Pantone 4975), and Ruby (675), to name just a few.
The simplicity of the sans serif typeface is deceptive. The letters have been carefully planned to be legible, yet have a unique touch, and also to fit the emblem.