Visual identity: when (and how) to update your logo and brand guidelines

Your logo was designed when the business was founded, sometimes by a friend or in a few hours. Since then, your business has grown and your customers have changed, but your image has stayed the same. Should you redo everything? Not necessarily. Here’s how to tell whether it’s time to update your visual identity, and how to go about it.

Visual identity, logo, brand guidelines: what are we talking about?

• The logo: the symbol and the lettering of your name.
• The brand guidelines: the rules for using the logo, the colours, typefaces, and style of images and icons.
• The visual identity: the whole thing, applied to all your materials (website, social media, business cards, shopfront, vehicles, packaging).

The signs it’s time to act

1. Your image no longer reflects your level: your prices and quality have moved up, but your image has stayed “beginner”.
2. Your materials are inconsistent: three versions of the logo, different colours on the website and on social media.
3. Your logo is unreadable at small sizes: on a phone, as an app icon or as a profile picture.
4. You’re changing audience: you’re targeting businesses rather than individuals, or a more upmarket clientele.
5. You’re expanding: a new city, a new country, a new product range.
6. You look like your competitors: same colours, same codes, no reason to remember you.

An evolution or a complete overhaul?

In most cases, an evolution is enough: you keep what people recognise (a colour, a shape, the name) and modernise the rest. It’s less risky for your brand recognition and often less expensive. A complete overhaul is justified when the current identity is a real problem: confusion with a competitor, an image completely out of step with your positioning, a change of name.

How the project unfolds

1. Diagnosis: what works, what no longer works, what your competitors are doing.
2. Positioning: who you’re talking to, and what you want people to remember about you, in a few words.
3. Creative routes: two or three different directions, presented in real-life settings (website, social media, shopfront).
4. Developing the chosen route: logo variations, colours, typefaces, image style.
5. Brand guidelines: a simple document that allows all your providers to apply the identity correctly.
6. Roll-out: website, social media, email signature, sales documents.

The pitfalls to avoid

• Choosing a logo on its own, without thinking about how it will be used on the website and social media.
• Following a passing trend that will look dated in two years.
• Gathering internal opinions until you end up with a compromise with no character.
• Forgetting to get the source files and usage rights.
• Changing identity without telling your customers: explain the evolution, it’s an opportunity to communicate.

How much does it cost?

The budget varies widely depending on the scope: a logo evolution and simple guidelines are nothing like a complete brand platform for a network of agencies. The most important thing is to plan the budget at the same time as the website’s, for a consistent result.

How we can help

We run these projects with Artcadia, our partner art direction studio for over ten years, then roll out the new identity on your website. For brands that need highly sophisticated art direction, we can also bring in an art director who works for major fashion houses. Discover our UX/UI design and visual identity services, and also read why design influences your sales.