Start-up banking service Tide has rebranded, unveiling a new logo and a redesigned, “vertical” debit card. The company was founded in 2017, and offers online banking services and loans to small businesses. It currently has more than 30,000 customers in the UK. Created by Tide’s in-house design team, the card ditches the traditional landscape format used by most banks for a portrait version instead. The design aims to reflect how people actually use cards today, says Tide head of design Caitlin Rich, such as by inserting them into ATMs to withdraw cash, slotting them into terminals when paying in shops and restaurants and keeping them in the back of their smartphones. The card has the user’s name and details on the back, with the aim of making the front look more “clean”, says Tide. The company adds that this feature also improves security as personal data is more hidden and therefore harder to copy. The front of the card features Tide’s new logo, a circular symbol with a small, raised swell. Designed by Article, the logo takes inspiration from the Old Saxon version of the company’s name, tīd, which means time and nods to the company’s mission to make banking quicker for its customers. Dark blue has been chosen as the brand’s core colour, with the aim of looking “refined” and “understated”, says Rich. “We’ve never designed in a blue this deep – a blue that’s warm and distinctive. It’s nothing like the corporate colours we’re used to, but it’s also nothing like the loud colours or design quirks that newer brands shout with,” Rich adds. Tide’s new identity has rolled out across all touchpoints.
