Redesigning your logo is one of the best ways to reinvent a brand, but also one of the most risky. The changes have the potential to alienate customers and attract new ones. Even most savvy design companies can get it wrong, deserving ruthless help from review from the design community. There was a high-profile example when Gap decided to scrap its new Logo after a backlash from consumers. Usually, you can avoid impending disasters by following a few important principles.
Principles of Logo redesign
1. Why Rebranding is necessary
Before a company starts looking for design services, it is important to understand why a rebranding is necessary. You need to understand what your business is changing with the current brand and how your goals, values and principles fit into a new brand. Is this a repositioning of the current brand or simply a renewal of the old values? If you know exactly what you want to convey, your brand strategy will be shaped.
Example: Fitness First
The Company has a global Presence with more than one Million Members and 500 Clubs. The new Logo features a bold “F” and a bolder color that represents strength, energy and strength. This shows that the company is and will remain a major player in the industry today.
2. Define, for what Your Brand
Designing your Logo is the cornerstone of your brand identity, so the next step is to create a Logo that clearly and concisely reflects the ethics behind the company. A branded company will consider the following factors:
- What the company does
- Who is the company for
- With whom the company competes
Example: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
The redesign of the Academy Logo is the result of two years of consultation and dialogue and is the work of the agency 180la. The goal was to strengthen the Organization’s values by bringing together the Academy’s “A” and the iconic Statuette. See here the Academy’s contribution to the redesign of the Logo.
3. Make the Logo stand out
A memorable and eye-catching Logo is more likely to appear in the mind of a potential consumer when he is looking for a product. It should also work in all multimedia applications, from a business card to the side of a truck. By standing out from the competition, your company creates the opportunity to show consumers that it offers something else, but it is important that you stand out for the right reasons.
Example: ITV
ITV launched its new Logo and Rebranding in January 2013. the company has changed a lot in recent years and now has 5 channels and many off-air and digital environments. The new Design represents this diversity by a more modern font based on curved lines and much more eye-catching thanks to the use of 5 colors.
4. The Company’s Values represent
A Logo can serve several purposes, and one of them could be to communicate what the company is doing or the products it offers. Iconic graphics or Clever use of negative space can positively identify your business and often express more than just words. Make sure the Logo is distinctive, recognizable and sympathetic to your business values.
Example: Spotify
Spotify’s new Logo now contains the slogan “for music”, which illustrates what the company does. The new shadowless design also makes it look flatter and more modern.
5. Put the audience first
Creating a logo that will appeal aesthetically to the consumer is a real challenge, and changes to an existing brand identity can be difficult for longtime Fans to accept. The new Design does not need to be completely new, it could be an evolution, do not forget to keep an eye on the consumer and take into account his expectations. By paying to loyal customers, your company demonstrates its Commitment to the people who keep it alive.
6. You can make it accessible
Some companies want to grow their customer base, while others want to diversify it or focus on a niche audience. Anyway, at the moment, Accessibility is the key. Make the Logo easy to understand and reproducible, so you keep it simple to make sure that you end up having something that works well in all relevant multimedia applications.
7. To the mediation of the larger Image
In the end, the Logo is more than the company — it’s about people, the past, the present and the future. These are the goals and ambitions of your company, the commitment to contribute productively to the world. Does the Logo reflect your Commitment to sustainability or other good causes? It is important to take into account all aspects that can affect the design.
8. Collaboration and Consultation
A summary of all the main requirements is required at each stage of the design process. Think about your main target audience, company values, stand out and differentiation. It might be beneficial to involve employees in the design process, perhaps to gather feedback from existing customers to measure their reaction and understand the preferences of the people who make the company what it is.
Conclusion
It is therefore important that your stakeholders are involved in the process in order to minimize the risks. The trip will be very different From one Organization to another, depending on the structure, the participation of the team and often management priorities. However, a successful redesign can help bring the company to the forefront of customers and give it a new perspective that will appeal to a wider audience.