SPYDERCO DESIGNER'S MARKS
Edge-U-Cation®
In 1990, Spyderco became the first production knife company to collaborate with a custom knifemaker in the design of a factory-made knife. That groundbreaking effort created the C15 Bob Terzuola CLIPIT® and became a turning point in the history of the cutlery industry.
Since that time, Spyderco has continued to set the standard in partnering with custom knifemakers, martial artists, industrial designers, and other accomplished subject matter experts in the design of our products. Although our in-house talent—led by company founder Sal Glesser and his son Eric—continues to reign among the knife industry’s best and most prolific designers, our open-minded approach to collaborating with other experts has been instrumental to our success and the diversity of our product line.
One way we have always proudly acknowledged the contributions of our collaborative designers has been to engrave their “designer’s mark” on the blades of the knives they helped create. For custom knifemakers, this typically took the form of their “maker’s mark”—the symbol they use to mark their handmade blades. For designers who do not make knives, we encouraged them to create an equally distinctive marking that would identify their work. These have ranged from signatures to stylized initials to cultural symbols, but each has been a unique reflection of that designer’s spirit.
For many years, our original designer—Sal Glesser—was humbly underrepresented when it came to recognizing the knives he created. To give credit where credit is due, and more importantly, to give Spyderco fans a sense of historical perspective of Sal’s many contributions to the industry, we began including his mark on all the knives he designed or co-designed. Both Sal’s and Eric’s marks have also been formally registered as U.S. trademarks, further acknowledging their influence on the form and function of modern knives.
The photo montage below shows the many designer’s marks we’ve used throughout the years and reflects the broad range of influences we’ve incorporated into the Spyderco product line. Variety is the spice of “knife.”