Reliance Industries Limited is a multinational conglomerate company based in Mumbai, India. It is a Fortune Global 100 company (it was ranked No 96 in 2020). Moreover, it has been known as the first company in its country to reach the $200 billion barrier in market capitalization. The list of RIL’s subsidiaries includes Jio Platforms, Network18 Group, Reliance Retail, and Alok Industries, to name just a few. The number of employees exceeds 236,000 (as of 2021).
The Reliance logo has remained pretty much the same over much of its history. This can be partly explained by the fact that its core is minimalist enough to fit modern design trends. And yet, there is still something old-fashioned about it.
What is Reliance Industries Limited?
RIL is an Indian conglomerate company operating in multiple industries, from energy, petrochemicals, and retail, to mass media and textiles. It is India’s largest exporter. RIL is a public company. Its main owner is Mukesh Ambani, who holds 50.54% of the shares.
The history of the company can be traced back to the 1960s. It was created by Dhirubhai Ambani and Champaklal Damani and was originally named Reliance Commercial Corporation. In 1966, the business was incorporated. This time, the name Reliance Textiles Engineers Pvt. Ltd. was chosen.
The old RIL logo already looks familiar. The emblem has exactly the same shape as the one used in the 2000s. There is a circle housing a stylized flame and an abstract rounded shape. Taking into consideration that the company operates an incredibly diverse range of industries, such an abstract approach seems fully justified. The color was different back then, though – a deep and saturated shade of green was used.
Below, the name of the brand can be seen. It is set in a relatively bold serif typeface, where strokes go from thick to thin. Both the serifs and the varying thickness of the strokes like this are virtually never used in modern minimalist fonts. On the other hand, the very shape of the serifs isn’t like in very old typefaces.
Also, we can notice that the shape of the serifs somehow echoes the rounded white element in the emblem above.
The Reliance Industries Limited logo was updated. This doesn’t mean it lost its heritage, though.
The most notable modification is the new color. It is a noble shade of gold, which alludes to luxury and prosperity.
The typeface used in name of the brand has been refined. Firstly, it has grown lighter. As a result, it is not bold but of medium weight now. The style of the font has changed even more fundamentally than its weight. The rounded serifs have been replaced by neat straight ones, in many cases. Gone is the somewhat playful, plump shape, and a serious and elegant type emerges.
While the font does have a slightly old-fashioned feel, it was chosen for a reason. Apparently, the brand wants to emphasize its rich heritage and more than 100-year history. Also, this typeface looks by far more business-like than its predecessor.
The RIL logo can be given in several versions. In the basic one, there is only the name of the brand. The full version also incorporates the “Growth is Life” tagline. The tagline is positioned below the name of the brand and is separated from it by a gold horizontal line.
The choice of gold color conveys such ideas as wealth and prosperity. The type is strict and business-like, which symbolizes that the company is a reliable partner.