What it means to design for the 'female economy'

Brand design agency Design Bridge has created the identity for the Financial Alliance for Women, a global non-profit organisation working with the financial sector with the aim to "close the gender gap in financial services and champion the female economy."

Written By: Emily Gosling

20 June 2019

The organisation has been around since 2000 and works across 135 countries with companies including MasterCard, RBS and AXA.

Design Bridge's New York office worked to create a new "mission", name and identity for the organisation, aiming to "position the Alliance as catalysts for transformation in the global financial sector," according to Design Bridge.

The newly designed visual identity centres around a "transformation" graphic, "based on the powerful force of women," says Design Bridge, which aims to "capture the energy and dynamism of the Alliance and its members."

It has been designed to work statically or animated to flex across different mediums and uses a neutral colour palette chosen to avoid cliches of femininity and corporate brands. The new identity incorporates photography, iconography and typography, and "captures the positive, proactive and far-reaching scope of the Alliance’s work," says Design Bridge.

Design Bridge's identity system for the Financial Alliance for Women showing branded collateral with blue, green and grey tones featuring typography, photography and transformation graphics across multiple pages

White canvas tote bag printed with "Championing the Female Economy" text alongside branded materials featuring the Financial Alliance for Women's transformation graphic design in green and teal tones

Financial Alliance for Women has recently expanded its reach beyond banks to "accelerate the financial power of all women", according to design Bridge, through various initiatives and peer-to-peer learning schemes for member organisations.

Design Bridge came on board for the project last year, and Cristina Tazza, vice president of strategy for Design Bridge New York says, "Our role was to build a strong mission and brand that communicated their ambition as clearly and boldly as possible as they embarked on this exciting period of expansion and growth."

To get a better understanding of the organisation, Design Bridge attended the Alliance’s annual Summit in Jordan in 2018. "It was clear that the Alliance plays a very active role in embedding change within the financial ecosystem," says Design Bridge, informing the new = strategic positioning ‘Catalysts for Transformation’ which went on to underpin the whole strategy and identity.

Four close-up views of flowing, undulating shapes in shades of green and teal, representing the transformation graphic for Financial Alliance for Women's visual identity

The organisation’s name was shifted from the Global Banking Alliance for Women to Financial Alliance for Women to reflect its new, broader focus in driving change across the global financial industry. Design Bridge created the new strapline “Championing the Female Economy" and developed a brand mission: “Accelerating the financial power of all women by working with organisations to champion the female economy and unlock its full value”.