In SMPL Q+A, we interview our practitioners on all things relevant to branding, design and simplicity. Here, we speak with Katie Conway, General Manager and Maureen Perry, Design Director about our work with U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries. Learn more about the brand’s new chapter here.

Why did GlobalFoundries engage Siegel+Gale?

Katie Conway: While many people haven’t heard of GlobalFoundries (GF), it’s likely that many of the products you use every day—from your phone to your automobile—are made with semiconductor chips that GF manufactured. Given how pervasive their technology is, they play a vital role in our lives today, as well as how technology advances. In 2018, they pursued a new business strategy and doubled down on process technology solutions that enabled smarter, not smaller, chip design. The bold new direction resulted in a transformation for the company, and they needed a brand story and identity to reflect this new GF.

Strategy

Can you explain the new brand strategy? 

KC: We started by recognizing that GF had a unique opportunity to transform its brand from an ingredient brand to a challenger brand that would reflect their bold spirit and leadership mentality. And what made GF a challenger brand? First and foremost, they have a unique approach centered around driving innovation in multiple dimensions to develop feature-rich process technology solutions for high growth markets. Equally if not more important, they take a completely customer-centric view, even in the way the organization is structured. As true partners, they work alongside their customers to overcome any challenges and accelerate time to market. Lastly, they are the only semiconductor manufacturer with a global footprint, which gives customers peace of mind that they’ll have unimpeded access to a trusted technology source. 

These insights laddered up to the core idea of ‘Delivering a new era of more’ which was designed to convey that GF is a catalyst for change that maximizes the impact of semiconductor technology to deliver more capabilities, efficiencies, intelligence and participation. 

What role did research play in this partnership?

KC: Given GF’s customer-centric DNA, hearing from them was a core part of the development process. We began with in-depth interviews across a variety of customer types to identify what they’re looking for in a foundry partner and how they perceived GF on those attributes. This provided insight to inform the development of brand positioning and messaging, which we then put into validation testing to ensure the concepts and ideas resonated with customers and employees.

Design 

What was the final concept behind the logo and visual identity? 

Maureen Perry: We set out to capture the idea of GF as a catalyst for change. We designed the logo on the foundation of the colon symbol, allowing GF to connect words and images that communicate the cause and effect of their technology and its outcomes. Formally, the G and the F share a central shape to reflect GF’s approach to maximizing semiconductor technology and doing more with less.

We developed a warm, light color palette to stand out in a sea of blue competitors. An evolution of their previous orange allows GF to retain the equity they’d already built in that color, and a new bright yellow reflects their bold personality while infusing optimism and warmth.
The photography style prominently features people to bring forward a warmth and humanity that’s lacking in the semiconductor manufacturing space. Clear, simple typography mirrors the pure geometry of the logo mark. All these elements work together to create an identity that communicates GF’s impact, captures their challenger spirit, and visually expresses the strategic positioning of delivering a new era of more.

Employee Engagement + Activation

Why is this investment in brand such an important milestone for the future of GlobalFoundries? 

KC: With a better representation of who they are and what they stand for, GF will accelerate their transformation, continue to drive differentiation and growth and assert their leadership position. They will ignite a paradigm shift that will redefine what innovation means in the semiconductor industry.