Light & Shadow

A New Logo, the Same Exceptional Company

Your name isn’t everything, but it can be the start of everything. In the October of 1990, Bryan Geyer took all of his life savings and retirement, and channeled them into the birth of a company for which he saw a need. An avid photographer himself, he was tired of the low quality ballheads and quick release plates then available to him on the market. He wanted a plate that would last, and be compatible between his various camera and ballhead needs.

And so, in 1990, Really Right Stuff was born: a name that promises the quality that Geyer was dedicated to providing. For a logo, Geyer selected something sleek and basic: a blue heron. This bird represented Really Right Stuff nicely, as these birds are often seen in flight amid the hills of our company’s home county, San Luis Obispo.

However, when Joe and Joan Johnson bought Really Right Stuff in 2002, they envisioned a more modern logo. Having just spent the past 13 years living in various parts of Asia, the Johnson family collaborated on a logo that would honor that formative part of their lives. So was born the Yin Yang logo, holding an “R” on each side and an “S” slicing through the middle. This design represented the miracle of photography perfectly, a balance of light and shadow, fluidity and solidity, balance and resistance.

However, as the company grew, Joe Sr. and his family began to feel that the Yin Yang logo was confusing as the representation of a company that is proudly based in the U.S.A. and exclusively uses materials and manufacturers based in the U.S.A. This is a quality of RRS that is special and should be immediately apparent to those who do not yet know RRS well.

The new logo design has been in the works for three years, and was selected from a series of designs that were voted on by loyal customers. It is meant to evoke the identity of RRS: rock solid, cutting edge, beautiful, and balanced. There is still a hint of the Yin and Yang design, which creates a continuation from the old to the new. Really Right Stuff is proud to present this new logo to their valued friends and followers, and is excited to incorporate the new logo onto all products sold within the next year and onward.