SLB, previously known as Schlumberger, is the largest oilfield services company that develops and distributes digital products and equipment for companies in the energy industry. The organization operates in 120 countries around the world. SLB (Schlumberger) is headquartered in Houston, USA, and Paris, France. The company is registered in the Netherlands Antilles (offshore zone).
Schlumberger was founded in 1926 in Paris by brothers Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger. It was the Schlumberger brothers who developed and commercialized the method of electrical exploration of minerals. However, the oil world did not immediately demand Schlumberger’s services. By the time logging crews were sent to Venezuela, the United States and the Soviet Union, the Great Depression had hit and drilling had virtually stopped.
The young Schlumberger’s biggest breakthrough came with its entry into the U.S. market in 1932 when Shell was asked to log in to California and the Texas Gulf Coast. These jobs again proved successful, and Schlumberger soon began developing businesses in Texas and Oklahoma.
Back in the 1950s, the company made several critical acquisitions to incorporate the latest technological advances. The 1950s — 1980s can be considered the company’s golden age. Carefully managing the high margins generated by the business Schlumberger slowly diversified into several related areas, devoting the time and resources necessary for each acquisition to be successful.
After 2000, Schlumberger invested in the purchase of the world’s largest integrated services companies in the industry, such as Western Geco, Smith Bits, MI SWACO, Cameron, and others.
Since oil prices plummeted in 2014, the company has experienced significant difficulties. The business suffered losses, and Schlumberger’s shares fell 84%. However, the company managed to recover in a fairly short period.
Today, the company is a leading global provider of technologies for integrated reservoir evaluation, well construction, production management, and hydrocarbon processing. The company operates in more than 100 countries.
In 2022, Schlumberger rebranded and became SLB. In addition to the name, it also changed its corporate colors and logo. The name and logo change was conceived to emphasize Schlumberger’s commitment to a future in which humanity produces fewer carbon emissions and thus less environmental damage.
What is SLB?
SLB is the new name of Schlumberger, one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, which was founded in 1926. Its core businesses include the development and implementation of technologies for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and refining of oil and gas. The corporation conducts commercial activities in more than 120 countries around the world, where it employs about 100 thousand people.
In terms of visual identity, SLB has always been a very stable and consistent company. Throughout its almost century-long history, the Schlumberger/SLB logo was only redesigned twice, with the second one held after the only complete rebranding of the corporation in 2022.
The original Schlumberger logo, designed in 1926, has stayed with the company for more than 70 years, which is quite impressive. It was a handwritten inscription in the uppercase of a bold custom typeface with the characters alternating bold and thin bars, making up a very elegant yet laconic and strict image for the company.
The first redesign of the Schlumberger visual identity was held only in 1998. However, nothing was shocking or unexpected in the new concept. The idea was still to use just the lettering, but this time it was a title case one, executed in an extra-bold geometric sans-serif typeface with distinctive contours, straight cuts, and slightly narrowed shapes of the characters. The wordmark was written in a new color palette — dark blue and white, which symbolized reliability and professionalism.
In 2022 the Schlumberger company announced a global rebranding. The name was changed to SLB, and the logo concept was fully rethought. The lowercase abbreviation is now set above the interesting geometric emblem, made of two mirrored triangles with one of the sides in each – waved. According to CEO Olivier Le Peuch, the geometric shapes in the new SLB logo signify a curve that shows a reduction in the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
The medium-weight lowercase lettering from the primary logo of the SLB company is set in a modern sans-serif typeface, which looks pretty similar to such commercial fonts as Standard CT, Venustrade SB, or Kinship Sans with some insignificant modifications of the characters’ contours.
As for the color palette of the SLB visual identity, it is based on the combination of a bright medium-dark shade of blue, and white. Blue is the color, which is usually chosen by reputable and strong companies, which tend to transmit confidence, reliability, and professionalism through their logos.