As some of you surely know, Furnace MFG's mascot / Chief Morale Officer is Jack, our Bernese Mountain Dog. He commands attention on the premises due to his superior looks and sartorial taste in black hoodies. (Not to mention his less-than-vicious guard dog instincts—just ask our FedEx driver.)
Less known, however, is the story of our official mascot: the ironworker featured in the Furnace MFG logo.
In 1999 we decided Furnace's branding was dull and needed a makeover. I had been in contact with graphic artist Shepard Fairey in the late 80s and early 90s so he immediately came to mind.
Back then, Fairey had just designed an oddball graphic and started sending out stickers and templates that we would copy onto more stickers and posters and spread around town. Within a few months, downtown Tempe, AZ was covered with the iconic ‘Andre the Giant Has a Posse’ graphic—an ancient pre-internet meme if you will. To us, the sticker was subversive and meant to shake up the glossy veneer of strip mall culture. To everyone else, it was likely an amusing and confusing eyesore.
After a couple of meetings and a few rough drafts, Furnace MFG's logo was born.
