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Branding | Project 1
Having the perfect logo can make a significant impact on a business. But getting it right the first time is tricky, especially for new companies and designers.
And, as time goes on, there are changes in design trends, technology, and consumer behavior, which put a logo’s ability to convey trust and credibility at risk.
This is true for businesses that were created a while ago — especially if you made a logo based on design trends that were popular at the time.
The best way to bridge that gap? Redesign your logo and breathe fresh life into it!
When to Consider a Redesign
Knowing when to redesign a logo isn’t an exact science. It may seem scary, counterintuitive even, to take something that’s so well-known like a logo and tweak it. But if you do it right, the results can be amazing!
That said, a logo redesign isn’t something to take lightly. If a business has built up a loyal customer base or following that’s already used to a logo, you’ll want to tread cautiously; changing the logo may lose brand recognition they’ve grown among their audience over time and negatively impact sales going forward.
So, if you’re on the fence about redesigning a logo, here are 6 questions you can work through to understand if you should stay with what they currently have, or if it’s time to take the plunge and start from scratch.
1. Has the audience changed?
If you find yourself targeting a new audience, such as younger consumers, then it may be time to re-think a current logo design — especially if they’re having trouble connecting with them.
A new company logo can help give a brand a fresh, modern look, that’ll help the audience identify with it.
2. Are they facing new competition?
It’s common for top businesses across all industries to face stiff competition from newcomers who claim they’re more agile, modern, and have better technology. Releasing a redesigned logo shows their patrons that you’re not just sitting back and watching it happen.
3. Has the business expanded, or does it have a new focus?
It’s common for businesses to expand or shift their focus, such as adding a new lineup of products or even merging with another company. If the business has changed in some significant way, consider changing the logo too to reflect those changes.
4. Does the logo look outdated?
This is a tough question to ask, but it’s an essential one. Chances are that fashion and design trends have changed significantly since the logo was first designed, and they run the risk of people thinking their business is a dinosaur (old, and died a long time ago).
5. Is the logo still identifiable?
Marketing channels have drastically changed over the years. Odds are, they’re not developing TV commercials or paying for billboard ads, but instead, using internet marketing mediums such as Facebook, Instagram, and PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns. This means that logos today have to be designed with small screens in mind. If your logo is hard to view on a smaller screen, you’re going to need to redesign it.
6. Does the logo have meaning?
Their logo represents their company and should convey an important message. If it’s ‘just a nice look,’ then you should create a new logo that emphasize their business’s core values and strengths.
How to Redesign Your Logo
There’s more to redesigning a logo than just throwing it in the trash and starting from scratch. In fact, a logo may just need a refresh instead of a full redesign.
Refreshing a logo is not necessarily easier, but it’s less dramatic, as the changes can be minimal. When refreshing a logo, you want to keep your current design elements in place, update the color palette (if needed) and simplify the look of the logo to modernize it.
Mastercard refreshed their logo in 2016, and it’s an excellent example of how updating the design elements on a logo can have a significant impact.
They kept their color palette, toned down how the circles interact with each other by gently overlapping them instead of using hard, cut lines to connect them, and removed their name from the center of the design.
But, sometimes even a refresh just isn’t enough. In more severe cases, a full redesign is needed. Before you start drastically taking a knife to a logo, ask yourself these 3 crucial questions:
Why does my logo need a redesign?
You need to be clear why the logo needs a redesign. If your answer is “because it does,” that’s not good enough. Unless you’ve identified the specific problem with the logo, you won’t be able to remedy it.
(Re-read the section “When to consider a redesign” if you don’t have an answer.)
Which elements should I keep?
A good logo is made up of many elements combined together — colors, typeface, shapes/icons. Before overhauling a logo or deconstructing it, inspect each of the logo’s elements and identify:
1. What they are (such as the specific color scheme, font-style, shapes and icons).
2. What the meaning behind them is. This will help you remove any elements which you don’t need to keep; if there’s no meaning, or the meaning is working against it, it’s time to say sayonara.
Which elements of my logo do customers associate me with?
One of the biggest challenges you’ll face when redesigning a logo is ensuring that you keep hold of the visual element(s) that their customers use to identify them.
Mastercard knew that their most prominent identifying element was the color and layout of their two circles, which is why those elements remained unchanged.
What they did change was how the two elements connect with each other. But anyone familiar with MasterCard can still instantly recognize them.
Don’t risk confusing your customers by changing your most iconic element, unless you absolutely have to.
Logo Refresh Vs. Logo Redesign
Updating a logo doesn’t necessarily mean ripping it apart and starting over from scratch. You may want to consider a logo refresh, which is like a logo “upgrade” to help reflect current trends and make it appeal more to the target audience.
A logo refresh typically includes things like adjusting a color palette, tweaking fonts, changing or creating a tagline, and/or reorganizing the logo’s shape. It can be a good way to signal to the audience that the brand is up-to-date and listening to their current needs and wants.
The Fisher-Price logo change is a good example of a logo refresh; they preserved their well-known red-and-white color palette and the logo’s overall shape and mood, while switching out their font for one that better emphasizes a playful sense of fun (and getting rid of one of the circle-like shapes on the bottom).
These small tweaks coincided nicely with the brand’s new tagline — “Let’s be kids” — and helped the brand to refine their current message of play and delight for children.
Logo Redesign Process
If you’ve gone through all of the above, then you’re ready to proceed with redesigning a logo. This part is very similar to designing a logo from scratch, except you have more information and research to work with.
The most important factors to consider when redesigning a logo are the elements that go into the design.
Before any new house or building can be constructed, you have to dig deep into the ground to lay the foundations. Otherwise, it’ll fall over in a strong wind. A logo is the same; if the foundations are poorly done, it won’t stand up well.
Now that you have an idea of what goes into redesigning a logo, let’s take a look at some of the best and worst logo changes in the last few years.
Successful Logo Redesigns
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New Logo, Identity, and Packaging for Pepsi done In-house
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