Your logo is at the heart of your brand and it’s how customers identify your business.
The style and colors you choose will influence everything from the labeling of your products to your website design. It creates consistency across your brand and ensures it is always recognizable.
Of course, while a logo helps identify your brand, over time it can start to feel outdated compared to design styles in your industry or market. But instead of starting everything from scratch – which will have a huge effect across your business – you can give your logo a refresh and update without affecting the brand recognition you have created. Here are several reasons why you may want a logo restyle and how you can do it effectively.
Why make a logo restyle?
If you’re opting for a restyled logo, you should have a good reason, such as:
A change of business
Sometimes a business decides to go in a new direction in terms of products and services. Maybe you’re an electric motor manufacturer and decide to add a new technology to your product portfolio, or your factory has branched out to work with new industries. In this case, it may be a good idea to opt for a logo restyle as it alerts your audience that something has changed.
Adapting to new media formats
Technology is constantly evolving, and there are new devices out now that may not have been when you first designed your logo. It may not be compatible with various pieces of technology such as mobile devices and tablets and may not come out as clearly as if it were on a billboard.
What you definitely want to avoid is that customers miss out on crucial information, or worse, that they receive the wrong message or a negative brand experience.
Imagine, for example, a company that bases its business on innovative technologies, but when visiting its corporate website on your mobile, it shows us a small logo with an illegible cursive font. In this case, a restyle can be the solution to remain consistent and not create a gap between reality and perception, product and brand image.
A change in mission and corporate values
Over time, your business naturally grows and evolves. It may be that you’ve become more sustainable, or you’ve decided to address different pain points that your target audience struggles with. In this case, you want your logo to reflect your company’s new personality, and a new logo could help do this.
Opening up to new market segments
A loyal customer base can quickly identify your logo, but if you’ve decided to cater to a new audience, your logo may not resonate with them as much. This is especially true if you’re expanding to speak to younger consumers, Millennials and Generation Z have different tastes and styles and they may feel more excited to learn about your brand with a new and fresh logo.
New competitors to keep up with
Maybe you’ve been at the top of your industry for years, but now a new competitor has decided to challenge your authority. Opting to restyle your logo is a great way to fight for your place in the market and show that you mean business. It shows your audience that you’re just as up-to-date and modern as your new competitor and helps maintain their loyalty.
So, you’re ready for a redesign, here’s what to take into account
There are a few important challenges to consider when planning your logo restyle. For example, you may want to give your logo a modern refresh, but often there can be resistance from traditionalists within the company – change is always a challenge.
DON’T PANIC. In these situations, it’s important to put aside emotion and consider what makes the most sense for the business, while maintaining a pragmatic approach. Tackle the subject by bringing practical cases, such as those detailed in the previous paragraphs.
A logo update can’t be based on a trivial desire for change, but must be backed by real needs. A market analysis might be helpful to understand how your image stands up against competitors, how tastes have evolved over time, and what features work best. However, make sure top management is on board. A top-down endorsement is an absolute must.
Similarly, redesigning the logo yourself may not always be the best idea, even with in-house designers. For some things, an outside, objective eye makes all the difference. In this case, what you are looking for are very specific skills.
Branding is one of the most specialized branches of graphic design, and a well-made logo can’t be improvised. If you want my advice, hire a professional – marketing and communication agencies will take an analytical followed by a creative approach, they will listen to your wishes and analyze the market, coming back to you with a graphic proposal in line with your business objectives.
Finally, your logo may have become iconic within your market so you need to ensure you’re not eliminating that brand recognition. For example, on various occasions, Nike has updated its logo very slightly from the original design created by a student in 1971, but it has never lost that iconic Swoosh tick, as that is what people expect from the brand.
How to make a restyle logo
To manage an effective logo restyle, there are some important steps to take. You need to ensure that your brand is still recognisable after the redesign. If it isn’t, you’ve probably changed its key elements. Be careful, because things like this can have catastrophic effects on your business.
The American clothes store Gap made just that mistake when it carried out a drastic restyle after 24 years of the same logo. The audience’s reaction was so swift and damning regarding the unrecognizable logo that the company quickly switched back.
On the other hand, brands such as Morton Salt and Pepsi make subtle changes that keep their brand recognizable while evolving to keep up with modern design trends.
Another best practice for a safe refresh is to change the design while keeping the same color scheme. For example, Google regularly updates its logo, but it is always recognizable because it never strays from the blue, red, yellow, and green colors.
It’s the best way to remain instantly recognizable to current clients while offering the opportunity to draw in new generations, approaching their tastes with an up-to-date look and feel.
Also, you will want to decide if your logo restyle will be a long transition or whether it will happen overnight. Both choices have their pros and cons. Changing your entire image overnight requires good coordination between the company departments involved and across different marketing channels.
The pros of this choice are that it definitely gives you a competitive advantage in terms of time, allowing you to reap the benefits right away.
As you will find out, the cons are that the company logo is present on a lot of communication material: from documents to catalogs, from advertisements to signs, and so on. Updating everything right away isn’t trivial or cheap. Changing graphics when the opportunity arises, on the other hand, allows you to offset the costs over time.
While it is said that a well-done logo redesign is recognizable from the very first day, consider that a softer transition will also allow your clients to get used to the change and link the old with the new.
Size matters, too. If you’re an SMB with limited resources in the communications area, a slow but smooth transition could save you from unnecessary overload that would affect day-to-day activities.
Lastly, try to plan this activity to coincide with some business milestones, such as an anniversary, the launch of a new website, or new catalogs. These events usually require you to update a lot of communication material. By coordinating these activities match, you can save valuable time.
Get redesigning today
Opting for a restyled logo has many benefits, such as reflecting your current brand identity better and targeting the right audience. But, for it to be effective, you need to take a lot of things into consideration. You want to ensure that you only achieve positive results from the change, so following the above advice is the best way to get the most value out of your logo redesign.
