From the Archives: Designing Reusser’s Bear Icon
Drawn from the past, designed for the future
Back in 2015, my friend and colleague Nate Reusser, owner of Reusser Design in Roanoke, Indiana, asked me to help his team come up with a new logo. His agency was rapidly growing and evolving. With laser precision, he was leading the team into new markets, broader and deeper areas of expertise, and finding fresh talent. I had freelanced on a few projects with Nate already, and now he wanted to collaborate on new branding to set the pace for moving forward.
The name Reusser (prounced reese-uhr) is of Swiss origins, and Nate’s family heritage dates back to the 1500s in Bern, Switzerland (and he grew up in Bern, Indiana—an enclave of Swiss culture in the Midwest). As Reusser.com explains, “Nate wanted to pay tribute to the ancestral home of the Reusser family, so the logo design pulled elements from the Bern coat of arms which features a diagonal yellow band atop a red shield, complete with a black bear walking upward toward the flag’s center. This bear serves as a namesake and herald of Bern—legend says the city’s founder vowed to name the city after the first animal seen on his first hunt on the land.”
My challenge was formidable: modernize the elements from an 800-year-old medieval coat of arms and use it to brand a digital agency in the 21st Century. We iterated dozens of illustration styles and bear shapes until we arrived at the friendly (but still tough) chunky line drawing of the bear. Paying homage to Bern’s coat of arms, we inherited the shield shape, but applied Reusser’s clean cyan, grey and black palette. For the text, we used Helvetica—the epitome of Swiss typefaces and design. In particular, the ultra-precise and timeless technological Helvetica Neue Ultralight.
Knowing the icon would play a big role in their online presence, we pressure tested the design at different sizes and as a social media icon and avatar (check out that vintage Twitter browser interface!). Lastly, to help visualize the potential of the branding, I conceptualized possibilities for application on signage, clothing and other livery. Some of which was produced in one form or another, and we printed business cards on a sweet stippled paper stock with a glossy black embossing for the bear (see the photos below). The square shape really stood out, and won the staff a free lunch.
In the end, we nailed it: a modern logo that points to the future, while at the same time paying homage to hundreds of years of history. The logo served the team’s growth well. After about seven years (c. 2022), the Reusser team gave the branding a refresh, dropping “Design” from the name, bolstering up the shield shape, and ditching Helvetica in favor of a thicker, contemporary typeface that aligns better with the digital space in which they exert their expertise. It was the right move, at the right time. The branding is tight and the changes they make come from a place of authenticity. I’m proud to see the bear icon, however, continue to beat strong at the heart of the branding.
I’m a big fan of Reusser. They’re among several spunky, underdog creative agencies putting Indiana — Northeast Indiana — on the national design map. I’m grateful to Nate and company for asking me to help the agency achieve its goals, and happy to see Reusser’s bear continue to evolve with the brand.
