Ariens Company launched a new logo for the Ariens® brand on March 2, 2016, modernizing the look of the logo while re-incorporating its iconic gear brand mark.

​While the gear represents where the company has been, the re​designed Ariens font is bold, crisp and prominent, representing the moderninity of the brand while celebrating eight decades in the outdoor power equipment industry.

We spoke with Ariens Company Chairman & CEO Dan Ariens about the evolution of the Ariens brand, the meaning behind the new logo and what he sees in the brand's future.

​Ariens Company: What, in your opinion, does the Ariens brand currently represent in the marketplace, and how has it evolved in the 83 years since its inception​?

Ariens:​​ Today, Ariens is a premium brand of outdoor power equipment, which includes snowblowers​, lawnmowers and zero-turn mowers, that’s used by both mid- and high-end consumers, and for light professional work.

But if you go back to the 1930s, the Ariens brand and our products were really commercial products used for large agricultural jobs — like our 900-pound tiller and clod crusher. It wasn't until the mid-1950s that we morphed into the consumer brand we are today by selling smaller tillers and rear-engine riders. 

And that change makes sense when you look at what was happening in the United States at that time. Americans were creating lots of neighborhoods and suburbs as the nation got back on its feet from the war. There were a lot of homes being built, and every one of those homes had backyards with grass that needed to be maintained. We saw that need in the marketplace, so we altered our products accordingly.

Ariens Company: Looking at the new logo, what does it mean to you? It looks different than what we’ve used as our logo in the past, yet it’s incorporating the same gear logo that’s been used for decades.

Ariens: When you look at the new logo versus the old one, it looks really fresh, and it looks really contemporary. In a way, it’s what we thought it would be, even before we knew what it would look like. It’s a lasting look, and it still has a lot of the DNA that made up our first logo in 1933.
The gear really does help bring you back to a place in the brand before our most current logo, but coupled with the new text, it helps you make that leap forward into the future. When you look at the two logos, the oval next to it looks really old — which is ironic, because the gear is actually older.

Ariens Company: We've used the gear in our past logos. Can you explain the significance of the gear to the Ariens brand?

Ariens: The use of the gear goes back to the 1960s, when were were transitioning from a tiller company to a company that manufactured other products.

The rear-engine rider, which came out in 1957, was our first departure from the traditional products we were making. Because we were beginning to step away from the commerical tillers, I think we used the gear as a symbol of those machines. 
We made each and every one of the gears that went into the commercial tillers, so the gear really says, “We like to make all of our components and control the quality of every part that goes into our products. We like to design our products with integrity, and we never take shortcuts.”

Ariens Company: T​his logo represents the new era in the Ariens brand. With the logo, we’re going to be introducing new products that take a different direction from what we’ve ever done before. Can you explain what your vision is for the brand and how you see it evolving over the next several years?

Ariens: I think part of the brand will continue to be what it's always been: a premium-quality brand that consumers can count on for its durability. However, as technology grows and we find opportunities to innovate through that technology, I think the brand will evolve to become more innovative.
We know technology is going to change. We know that they way people cut their grass is going to change. But the Ariens brand will ​be there throughout all of those changes as a premium brand of outdoor​ power equipment for consumers who want a durable, long-lasting, proven product by their side.

For more information about the new logo — and a glipse into the brand's history — visit the Ariens logo page​.