GDF Suez becomes Engie

GDF Suez is a major French gas and electricity utility with operations in many countries making it major international player. Last Friday, it announced that it would change its name to Engie. The company says this is a move to express the changing nature of energy.

GDF Suez was created in 2008 from the merger of the partly state-owned Gaz de France and another utility, Suez. Waste management company Suez Environnement was spun off at the time of the merger and will carry on the Suez name (with a new visual identity as of last month).

The logo is clearly carries on of the equity of its predecessor. A press release says the gradient crescent behind the name is a rising sun, "symbolizing a new day in the world of energy".

Update April 29: The new identity was designed by Carré Noir. They say the new look and feel is bright and warm, "reflection of a positive vision to support the energy transition and meet the challenges of the future". More images added below.

Previous logo.

The previous identity was created by Carré Noir for the 2008 merger. The lettering style was inherited from an identity developed for Suez in 2001 by Wolff Olins. At the moment, there's no explicit design credit for the new logo.

There's a nive brand website available of Engie.com at the moment.

Suez' 2001 logo.

A short reveal logo:

"The energy transition is more than ever a reality for which we have both great ambitions and a great responsibility. To meet the new challenges of this reality and to accelerate our development, we have decided to give the Group a new name: ENGIE. It is an easy name and one that is powerful, a name that evokes energy for everyone and in all cultures, a name embodying our values and activities. We thus confirm our new ambition and the dynamics of change that drive our Group. This new name is an expression of our new corporate ambition whose conduct I entrusted to Isabelle Kocher, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer. With a presence in 70 countries throughout the world and across every energy source, ENGIE aspires more than ever to be the benchmark energy player in fast growing markets and the energy transition leader in Europe." - Chairman and CEO Gérard Mestrallet in a press release (archive)

Carré Noir (archive)