New face, same tools

Since 1913, tools have been forged, shaped and finished in Bovenkarspel by people who know their craft. That doesn't change. What does change is how we present ourselves. Sneeboer is getting a new house style: a new logo, a different typeface, a new sticker and a refreshed colour palette.

The tools themselves remain as they are. That's deliberate. A new house style is no reason to change something that already works well.

A way of working

Arie Sneeboer started out in 1913 with a smithy in a garden shed. Market gardeners and growers in the area needed sturdy tools that would last, and Arie was convinced he could make them better than what already existed. His motto, 'I know how it can be done better', has stayed with the company ever since.

Today, the fourth generation works in the workshop. No company was taken over, but a way of working was. A way that isn't about becoming faster, cheaper or bigger than necessary, but about becoming better. Every single tool, again and again.

A new generation looks at that heritage with fresh eyes. They ask questions about how we work, which techniques help the craft move forward and how we tell people what we do. The new positioning is the result of that. It shows who Sneeboer is today, without letting go of where it came from.

What's changing in the workshop

The renewal goes further than a logo. A great deal has changed in the workshop over the past few years.

Induction forging. For more than a century, the metal was heated in a coal fire. Now this is done with induction. An electromagnetic field heats the stainless steel from within: the heat is generated in the metal itself. This is fast and even, the temperature can be precisely controlled, and there's no combustion or smoke involved. Better for the material, for the people in the workshop and for the environment.

Laser cutting. Blades and parts are cut from the sheet with a laser. Every shape is exact from the outset. Forging and finishing therefore starts from a precise base, and every piece matches the last.

Laser welding. Joints are welded with a laser. This produces a narrow, strong seam with very little heat around the weld. The surrounding stainless steel retains its properties, and the joint is tight and durable.

These techniques don't replace the handwork. They support it. Shaping the blade, grinding, fitting the handle and checking every piece are still all done by hand. The oldest hammer in the workshop dates from 1920 and is still in use. Old and new work side by side here, each wherever it works best.

What doesn't change

A Sneeboer spade, trowel or hoe is made from the same materials, with the same shapes and the same care. Hand-forged stainless steel that doesn't rust and stays sharp for years. An ash handle that's tough, springy and sits well in the hand. Tools with weight and balance that you can feel in the resistance of the soil.

If you already have a Sneeboer hanging in your shed, you don't need to replace anything. A trowel that's twenty years old and a trowel made today belong together. Only the logo differs: on the sticker and in the logo stamped into the stainless steel. The shape of the blade, the balance and the quality stay the same.

The new look

The new house style is built from what makes our tools what they are and where they're used. Every colour has an origin.

Red. Our red has been refreshed: deeper and calmer. It remains the colour by which you recognise Sneeboer, in the workshop, in the shop and in the garden.

Ash. The warm, light tone of the handles. The material you touch every day, and that grows more beautiful with the years.

Brass. The colour of the details and the finish. A nod to care in small things, which is often where quality lies.

Coal black. For more than a century, the coal fire burned in the smithy. With the switch to induction, that fire becomes history. The black holds onto that history, as a foundation beneath everything that follows.

Garden green. The place where the tools do their work. The green connects the workshop with the garden: with the borders, vegetable gardens and nurseries where Sneeboer is used every day.

Alongside this, a new typeface has been chosen: clear, highly legible and without unnecessary decoration. The new logo, the sticker and the stamped mark follow the same line. Recognisable, simple and made to last a long time. Just like the tools.

The new style will be rolled out step by step over the coming period. You'll see it on our website and in our communications, online and offline. Administrative documents will also get the new look, as will all the other places where Sneeboer is visible. This way, everything that comes from us forms one recognisable whole.

Made for generations

Our promise remains the same: Tools for life, and generations to come. The new house style is not a break with the past. It's the next step in a story that began in 1913 in a garden shed and is being continued today by the fourth generation.

What works, stays. What can be improved, gets refined. That applies to our tools, to our workshop and now also to how we present ourselves.

Anyone who has ever held a Sneeboer in their hands recognises it instantly. Even with a new logo.