Does Your Brand Need To Be Refreshed?
By Terry Isner, Creative Director
It’s hard to know exactly when your brand identity stops working for you; no one will tell you. But, when someone at your firm points out that your logo needs refreshing, it usually means that it has been tired for a long, long time. Pay attention.
Logos are lapel buttons for your firm; they announce who you are through symbolic or creative use of fonts and colors.
Are there telltale signs that your brand identity needs an update? The answer is yes, and it’s not because you’ve had your logo forever. If your firm has changed its focus, grown, shrunk, or reorganized, you need to take a close look at whether your logo reflects that change. Chances are, it doesn’t. Even if your firm hasn’t changed all that much, the world has changed around it. Today, we are all bombarded with the fresh, the new, the shiny, the three-dimensional. Call it the “Web effect.” We’re all challenged everyday with so much visual noise; it’s important to make a statement that breaks through the clutter.
And, consider the competition. Are there new firms that are challenging your brand recognition? Are they easier to remember or do they position their expertise in a way that communicates better to the target audience? If so, then it’s time to refresh your brand.
So, how to begin to do it right? Look at your firm from the outside in. Your logo is as much of a reflection of who you are as how you are perceived. Doing research ahead of time to find out how you are perceived by clients, colleagues, the press and your competitors will help you and your graphic designer articulate who you are and what you stand for.
To choose a design that matches the brand essence you uncover in your investigation, you might consider the current visual vernacular for some of the most iconic brands out there. Start with Apple, perhaps the most influential visual brand today. Then, look at the new Pepsi and Xerox logos, introduced in 2008. Apple’s white apple certainly influenced the look of the others. All three visual identities share a buoyancy, three-dimensionality and simplicity that translate well in different media – on packaging, in advertising, and perhaps most importantly, on the Web, where lively simple imagery is what breaks through the clutter.
Designing a new logo takes time and commitment from all the stakeholders in your firm. You want it to stand for what you are for years to come and you want it to be right. In today’s economy, a new logo can help attract new attention to your firm by refreshing the firm’s image for current and potential clients. A new logo could be just what it takes to make your mark when your competitors are pulling back, and like the examples we’ve cited here, it will serve you for years to come.
