How do I know when, or even IF, my logo needs redesign? Marketing Question of the Week from LeDuc Creative Co.

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Your logo is the face of your brand.

It’s the first thing people see when they encounter your brand, and it’s what they’ll continue to see every time after that. In other words, your logo is your front man/woman. 

It needs to make a good first impression. And it then needs to make a lasting one.

If it’s doing both, skip the redesign. For now. But if it’s not, consider the reasons.

Is it too old/complex?

An outdated logo is easy to spot. Even for those who don’t have an eye for design. And it’ll come across as stale, irrelevant and/or unappealing.

If you’ve had your logo since the Carter Administration, you may have developed a deep (albeit blind) love for it. But that ancient italicized font or bubbly text isn’t doing it for anybody else. And if it was created before the age of the internet, it may also be too complex to translate well to digital.

No matter how iconic your logo, it will always represent the design standards, norms and trends from the time it was created. And at some point, it WILL be outdated. It may already be.

Is your company growing or evolving?

When you started out, you may not have had the capital to get a solid logo design. So you did it on the fly just to get something out there. And it may have even served you well during those lean years. But now, not so much. Although Apple has one of the most highly identifiable logos, you’d never recognize the brand from their original logo.

The hard truth is that no logo can remain relevant forever. Your growing company may also be evolving to offer new services and products, and that’s good stuff. But it’s the sort of good stuff that may leave your company’s original logo looking a lot less relevant. 

So if your logo is outdated, too complex, or no longer relevant, then it’s time to consider a redesign.

Just remember to avoid what’s trendy unless you want your new logo to look hopelessly outdated in a few years. And if there’s any sort of nostalgic connection to your logo, consider preserving some of that historical significance rather than reinventing the wheel.

Keep in mind where else your logo will appear - be it on a billboard, in a magazine ad or on the side of your delivery van - and how will it translate there.

And if you have a highly identifiable logo, tread lightly.

Revamping the design can easily drain a logo of its considerable power and meaning. Think “update”.

Google, for example, is constantly updating their logo with the subtle sort of changes that give it new flair, but don’t startle anyone. They’re more like your uncle who is in theater wearing a little stage makeup, rather than your uncle who drives a big rig showing up for the Halloween party in full drag.

Whatever your plans for logo redesign, be sure to consider how you’ll maintain your brand identity while giving your logo a more modern feel.

It’s like a facelift for your brand and you don’t want to botch it.