Through a collaborative partnership with research and strategy firm, Crowd Proof, we helped to reposition Reynolds & Son, a 145 year-old industrial supply company in Barre, VT. Together with the team at Reynolds, we worked to evolve their identity, to embrace the next chapter in their evolution with complete confidence to be able to compete with national brands like Grainger and Fastenal.
As a starting place, we went back in time with the team, looking for opportunities to honor their Vermont roots with an eye towards the future. We combed through memorabilia and old signage, and through a brand audit and review of the competitor space revealed an opportunity to own a space they have already unknowingly owned for years. With red, blue and black dominating this space, we found strength in stepping away from their red, doubling down on their gold, and refining their black to land on a sophisticated and stoic “gold and denim gray” palette.
Their new logo is open, flexible, and forward-focused, reinforcing Reynolds’ commitment to helping their customers succeed. The gold arrow in the “R” resembles a cropped portion of a carbide insert, paying respect to the industry. Carbides, as we learned, come in various geometric shapes, and quickly became a huge source of inspiration for the overall development of the new mark.