Last updated on March 15th, 2018
Sometimes you need to update. Your website, social media pages, even your logo can become dated if you take too long between revisions. Still rebranding is a huge undertaking for a company, much less for the designer responsible for the updated graphic elements. As stated by You the Designer, changing a logo impacts the overall brand identity of the company, and isn’t something to be done lightly. Some logos withstand the test of time; if you feel that yours hasn’t, or a client has one in need of revision, these tips will help you in this heaviest of corporate undertakings.
Below Are the Top 5 Logo Redesign Lessons for a Designer –
Second Guess Before You Begin
Before you even start looking for a designer or working on mockups, make sure that you understand why you’re changing the logo and how logo redesign could impact your business. Will this alienate your current loyal customers? Will this change your demographic? Why are you changing the logo to begin with? If you can’t answer these questions, you may not be ready for a logo redesign.
All too often, small to mid-size businesses embark on rebranding endeavors any time the design market shifts. Others struggle to keep up with competitors, changing things as soon as they realize the “other guys” are looking to refresh themselves; this is even worse than trying to keep up with the design market, as it puts you or your client’s business on a time limit to get the logo redesign out before the competitor finishes rolling out their own. Never redesign your logo if you don’t have a good reason.
Maintain Brand Awareness
If you or your client have used the same logo for years, the recognition your logo provides your company is an invaluable marketing tool. According to Logo Design Love, this is why many logo redesigns aim for subtlety, changing things without losing the overall familiarity customers have with your brand image.
Remember that a logo redesign is often just a refresh, not a complete rebranding effort. Even if you’re aiming to completely change your brand image, you can maintain familiarity by working within the same color palette, recreating the imagery already used in the logo to fit the sleek and almost minimalist logo redesign seen in today’s top companies. On this same vein, whether you are a logo designer or you’re looking to employ one, before you set out on making a new logo you both need to be 100 percent clear on the direction and purpose for the redesign. Establishing that the new logo needs to be more modern and appeal to a broader audience gives everyone involved a great direction to research and get to work on prototypes and mockups for the new design.
Focus on Typography
This doesn’t apply to every logo, but for those that are primarily based around text, you should focus on the typography used beyond just a change in color or size. Look into using something custom—instead of modifying a typeface you have in your font library, try starting from scratch and hand-lettering the company name into the logo. Smooth it out into a crisp vector graphic, make sure that you maintain your corporate color scheme and you’re set to go.
Understand the Graphics
Design Shack explains this perfectly: every good logo has a story. When you get to the graphical aspects of the design, that story needs to be understood by everyone on the rebranding project. Whether it’s symbolism in color choice or an image hidden in the text—as seen in the FedEx logo, with its hidden arrow moving shipments forward—you need to put more thought into a logo redesign than you did the first time the logo was created. You don’t want to lose the story of the original logo, just smooth off the rough edges and make it more easily digested by the current market.
This also applies to the balance between graphics and text. If the two can be incorporated together, great! If not, it isn’t the end of the world. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words, and with a professional designer in charge of the project you know your logo is in good hands.
Moving Forward
Working with multiple professional designers through Designhill can help you to achieve the logo redesign you need at a price you can afford, but that’s not the end of it. Don’t forget about the importance of test audiences and studies—and no, a relative doesn’t count. Before you move forward with your logo redesign and corporate rebranding effort, make sure you introduce the new design to your customers, get some feedback, and actually take it into account. If the new design doesn’t appeal to your current loyal customers, it’s probably not going to appeal to the prospective customers this redesign is meant to impress.
At the end of the day the client has veto power, but professional graphic designers are professional for a reason; everyone should be ready for recommendations and constructive criticism. Take it all in and use it to produce the perfect logo.