Logo Redesign: Definition, Examples, and How to Succeed
Last update: 28 November 2022 at 02:27 pm
5.00/5Your logo is the element that most represents your company. It is your main tool, allowing you to communicate your message and stand out from competitors. But a logo is not eternal and a logo redesign may be necessary.
Over time, your logo no longer represents precisely what your brand has become.
It is sometimes necessary to redesign your logo in order to refine or adjust it to your company’s evolution. Moreover, a successful logo redesign will allow you to apprehend the evolutions of your own company. Especially if your company has been on the market for a long time.
A new logo is a good way to show that your company has changed to adapt to the present time. It is also important to ask yourself if it is better to consider a logo refresh, or to modify your current logo (change the design for example) to give it a more modern look.
In the following article, you will find our complete guide for a logo redesign process. We will analyze the trends and best practices with some famous successful logo redesigns.
Redesigning or creating a new logo: what to choose?
When there’s no feasible way to update your old brand logo to fit your new brand, it’s best to create a new logo. Sometimes it’s best to completely reinvent yourself.
A new logo can retain elements of your existing logo and thus maintain your brand’s visual identity. However, you don’t have to use your old logo in your new brand identity.
If this approach doesn’t work, don’t insist: opt for a total logo redesign and create something new.
A graphic design agency can help you.
When creating a new logo, it is necessary to ask yourself some basic questions:
- What is my target audience?
- What am I selling?
- What is the added value that differentiates me from my competitors?
- What are my values? How can I apply them?
- What do customers and prospects want from my brand?
Then, start developing original logo designs based on your answers. The design elements of your logo, such as the colors, shapes you use and your font choices, indicate what you stand for and determine your visual identity.
In this, think about your brand’s personality and determine the graphic choices that communicate that personality. For example, an intense shade of green for an ecological or nature-related company.
Then, you must plan a budget to implement the modifications of your brand logo.
This is because your redesigned logo (just like your existing logo is surely doing) will be used on your website, business cards, signs, and any advertising your company does. Think about how you will adapt your communication materials following your logo redesign.
Why change or modernize your logo?
There are different reasons to do a logo rebranding:
- Your local brand is going national or international,
- You are reorienting yourself to a different type of audience,
- You have changed your investment model,
- The products you offer are no longer the same,
- Etc.
That said, no matter what the reason, there is a procedure to follow in order to successfully complete a logo redesign.
Redesigning a logo, how to get going?
The design elements within the process of designing a logo remains almost always the same, no matter how many changes it undergoes:
- The style of the logo depends on the image you want to send to your audience. Remember, your logo is the face of your brand image.
- The typography and the size of your characters must adapt to the style of your logo design. The font should be legible and offer originality to make you stand out.
- A color palette offers an extremely powerful subjective tool that, through emotions, plays on your customers’ perception of your company.
- The shapes of your logo must be able to transmit a message to your target.
- The text (or slogan) must be readable and understandable.
- Avoid making any comparisons between your old logo and the new one. It is important that your new logo is representative of your brand as it is today.
It is important to take the time to think about your logo redesign whether you make your own logo or apply a designer. This is not a trivial action and may cause you to have doubts.
A new logo can be beneficial to the prosperity of your business.
It is often necessary to work or adjust your logo over time to adapt to the changing world around us.
This is especially the case for companies that have been around for a number of years. Indeed, the logo that you created years ago will probably not evoke much to your customers today.
Finally, you will probably have other legitimate reasons to change your logo.
A logo redesign is the result of a lot of thought. It can seem daunting and take a back seat to your priorities.
On the other hand, committing to giving new life to something that has worked for a while can be worth it. But before you embark on a logo evolution or redesign, take the time to make sure that this action is really what you need.
5 questions before launching a logo redesign
Has your business expanded or changed?
Perhaps you’ve added a whole new line of products to your offering, or you’ve expanded your headquarters, or you’ve recruited brand-new talent to keep up with your competitors.
If your business has grown or changed in any way, it’s important to take the time to consider a logo redesign.
Do you have new competitors?
At first, you were at the top of your industry. Over time, you realize that you have serious competitors in the market.
By embarking on a logo redesign, you are showing your customers, prospects, and competitors that you are a modern and up-to-date company, and potential customers that you are worth looking at.
Are you targeting a new audience?
You have an established, loyal customer base, but you’re also ready to speak to future generations of consumers.
A logo redesign process can be something you need to address this shift in clientele and potential competitors to your brand.
It’s important then that your new logo helps you connect with a new audience, while retaining your current customer base.
Have your brand values or mission changed?
As your business grows, it naturally evolves. In this case, it’s important that your logo evolves along with your business.
Is your logo outdated?
This is a simple and obvious question, but one worth asking. If your logo was created in the 1980s, it may be time to rewrite its history.
Not only from an aesthetic standpoint but also because your design is probably not compatible with the changing world around us.
So what to choose: logo redesign or logo evolution?
The redesign of the logo is not always the first solution to adopt. You can also simply update your logo by asking yourself these three questions
What’s wrong with my current logo?
Find the answers to the 5 key questions above.
What elements of my current logo should I keep?
You may be ready to redesign your entire logo. But before you want to think about a powerful logo redesign, take the time to look at the current graphic elements that effectively represent your business.
This could be specific a specific color scheme, a font, or specific typography representing your brand.
Is my current logo strongly associated with my current customer base?
One of the biggest challenges of logo redesign is not to disrupt your existing customers’ perception of your brand.
Take the time to find out what your customers think of your current logo. Explore the possible consequences of a big design change.
Is it possible that a redesign could be confusing? If so, is that a risk you’re willing to take?
Here are some examples of brands that have chosen to reinvent themselves, evolve their brand identity, and move their graphic charter, even changing their logo and baseline.
4 examples of logo redesigns
BMW
The first example is the BMW logo. It goes back to the creation of the company, more than a century ago. At first, it evolved little, but without any real change, until its last version was released in 1997.
In the history of the brand’s logo, white and blue represent the swirl of a propeller on a blue sky, illustrating the company’s beginnings as an aircraft manufacturer. The new version of the logo chosen by the brand retains these basic elements, but the cursive, black border is now gone.
Although it is a transformation, the logo remains very well done and keeps the initial values of the brand.
Google Maps
Google Maps evolved its logo with a new design. Instead of a road, the Google logo represents now a multicolored pin, easily recognizable. Indeed, the old logo was somewhat complex (many colors, and loaded), while this one has a “cleaner” look.
Microsoft Edge
For about ten years, Microsoft has lost its place in the field of web browsers. It is facing strong competitors like Google, Apple, and Mozilla who have taken market share with their browsers, respectively, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.
The “Microsoft Edge” logo has evolved over the last decade, becoming more abstract by detaching itself from its history.
To detail, the Microsoft logo contains a gradient of blue and green. However, using a gradient in a logo, can create a risk on how to highlight it on solids or monochrome. Moreover, the original logo of Internet Explorer was very emblematic and remains engraved in the memories of many Internet users.
We can think that it would have been judicious that the old logo has a part of influence on this new design.
Badoo
Badoo is a dating application. The application has taken advantage of the redesign of its graphic charter, opting for a more neutral color palette. It has also changed its logo to a new heart-shaped logo with a smile in it.
We can think that this encourages the user to pass the (sometimes difficult) step of using an online dating site.
Conclusion
The redesign of a logo can have very beneficial consequences. As long as you ask yourself the right questions and take the time to think about it.
The principle of logo redesign is to make a transition between what your company was before and what it tends to be today.
To do this, it is important to start thinking about whether you are going to introduce your new logo gradually over a period of time, or whether you are going to introduce your logo redesign all of a sudden, overnight.
Either way, you will be required to update your logo on all the platforms you use. We are thinking of email signatures, banner ads, on social networks like Twitter, Facebook page, LinkedIn page, etc.
