MCC is a global nonprofit Anabaptist organization that represents 15 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ, and Amish bodies in North America. The organization states that its main missions are relief, development, and peace. Its work is based on collaboration with local partners and churches.
During the first hundred years of its history, the organization had only two official logotypes. In both cases, the MCC logo was based on the circle shape.
What is MCC
Mennonite Central Committee is a relief service and peace agency. The non-profit charity is based in Akron, Pennsylvania (US headquarters), and in Winnipeg, Manitoba (headquarters in Canada).
MCC was founded in Chicago, Illinois. The date of its first meeting, September 27, 1920, is considered the date of the organization’s official formation. The initial goal was to alleviate hunger in Ukraine, where lots of Mennonites lived. With time, it became obvious that the organization is capable of helping not only Mennonites but also other people around the world, providing various kinds of relief work.
During the first four decades, the organization didn’t have a definite visual brand identity.
The first official logotype was created by Arthur Sprunger. The meaning behind each of its elements is transparent. There’s the cross, to allude to Christianity, the peace dove, and the laurel wreath. The two hands here are the symbol of help (or even salvation) rather than collaboration as one of them is positioned above the other. It is also a reference to the story of Dirk Willems, who saved his pursuer.
The second version was created by Kenneth Hiebert to commemorate the organization’s 50th anniversary. He was inspired by Swiss design, a style that combines simple and functional shapes and emphasizes the importance of objectivity.
Hiebert borrowed the main elements of the original design and presented them in a more minimalistic emblem. It was more abstract, too.
The most obvious part is the combination of two Christian symbols, the cross and the peace dove. These symbols are universal and are used so often that it is extremely difficult to present them in a unique way. Hiebert did exactly this by merging the dove and the cross into a single shape. Its right part has soft curvy lines borrowed from the dove, while the left part is based on the right angles of the cross.
The emblem is placed inside a circle, which also echoes the original Mennonite Central Committee logo.
This time, the name of the organization was removed from the emblem and placed to the right. As a result, the name is better legible at any size and doesn’t make the logo look cluttered. We should mention that this wordmark was added later.
The official style manual explains that the MCC logo was deliberately created in such a way that it “requires a moment of very active participation by the viewer”. In other words, the viewer needs to make an effort to realize what the picture is about.
Also, MCC states that the logo presents the brand as combining two sets of qualities: being “honest and direct”, while also being “imaginative and participatory”. In other words, it “informs and stimulates new understanding”.
While the original versions were black and white, the palette was later softened by a greenish shade of blue. The type used in the MCC logo is Helvetica. It is an immensely popular font that has been used in thousands if not millions of logotypes. One of the reasons why it was used here was that the emblem itself was unique enough, so it hardly needed an exquisite wordmark to be instantly recognized. On the contrary, such a wordmark would have outshined the pictorial part.