In 2020, Intel completely reinvented its visual identity. At the heart of the rebranding, was a focus on the brand’s most powerful visual symbol – the square ‘dot of the i’ – which symbolizes the power and potential of Intel technology inside the world’s innovations.
A Million Wonderful Somethings
Rebuilding the Intel brand from the ground up
Client
- Intel
Karen Walker
CMO, Intel
Intel has powered the world for more than 50 years. But the brand known for putting the silicon in Silicon Valley was facing a storm of product delays, fading cultural relevance, aggressive competition and a tired message. They wanted a rebrand that would inspire global employees and prove to the world that Intel was still driving worldwide technology innovation.
Our brief was to “wake the sleeping giant” with a new brand identity that would launch Intel into its next ambitious era. Intel has a deep history of well known and beloved brand equity, from their first ‘drop e’ logo to the ‘swoosh’ which brought focus to the square dot of the ‘i’. Intel has always battled being an ‘ingredient brand hidden inside other brands. The reality is that Intel is inside every technology and industry powering the world and we would illuminate that.
To bring out what’s inside, the new logo and visual language system hyper-focused on the square dot, making it clear symbology for the technology powering or ‘sparking’ the world’s innovations. From a decidedly simplified and confident new logo, built from the iconic forms of the past, to a dynamic and adaptable visual language, we redefined Intel’s visual identity system to elevate the brand beyond a technology company to a cultural catalyst that moves the world forward.
Three years into our full rebrand, Intel sought to reinvent the branding of their flagship line of consumer processors. Already on its 14th generation, the Core portfolio had grown overly complex, with over 60 brands across client and data center hardware. After much research and interviewing a few of Intel's power users, VML created new brand systems for the three consumer product tiers: premium, performance, and value. We simplified the portfolio to a sleek 13 brands and reinforced the power and value of Intel Core processors