Simpson Brand Guidelines: The Gas Pressure Washer, Under FNA

Simpson is a US brand with a company-told 1961 Jack Simpson origin, owned since 2006 by FNA Group and assembled in Arkansas — distinct from Simpson Strong-Tie and Simpson Racing.

Simpson follows AR Blue Clean as the round’s gas node — a US brand of rugged petrol pressure washers with a decades-old origin story, owned by a specialist group and assembled in Arkansas, and easily confused with two unrelated Simpsons. Its answer to a round about who owns the washers is the American-gas one: a heritage name run inside a pressure-washer group.

Its identity is the gas pressure washer, under FNA. The 1961 origin, the FNA ownership and the Arkansas assembly are the story here. Gas, American, FNA-owned. The gas pressure washer, under FNA.

(Honest notes, so the ownership, the heritage, the making and a disambiguation are framed accurately. Simpson sells gas pressure washers as its heroes — the PowerShot, MegaShot and Clean Machine lines; we report its language as the brand’s own. On ownership: Simpson pressure washers are owned by FNA Group, a US company founded by Gus Alexander in 1988 that acquired the Simpson and Delco brands in 2006, with FNA’s portfolio including Delco, Powerwasher and its own AAA Pumps. On the disambiguation, important: this Simpson is unrelated to Simpson Strong-Tie, the construction-connector company, and Simpson Racing, the motorsport-safety company. On heritage, company-told: the brand says Jack Simpson built the first Simpson pressure washer in 1961, a real long heritage that we attribute, with the brand under FNA since 2006. On the making: FNA opened a plant in Decatur, Arkansas in 2009 and has added more US factories, so there is meaningful US assembly, while engines such as Honda and some components are globally sourced, so we say assembled in the US with globally sourced engines rather than claim it is entirely US-made. On a documented recall: in December 2023 FNA recalled about 2,930 electric-start Simpson washers over a lithium-battery burn hazard, sold at Lowe’s, which we date and attribute. Its designs and the Simpson name are IP we describe but do not reproduce; there is no official brand hex; these tones are an unofficial interpretation.)

Simpson lives in a Simpson red. Click a swatch to copy the hex.

Simpson’s identity is gas-rugged, FNA-owned and US-assembled — a Simpson red, an ink, a pale red, a deep crimson, and a paper. The palette leans Simpson red and deep crimson: a strong, jobsite register that nods to rugged petrol machines rather than a loud logo colour. It signals the gas pressure washer, under FNA — gas-rugged, FNA-owned and US-assembled. The honest caveat: with no official brand hex, these values are a jobsite, unofficial interpretation, not first-party colours.

The lesson is a Simpson red signals a rugged, jobsite identity. Simpson’s world is the driveway and the contractor. For designers, it is a reminder that a strong red and a deep crimson can carry a rugged, gas brand — a jobsite tone held as an accent, not a product shot. Because a strong hue can fail as small text, keep type dark and let the colour live in the accents, palette and band. The takeaways: name the FNA ownership since 2006 and disambiguate from Strong-Tie and Racing; attribute the 1961 Jack Simpson origin; say assembled in Arkansas with global engines; and date the 2023 electric-start recall.

The register is a gas sans — gas-rugged, FNA-owned, US-assembled.

Simpson’s identity carries a gas-rugged, FNA-owned spirit — a heritage name for the jobsite. A gas sans captures the mood: clean, strong and rugged, the register of a petrol machine. Set in a Simpson-red palette, the gas sans feels tough and capable — exactly the personality Simpson carries. It behaves like a made, jobsite thing rather than a loud logo, mirroring a water-gradient and a nozzle-ring. (Simpson’s real products and the name are things we describe but do not reproduce, and the exact typeface is not ours to use.) Because it is not ours to use, the honest description is “a gas-sans brand,” shown here in a stand-in. The type behaves like the brand: gas-rugged, FNA-owned and US-assembled.

Simpson stands for the gas pressure washer, under FNA.

Simpson sits fourth in the round as its gas node. A Simpson-red palette, a gas sans and a 1961 origin make one thing — the gas pressure washer, under FNA — the whole identity: gas-rugged, FNA-owned and US-assembled. The 1961 origin is the pitch, the FNA ownership is the frame, and the Arkansas assembly is the honest detail. The point is a heritage name run inside a pressure-washer group, in a round about who owns the washers.

Put to work, the identity is the brand told straight, the ownership named and the disambiguation made. A brand in this spirit would name the FNA ownership since 2006 and disambiguate from Strong-Tie and Racing, attribute the 1961 Jack Simpson origin, say assembled in Arkansas with global engines, and date the 2023 electric-start recall. A reader in this spirit would keep the facts right: Simpson sells the PowerShot and MegaShot gas washers; it is owned by FNA Group, which acquired it in 2006; its 1961 Jack Simpson origin is company-told; it is assembled in Arkansas with globally sourced engines; and it is unrelated to Simpson Strong-Tie and Simpson Racing. Simpson sits after AR Blue Clean and before Sun Joe. The honest editorial moves are to name the owner, to disambiguate, to attribute the origin, and to date the recall.

For designers and brand-builders, Simpson carries the pressure-washer node: disambiguate a shared surname — and attribute a company-told origin. The lessons: a brand can share a surname with unrelated companies, here Simpson pressure washers kept distinct from Simpson Strong-Tie and Simpson Racing; an ownership is named, FNA Group, founded by Gus Alexander in 1988, which acquired the Simpson and Delco brands in 2006; an origin is attributed as company-told, the brand saying Jack Simpson built the first Simpson pressure washer in 1961; a making is stated with nuance, assembled in Decatur, Arkansas with globally sourced engines such as Honda rather than entirely US-made; and a recall is dated, the December 2023 recall of about 2,930 electric-start washers over a lithium-battery burn hazard, sold at Lowe’s. It is also a reminder to stay precise: Simpson is the FNA-owned, US-assembled gas brand of the pressure-washer aisle — with the palette here an unofficial interpretation. The hook is that lineage: Simpson is the gas pressure washer, under FNA, a US brand with a company-told 1961 Jack Simpson origin, owned since 2006 by FNA Group and assembled in Arkansas, distinct from Simpson Strong-Tie and Simpson Racing. Read that way, Simpson is less a single washer than the gas pressure washer, under FNA: gas-rugged, FNA-owned, US-assembled. The lesson for a brand is that disambiguating a shared surname and attributing a company-told origin reinforce the honesty, and naming the owner keeps it earned. Simpson made the-gas-pressure-washer the identity — proof that an honestly-disambiguated heritage name can anchor a node.

Keep Simpson’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.