ArcelorMittal

New:  Name, logo and visual system

Launched:  June 1, 2007

Story in brief:
The world's leading steel company, formed a year ago with the working name Arcelor Mittal, now has its brand, and proclaimed "The day has finally come, the mystery has been revealed – the fruit of months of intensive work was presented to a thrilled public, arousing standing ovations: the new ArcelorMittal brand has come to life!" (See the launch film. )

The "merger of equals" name-decision was confirmed (the space between words being eliminated to make a new whole): and FutureBrand designed a simple but expressive swoosh that's also, if you tilt your head a bit, a monogram A.  Adds FutureBrand's Louden, "It is intended that the symbol is principally an abstract symbol that refers to the energy and dynamism of the company. The letterforms within the signature are there for those who discover them, but be aware that there is both an 'A' and an 'M' in there."
 
The HQ location decision (Arcelor's Luxembourg, rather than Mittal Steel's Rotterdam) nicely underscores the "merger of equals" message.

Credits:
C.E.O. - Lakshmi N. Mittal
Identity design - FutureBrand (UK)
Client Director Ian Louden, Creative Director Matthew Buckhurst

First Impressions:
Name decision -- Conservative. No surprise here; the person's brand grows by association with the acquired brand. (The downside is that the resulting name is a bit tedious, at five syllables, and unexciting. In contrast "Arcelor" itself, just five years old, was a braver name decision. Note how quickly it gained the equity that Mittal coveted.)
Design strategy -- Where the name is soft, go for a symbol. (See "Symbol? Or Wordmark?")  This one's an almost abstract swoosh, one flat color, perhaps a ribbon of hot steel, certainly energetic. Nice fit, too, with the rounded letterforms. A refreshingly direct solution.
 

Other comments:
Where did we see this swooshing action? Aha... Australian Tennis, noted in January! (And until now, I had not seen the 'A' in Australia's lob and volley. Cute.) It detracts not a whit from ArcelorMittal's lob and volley.