Enel, acronym of “National Body for Electricity”, was born in 1963 as a public body resulting from the nationalization of a thousand companies operating in the electricity sector and with the task of ensuring an availability of electricity adequate to needs of the country’s economic development. The first logo had the acronym composed in capital letters with graceful and imposing letters, inserted in a rounded frame.
At the beginning of the eighties it was replaced by the logo with the lightning bolt. In 1991, Enel, similarly to other state-owned entities, was transformed into a joint stock company wholly owned by the Treasury, as a first step towards privatization. The name was changed to “Enel SpA” and separate companies were set up to carry out activities in similar sectors, assuming guidance and coordination functions. The logo was made up of Futura extra bold uppercase, imposing but static and impersonal.
In 1997, when there was full privatization, it was decided to change the logo, a sign of renewal and new development prospects. A restricted competition was launched and the final choice fell on the proposal of Maurizio Minoggio, designer of the Unimark logo, and took place on the basis of the extraordinary correspondence between the sign and the plurality of values required on a symbolic and evocative level. In fact, a pictogrammatic logo was preferred that made use of a primary and familiar symbolism: the sun, the tree, the rays and the tree with its roots. The synthesis of these symbols has generated an original logo, with soft lines; someone sees a light bulb in the center of the tree, produced by an optical illusion. The colors, orange and blue, complete the idea that Enel intends to give: new energy and vitality. The capitalized Frutiger was chosen for the logotype, slightly optically modified to obtain a better overall perception.
To adapt Enel’s image to the changes underway within the group and the rapid evolution of the energy sector, its corporate identity changed in 2016. The massive rebranding work was entrusted to communications director Ryan O’Keeffe who secured the help of the Wolff Olins agency; the design of the new logo reflects the need to expand the energy offer with the “Open Power” philosophy, embodying the innovative, sustainable, multidimensional and “digital” nature of the company. In particular, its shape is created by the luminous cursors that inform the “look and feel” of the corporate identity to create the emotion of light. They also represent the starting point of a colored trail of energy which, with its movement, draws the shapes of the letters.
