In 2010, MFA Incorporated unveiled its new logo and brand identity, the first complete redesign in thirty years. This new corporate look was a bold new direction in MFA’s well-established visual style. The old logo, developed in the late 70s, meant to convey order and structure in a time when a major corporate reorganization was underway, guided by a welcome change in leadership. Thirty years later, this new identity conveys out-of-the-box thinking, forward progress, optimism and growth.
The MFA shield is one of the most recognizable and well-known marks in the midwest, with decades of presence in Missouri and surrounding states. However, behind the scenes, the shield was in urgent need of rehabilitation. When viewed as the paths and outlines of objects comprising the shield, one sees numerous faults, bad alignment and sloppy assembly. A new shield was created from scratch with much simplified and elemental components, assuring error-free use in a variety of visual environments and computer formats.
For the 2010 rollout of the new brand, a complete corporate standards guide was created. The document includes comprehensive guidelines showing how the new logo is to be used, color assignments, typeface styles and substitutions, and numerous other rules for keeping MFA’s brand coherent and consistent. The document is regularly updated and is available on the cooperative’s intranet to all members and branches.