REI Logo PNG
The REI logo reflects the company’s focus on outdoor and sporting goods. It inspires new achievements and victories, motivating people to head to the forest or conquer a mountain peak. This emblem shows the spirit of a pioneer who can not sit still.
In 1938, Seattle climbers Lloyd and Mary Anderson founded Recreational Equipment, Inc., known as REI, after struggling to find reliable mountaineering gear in the United States at a fair price. Lloyd located an ice axe in an Austrian catalog and organized a direct group purchase with 22 other outdoor enthusiasts.
REI began as a volunteer-run consumer cooperative. Members paid an entry fee and later received annual dividends based on their purchases. In its early years, the company handled orders from a home office, while storing and distributing gear through informal locations.
After World War II, REI opened its first retail store in Seattle, selling climbing gear, tents, backpacks, and equipment for the growing outdoor community of the Pacific Northwest. A major turning point came on May 1, 1963, when REI employee Jim Whittaker became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
During the 1960s and 1970s, REI expanded beyond Seattle as hiking, cycling, and kayaking gained popularity in the United States. The company competed with L.L. Bean and Eastern Mountain Sports. At the same time, its cooperative structure set it apart from traditional sporting goods retailers.
In 1987, REI launched REI Adventures, adding organized outdoor trips to its business. In 1996, “rei.com” became one of the first fully online outdoor equipment stores. Under Sally Jewell, CEO from 2005 to 2013, REI accelerated regional growth. By the late 2010s, the cooperative had more than 20 million members and about 180 stores across the United States.
Meaning and History
The name REI stands for Recreational Equipment. This phrase captures the company’s focus on producing and selling sporting goods. Its logo also evokes outdoor activity. For many years, it has featured a mountain landscape with a Christmas tree. Because the drawing is not realistic, it is easier to use the emblem on tags and promotional materials.
What is REI?
REI stands for Recreational Equipment, Inc. It is an American corporation that specializes in goods for active recreation. It operates as a consumer cooperative; customers own it and, after paying the membership fee, can buy products at reduced prices.
1960s – 1975
The original REI logo stood out for its simplicity and bold expression. At the core of the composition is a stylized mountain range, its peaks defined by broken lines. A graphic representation of a spruce tree with angular contours, filled in solid black and resembling a hand-drawn sketch, is also present.
The company name sits directly within the image, set in uppercase letters with a slight slant to suggest movement.
All elements are arranged within an oval shape that visually unifies and completes the composition. Despite the simple graphics and limited color palette, the logo feels fresh and modern, conveying the brand’s connection to nature and an active lifestyle.
1975 – 1982
The updated REI logo, introduced in 1975, brought a new stylistic approach that reflected the brand’s energy and momentum. The mountain graphic became more structured, with sharp geometric lines, while the spruce silhouette grew larger and more defined, enhancing the overall composition.
The brand name is set in a bold custom sans-serif typeface, with large characters featuring softened corners while retaining a strong, solid presence. The word “co-op” appears below in larger lettering, positioned compactly beneath the main name, reinforcing the cooperative spirit at the company’s core.
Overall, the logo conveys activity, strength, and a connection to nature, creating a cohesive and impactful visual identity.
1983 – 2015
From 1983 to 2015, the Recreational Equipment Company avoided advertising itself as a cooperative. Advertising materials and the logo excluded this information; the logo contained three capital letters: “R,” “E,” and “I.” To the left of the abbreviation was a Christmas tree silhouette made of four triangles of different sizes superimposed on one another. A zigzag strip was drawn from above, imitating the outlines of mountain peaks on the horizon. The designers made all elements black and set them against a white background for contrast.
2015 – today
After a redesign in October 2015, the REI logo featured the word “co-op.” For the first time in a long time, the company reminded people it is a consumer cooperative. The new word sits directly under the revised abbreviation: the developers increased the internal clearance of the letter “R” and rounded some corners. They also corrected the zigzag and narrowed the ascending lines at the bottom. The Christmas tree has also become asymmetrical: the lower part is cut off on the left side.
Font and Colors
The abstract image of the forest and mountains hints at REI’s main field of activity: selling goods for active recreation. Since the company’s founding, mountain peaks have been central to its identity. Even as the assortment expanded to attract new customers, surfers, kayakers, runners, and other athletes, the symbolism remained unchanged.
A custom geometric sans-serif typeface was created for the company name, featuring bold, substantial characters with slightly softened forms. The letters have pronounced outlines and a solid structure, while the rounded elements give the inscription a friendly, approachable look.
The “co-op” line is styled differently: the letters are wider and lower, with a small diamond replacing the hyphen to visually separate the syllables. The characters are geometrically stretched, approaching square proportions, which gives the text a sense of stability and visual balance. A similar aesthetic appears in typefaces like Radio Space Bold and DBXLNightfever UltraWide, though the REI logo’s letterforms are more distinctive.
The brand’s color scheme is classic and subdued: black lettering and graphics create a strong contrast, reinforcing the minimalist design. This restrained palette has remained consistent since the emblem’s earliest versions.