Mutual Assurance is pleased to introduce its new logo – a salute to our past and a symbol for our progress into the next centuries.
There are several reasons for creating this logo, but the main one is that we’ve never really had one before. The firemark has been used in lieu of an official logo. Still, with the HO5 and a push into new areas of Virginia, we felt it was time to create a symbol that spoke to the company’s history, elegance, and, well, Virginianess.
Our inspiration
In the late 19th century, Virginian William J. Loth started the Waynesboro Stove Company, which manufactured iron stoves and their brass components. As electric appliances took over in the early 20th century, many similar manufacturers shut down, unable to adapt. Loth, however, changed the company name to Virginia Metalcrafters and, in 1936, started making and selling unique, tasteful, and historically-based household items to a new American tourist attraction, Colonial Williamsburg. You can find their trivets, lamps, teapots, and candlesticks in homes around the country and all across the web.
Monticello, William & Mary, and many historic Virginia sites we have insured throughout the years contracted with the company to create reproductions of pieces used by many of our founding fathers. It is these pieces that inspired the look of our new logo.
The process hasn’t been simple. There were weeks of brainstorming and lots of “let’s go back to the drawing board” moments with the designers. We wanted a logo that looked like it had always been our logo, but with colors and design that would speak to someone without any knowledge of Mutual Assurance.
The Need to Simplify
Let’s face it - our full company name is a mouthful. It is also a lot of words to try to fit into a logo. We knew we needed to simplify not just the script font being used (that is hard to read – and given they aren’t teaching cursive writing to students anymore - obsolete), but also the name.
In today’s digital age, the amount of time a brand has to be recognized is less than three seconds. Our entire company name wasn’t going to cut it in the first impression/glance world in which we operate. Identifying the company as Mutual Assurance in branding and marketing materials will allow us to present a cleaner and more modern look while keeping elements of our history with the emblem.
What’s Next
In the coming weeks, we will also begin replacing the firemark with the new logo on documents, websites, social media platforms, and more.
We hope you like the new logo as much as we do and agree it is a fitting representation of a company with such a long and impactful Virginia history.