Barclaycard revamps design of cards and logo

Barclaycard is embarking on a radical redesign of its cards and logo, featuring a new mnemonic device.

The new cards, by Lewis Moberly, will launch on June 29. Barclaycard commercial director, Shaun Powell, says that the design has been in research for eighteen months and is the first revamp in its 30-year history.

The last time was in 1990 when Barclaycard differentiated Mastercard and Visa with separate designs. “The only difference now will be the Visa and Mastercard logos,” Powell says. “The previous cards, developed in 1990, had Mastercard as a different colour to Visa.

“All of the research confirmed that it had a very dated and dull feel. We needed the same design for the two products. The new cards give Barclaycard the modern feel it was lacking.”

There is also a new corporate logo and spinning card device on the revamped product. The mnemonic device will work on TV ads “in the same way as the red telephone did for Direct Line. When people see the spinning card, they will think of Barclaycard,” says Powell.

TV advertising will change to feature the 3-D branding with the spinning card motif towards the end of the year. The ads, which show Barclay-card being waved around, will have to have the new design morphed onto them, says Powell.

He says that the spinning card gismo is appropriate. “We are about cards and nothing else; using an eagle, or something like that, has nothing to do with the service.”