When your Brand needs a Refresh?

If you want to do a redesign there are some aspects you need to consider. What is the reason for your reshuffle? Is it really necessary? What do you want to change? How can this change impact customers and your company?

How can you know that you need a redesign?

• Signs that your logo needs a redesign

Before embarking on a redesign, create a list to see if you really need it, or if you just need to update the look of your logo. To guide you, here is some information that can help you know if your logo needs a redesign:

• Change of the name of the company

Well, the redesign is obvious. If you have decided to change the name of your company, then you must change your logo completely, because that means a new brand and a new company too. Like this, the audience will be able to distinguish the old from the new.

• Lack of clarity or bad logo message

If you continue to hear questions like, "what is your logo?" and that you repeatedly explain the meaning of your logo, it is obvious that the message of your logo is not clear. It could even be complicated, cluttered with too much detail or not at all connected to your business. If so, you need a redesign of the logo. The logo must have a strong link with the company because it is your brand image.

• Changes in society

Most of the time, you can design a logo based on your dreams or based on what the company will be. But as soon as the business grows, it turns out that the logo is not appropriate to the principles and services you offer. The merger with another company is another reason for redesigning your logo that would have the role of announcing a big change. If your business has evolved significantly and you feel your logo no longer fits, a redesign of the logo is a wise choice for it to reach consumers effectively.

• Your logo does not look professional.

The first thing you want to have is a professional logo. You want to show consumers and users that they can trust you. How can you earn their trust if your logo does not look professional? Drop logos that use clip art or font styles that are not at all presentable or related to your business. So take a creative designer right away or lose your customers after a glance at your logo.

• Outdated design.

Well, this is only applicable if you still use a 1980s font style where the computer was not yet used to create logos. You absolutely need a new design for your logo. But that does not mean you have to follow the trend all the time. Keep your logo as long as it is effective and in keeping with the spirit of your business. Do not redo your logo just to stay in fashion. Remember that current trends could be tomorrow's snapshots. If your logo is designed to be fashionable, then it will be quickly outdated.

• A logo that is not that “versatile”

A good logo works well in black and white and does not have too many colors so it is not too expensive to print on t-shirts, mugs and other products. If your logo is expensive to print and seems cluttered with details, it's time to redesign it.

• Check your competitors

Spying is not bad at all, as long as you do not copy their designs. The question is how your competitors identify themselves and how the target audience can react to that identity. If you think theirs is lame, do something better. If the logo is effective, find out what made it effective and try to do something similar with a better impact.

• Consider online use

Today, the web has a huge impact on businesses, including the design of your logo because most people pull their information from the web. So, when designing your logo, make sure that it will come out online, that it will load easily when used as a banner logo, be easy to recognize, that it will have sharpness qualities and finesse and that it will be visually attractive. The Web and especially social media will have a big impact on your business and therefore it is important to consider them even in the design of your logo.

• Brand consistency

As your logo marks the identity and personality of your business, you must make sure that everything associated with it works well. The logo, the typography, the website, the color scheme, the images, and the message must be coherent to build a strong identity.

• Keep your identity

The logo is your brand. Your brand strengthens the trust and appreciation of your customers who love your products and services. As your brand gets too many people, it's important to retain your identity despite redesigning your logo. Thus, it will be recognizable and this will avoid confusion for users. You can keep your identity using the same color scheme, using the same font style or using the few elements of your previous logo. But then, you must decide if you are doing a refresh or a complete redesign.

It is important to evaluate everything correctly. If you think a new logo is needed, a good way to prepare your customers is to prevent them from changing their logo before doing so. In this way, they are aware of the identity change you are going to make.

In addition to creating awareness, you can also create a buzz so that the redesign will be discussed on the net just like Yahoo! did it with their 30-day change in which they showed a different logo every day until the 30th when the final Yahoo! has been revealed.

Not all logo redesigns are successful. Some have a negative effect on the audience, especially if the new design is worse than the old one or if it is unrecognizable. No matter what the crowd says, now that your logo is there, they'll get used to it and be true to your brand. But once again, think about what your logo will deliver to your customers.