Thinking of Redesigning a Logo? Here’s How to Do It

Thinking of Redesigning a Logo? Here’s How to Do It

A logo redesign can be a daunting yet exhilarating project. Your logo is the face of your brand and makes that vital first impression on customers. A practical, memorable logo conveys what your company stands for and builds brand recognition. However, even the best logos can get tired or outdated over time. Knowing when and how to approach redesigning a logo is crucial.

This comprehensive guide will walk through the entire logo redesign process step-by-step. You'll learn:

• How to determine if your logo needs redesigning
• Preparing for and launching a logo redesign
• Choosing the right logo redesign team
• Creative approaches to redesigned logos
• Evaluating logo redesign concepts
• Transitioning to your new brand identity
• Handling backlash and criticism

So whether you're considering freshening up your logo or doing a rebrand, read on for essential tips to make your logo redesign successful.

When to Consider Redesigning a Logo

How do you know when it's time to redesign your logo? Here are the most common signals:

Your Brand Has Evolved

Has your company's vision, mission, target audience, voice, or offerings changed significantly since you created your current logo? Do you feel your logo no longer reflects who you are as a brand? Priorities naturally shift over time. A redesign can realign your logo and brand identity if there's a disconnect between them.

It Looks Dated

Trends come and go. Colour palettes, fonts, shapes, and stylistic elements in logos can eventually appear dated, clichéd or out-of-touch. A logo relying on once-popular visual cliches can undermine the perception of your brand as modern, fresh and forward-thinking.

It's Difficult to Read or Remember

An effective logo makes an instant visual impact and is quickly recognisable. If your logo lacks visual impact or is challenging to decipher, rework it to maximise clarity and memorability.

It's Not Versatile

Your logo appears in various sizes, contexts and mediums (online, print, merchandise, etc). A flexible redesign can address these issues if your logo only works in limited applications or loses impact when resized.

You Want Brand Cohesion

Do you have subsidiaries or products with disjointed or mismatched visual identities? A logo redesign presents a chance to align them to strengthen your brand.

If one or more of these factors apply, the time could be suitable for a logo change.

Preparing to Redesign Your Logo

Once you commit to a logo redesign, lay the necessary groundwork for an orderly transition:

Set Objectives

Be clear on what needs explicitly improving and what you want the redesign to accomplish. Write down concrete logo objectives and needs. Common goals include:

• Refresh an outdated visual identity
• Increase brand differentiation
• Optimise recognition and recall
• Enhance versatility across mediums
• Unify sub-brands under one cohesive identity

Well-defined objectives keep the project focused and on track.

Budget Accordingly

Depending on needs and scope, costs for a redesigned logo can range dramatically—budget at a minimum of $5,000 to $15,000 for a professional agency-led logo redesign process. Costs may fall on the lower end for a limited refresh of an existing logo. Expect higher investment to overhaul your entire visual identity across branding touchpoints.

Review Brand Strategy Foundation

Before reimagining your logo, revisit your brand strategy pillars – mission, vision, voice, personality, positioning, strengths, weaknesses, and goals. Ensure anyone involved in the redesign understands your brand DNA inside out.

Assemble a Redesign Team

See the next section for details on building an effective logo redesign team. Key roles include creative director, designers, brand strategists, marketing stakeholders and potentially outside agencies or consultants you'll collaborate with on the project.

Create a Realistic Timeline

Allot ample lead time for the redesign stages – creative development, iterations, presentations, refinements and implementation. The process can take 6-12 months, depending on scale, institutions and complexity. Stay nimble, but keep the momentum going.

With the basics covered, it's gone time!

Choosing the Right Logo Redesign Team

Your logo redesign team steers the ship from start to completion. Carefully choose qualified experts suited to lead this vital brand assignment.

In-House or Outsource?

Weigh using internal teams versus external agencies:

In-House Pros

• Understand company history and brand DNA
• Streamlined communication, quick iterations
• Cost-savings – no agency fees

Agency Pros

• Fresh objective perspective
• Specialised expertise and best practices
• Bandwidth to focus intently on redesign

Take stock of bandwidth, capabilities and biases within your company. Be realistic about the ability to dedicate top in-house talent fully towards an intensive redesign initiative spanning months.

If adequate skill, experience and horsepower are lacking internally, strongly consider hiring an external branding agency or consultant to quarterback the logo redesign.

Key Redesign Team Roles

For in-house redesigns, pull cross-functional talent into the team:

• Creative Director – leads visual design direction and creative process
• Art Director – translates objectives into logo concepts and iterations
• Brand Strategist – oversees brand identity alignment
• Designers – create concepts and final logo mark
• Copywriters – develop taglines or positioning language
• Researchers – gather data on customer perceptions, preferences and trends
• Marketers – represents branding needs from a sales perspective
• Web Designers – advises on digital optimisation
• Product Managers – provides inputs on integrating logos across offerings
• Legal – handles trademark registrations and infringement issues

This diversity of experts puts your logo redesign on the right strategic track while allowing creative innovation to flourish.

Getting Creative: Approaches to Redesigned Logos

Once your redesign team is assembled, the real work begins – reimagining your visual identity with a redesigned logo. Below are the standard creative directions teams pursue:

Iterative Improvements

Make selective refinements while retaining logo recognition. Possible tweaks:

• Simplify overly complicated elements
• Improve legibility
• Modernise a dated visual style
• Expand versatile application

This conservative approach introduces subtle changes while upholding existing brand equity. Limit risk but forgo dramatic transformation.

Symbolic Change

The logo's central emblem or image evolves to signal change while retaining a link to the original design. Examples:

• Instagram's gradient app icon morphing through colour iterations
• Apple's apple silhouette progressively becomes more streamlined

The core image is a brand anchor while showing thoughtful evolution over generations.

Typographic Change

Keep the established company name but set it in a new updated font for a refreshed perspective. Or stylise it graphically for a unique signature impact.

Complete Redesign

Introduce an entirely new logo design and visual identity from the ground up. Dramatically break from past brand marks for revolutionary rather than evolutionary metamorphosis.

More expansive than purely a logo overhaul, this option demands full buy-in as it replaces familiar touchpoints. Without visual brand cues, the transition may initially confuse customers.

But implemented strategically, a root-and-branch reboot unshackles you from outdated imagery and sets the stage for complete transformation.

Hybrid Fusion

Blend old and new by integrating remnants of the original logo into the redesign. Example: eBay retains distinct col, colourful lettering within a cleaned-up contemporary wordmark.

This fusion appeases those wed to the past while bridging forward. Handle carefully to avoid clashing aesthetics or muddy outcomes trying to please all.

Crowdsourcing

Invite your community to submit logo redesign ideas and put possibilities to a public vote. Leverage collective creativity and let customers choose the logo direction.

The winning design may not be the most professionally developed, but it builds goodwill and brand ownership through inclusive participation.

Evaluating Logo Design Proposals

As preliminary logo concepts come from your redesign team, how do you assess strengths and weaknesses? Use the following criteria:

Visual Impact

Does it make an instant solid impression consistent with the desired personality and tone?

Strong visual impact logos tend to have:

• Clean, recognisable, iconic imagery
• Harmoniously balanced use of colour
• Custom handcrafted typography
• Thoughtful use of negative space
• Simple yet strategically distinctive

Differentiation

Does it stand apart in your industry and competitive field? Is it sufficiently unique?

To gauge differentiation, ask:

• Does it avoid existing category cliches?
• Does the style and imagery feel fresh?
• Does it tap inspiration outside direct competitors?
• Does it introduce unusual stylistic choices that make your brand recognisable?

Alignment with Brand Strategy

Ensure your new logo aligns with the core brand identity and desired positioning:

• Mission: Reflects business vision and purpose.
• Personality: Matches wanted tone and temperament.
• Offerings: Suits a diversity of products/services.
• Positioning: Differentiates you in the marketplace?
• Audience: Resonates with target customers?

Misalignment risks sending confused messages regarding your brand promise.

Visual Cohesion Across Touchpoints

Evaluate logo versatility across key branding real estate – website, signage, business cards, packaging, uniforms and swag.

• Works seamlessly across online, print, and environmental branding spots.
• Retains visual impact and recognition at both small and large scales?
• Harmonises with sub-brand logos and wordmarks through colour/style?

Lack of cohesion dilutes brand consistency.

Legal Clearance

Vet logo proposals thoroughly regarding:

• Trademark conflicts: too similar to existing logos? Perform trademark searches.
• URL availability: Is the branded domain available?
• Social media handles: Can branded social media usernames be secured?

Sort out any conflicts before progressing too far.

Customer Response

While you have a sound strategic rationale for logo change, will customers embrace it?

• Does informal market testing indicate positive customer reactions?
• Are there any red flags that could foreshadow rejection?
• If a radical change, is a proper transition plan in place to shepherd customers?

Temper internal enthusiasm with market reality checks.

These objective criteria sharpen decision-making as you zero in on the final logo selection.

Finalising and Transitioning to New Logo

With evaluations completed, the finishing stretch awaits – naming your logo, prepping the launch and unveiling internally/externally.

Naming Your Logo

Seek an engaging name-matching logo spirit beyond the generic “Company XYZ Redesigned Logo”.

Memorable titles enhance storytelling and rally internal excitement pre-launch. Consider names playing to:

• Inspiration: Story behind logo’s origins
• Attribute: Personality trait/benefit conveyed
• Metaphor: Analogy aligning to brand transformations

Buzzworthy titles like “The Swoosh” or “The Golden Arches” become branding lore, not just placeholders.

Implementation Roadmap

Meticulously map specific rollout timing and sequence across branding touchpoints:

• Website redesign with new logo integration
• Collateral materials (business cards, letterheads, brochures)
• Interior/exterior signage updates
• Product packaging redesigns
• New employee uniforms
• SWAG (banners, giveaways, appreciation gifts featuring new logo)

Factors include sizable lead times and costs to update assets. Prioritise customer-facing touchpoints first.

Internal Launch

Spotlight imminent changes and pending external announcements to build anticipation internally:

• All hands meetings revealing new logo to employees first
• Posters, desktop wallpapers and screensavers displaying the logo
• Staff swag drops (t-shirts, caps, mugs) to generate pride

Rally staff will serve as brand ambassadors before the public unveiling. Foster excitement and readiness to address queries.

External Announcement

Orchestrate multi-channel integrated marketing launch campaign driving awareness and visibility:

• Press release: Frame inspiration and strategy behind logo change
• Website: Showcase new mark prominently
• Social media: Poll followers to gauge reactions
• Advertising: Sponsor ads spotlighting new visual identity
• Email marketing: Share launch announcement with customer lists

Seed buzz and urgency around your evolved look and feel!

Ongoing Brand Transition

Be patient, as acceptance won’t occur overnight, mainly if the change is dramatic. Allot 1-2 years for full adoption throughout customer touchpoints as refreshed materials roll out.

Smoothly phase out old logo usage and materials. Handle it graciously rather than demand immediate full adoption. Listen to feedback and address concerns.

With consistent visibility and reinforcement, your transformed logo will transform brand perceptions.

Handling Criticism and Backlash

Not everyone may initially welcome your shiny new logo. Some customers invariably prefer what they know and react negatively towards change. Brace for potential criticism or rejection:

Criticism Warning Signs

• Sharp social backlash: excessive negative comments on logo social posts
• Petitions protest change: demanded a return to the old logo
• Loathing old logo: vitriol towards established visual identity
• Change fatigue: market confused by too much change too fast

While some criticism is typical, excessive sustained negativity warrants a proactive response.

Handling Logo Criticism

• Empathise and acknowledge attachments to the previous logo
• Educate on the rationale and intent behind the new logo
• Engage sceptics through polls and contests to provide input
• Plan giveaways for reluctant customers to adopt new merch
• Incentivize staff as brand champions and mitigation ambassadors

With transparency and meaningful dialogue, most customers will eventually embrace a modernised logo.

Through ups and downs, maintain conviction in the strategic underpinnings of a logo change. Trust the process.

Redesigned Logos: Key Takeaways

Knowing when to redesign and execute your dated logo smoothly is a defining branding move with immense rewards if handled strategically. Keep these best practices in mind:

• Realign visual identity once brand or logo disengagement warrants change
• Assemble a qualified collaborative redesign team suited to the needs
• Explore creative directions before finalising the logo mark
• Adhere to strategic brand pillars guiding design
• Enable visual consistency across customer touchpoints
• Validate legal availability to avoid future conflicts
• Announce internally first, then externally with the integrated launch campaign
• Allow substantial lead time and budget for comprehensive implementation
• Absorb criticism with patience and grace during a transition period

While logo redesigns demand significant upfront effort and expense, refreshed functional visual identities pay dividends through revitalised brands.

Bravo! You did it – and are now equipped to nail that logo redesign and own refreshed brand distinction!

Logo Redesign FAQs

Ready to reimagine your logo? Here are answers to common questions on successfully navigating the logo redesign process: