I had not thought about writing a blog post about our company logo until I read derogatory comments about it on an internet forum. I believe one of the comments was "nice gloves, but the logo... WTF." Another comment was even less nice.
During the arduous design phase, one of my edgier friends said to me, "That's a logo for a child's product. Your logo looks like a cartoon. What are you thinking?"
What none of these people seem to understand is the incredibly deep and complicated nuance the design of this logo represents. They don't know why it has a cute, white animal called an Ermine (or Stoat), and colorful cheery background.
The first thing I came up with when brain storming the design of the mascot was the idea that we needed a mascot. A real physical mascot. But what? A person, an animal, some kind of tree, a snow flake, a bolt of lighting, a mountain or something else.
Then it hit me. A moment of brilliance: when I'm out powder skiing, what kind of creature do I see that seems to be enjoying itself just like me. Only one animal came to mind, the sleek white catsnake with the bushy, black-tipped tail.
But a cute, furry animal for a company that represents tough, rugged products for tough rugged backcountry skiers and riders?
Then it hit me: DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.
The Ermine is an incredibly vicious carnivore, that is chameleon-like in that its fur color adapts to its environment to make it an even more lethal hunting machine. Its teeth are so big, like a shark, that it can take down prey many times its size. We have a video of this on our Thurman the Ermine mascot page.
Powder skiers are fun loving, cheerful creatures at heart, but are downright viciously aggressive when going for the powder goods. No friends on a powder day. The cute, soft, cheerful person turns into a dark, ravenous killer.
The Ermine and the Powder Skier/Rider are the same.
So when you're gearing up this winter with your edgy clothes, don't forget that only one glove company has a logo that represents what you are: a powder skier/rider.
The evolution of the logo in photos:
