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Every so often we’ll hear of a big company coming out with a redesigned logo or a “fresh new look” after having had their old one for decades. 

Ever wonder why they do it? 

After all, familiarity plays a big role in marketing. So there is a strong argument for “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” here.

While it’s never a good idea to change your branding willy-nilly, there are several good reasons why you might want to consider a new logo design. 

1. Your branding isn’t cohesive. 

Here’s a test. Gather a few examples of the marketing materials your company has used – this can be physical media like posters and brochures, as well as images from your website and online marketing.

Would someone taking a quick glance at those materials immediately be able to tell that they’re from the same brand? Do they look like parts of a whole, or is it a jumble of random images with barely anything tying them together apart from the brand name and logo design? 

If it’s the latter, then it may be time to work on your brand guidelines. Specifying the colour palette, typography, and types of photos used in your materials can go a long way in creating a more put-together and professional brand identity. 

2. Your logo design doesn’t match the brand personality you want to convey.

A brand’s visuals can play a big role in the “personality” that your audience perceives. 

If, for example, you’re a local artisan bakery that wants to convey warmth, tradition, and a sense of community to your audience, a very impersonal and corporate-looking logo will not be the way to go. 

On the other hand, if you’re a fit-out and interior design company that specialises in sleek, modern design and cutting edge techniques, a logo that looks like it’s stuck in the 70s won’t be doing you any favours. 

(By the way – at Olivetree Marketing, all our branding work starts with a detailed questionnaire that allows us to really get to know the client and make sure the content we create aligns with their brand personality, vision, and goals.)

Let’s take a look at some real-world examples. 

Logo design for Specialised Wheelchair Company

Specialised Wheelchair Company wanted a logo redesign that felt more in line with the growth of their company. For their logo redesign, we made use of bolder shapes and typography to reflect their bolder presence in the market. On top of conveying more confidence, the new logo is more legible as well. 

And this was all possible without making drastic changes to the overall look, allowing them to keep that familiarity with their current clientele. 

Logo design for UnoRail

Another client of ours, UnoRail, felt that their existing logo didn’t quite match the professional brand image that they wanted to have as they entered the Australian market. We designed a new logo and colour palette that felt more assertive and suited to their industry.

The modified logomark also does a better job of calling to mind their field of expertise, which is signal design for railways. 

3. Your company has changed. 

Sometimes, there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with a brand’s existing identity or logo design, but changes to the company’s scope, focus, or even target audience may mean some adjustments are in order.

Let’s say you own a fitness gym that started off specialising in boxing training, and your logo and visual branding reflects that. However, you decide to expand your range of equipment and training services to cater more to strength athletes as well. You may want to update your branding so that people aren’t getting the idea that your gym isn’t just for boxing anymore. 

Conversely, if you’ve decided to niche down – say, you’re a cake business that has decided to focus on wedding cakes – make sure your marketing materials communicate that. 

4. Your logo design doesn’t look good on all media types. 

It’s one thing for your logo and branding to look good on your stationery, posters, or packaging. But these days your branding is going to have to do a little bit more work. 

Here are a few questions you may want to ask yourself: 

  • Is your logo still legible when you shrink it to put in a small corner of a social media post or on a website tab?
  • Does it look good overlaid on top of images, or do you struggle to see it when it’s not on a plain background? 
  • Are your brand colour palette and typography visually appealing and easily readable on your website and social media? 

If you said no to any of these, some fine tuning may serve you well. This may include logo design variations that look better in a wider range of uses, and more detailed visual guidelines to get your website and social media looking more polished. 

In the example below, the previous logo had elements that would be hard to read when the logo is shrunk, or overlaid on a multicoloured background. 

We created a streamlined logo design that would be much more versatile.  

Logo design for MRES Team

5. You blend in too much with the competition. 

Let’s say you own a salad bar; your logo has leaves on it, and your branding is predominantly green. 

There’s nothing wrong with this per se – it totally makes sense to have your product represented in your logo, and to use a colour that people associate with fresh produce. 

But now how do you set your branding apart from the countless other salad places that use a green palette and leafy logo? 

That’s where a branding rework can come in. You won’t necessarily need to overhaul your logo or eschew green entirely, but you can explore ways to make your brand more recognisable. 

This could be anything from a signature secondary colour to go with the green, a shape or pattern that you can repeat throughout your materials, or even a distinct style of photography or photo colour grading. 

Thinking of getting a brand refresh, or wondering what other elements of your marketing may be in need of improvement? We’ll be happy to chat. Get in touch

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