Every once in a while, your logo needs a refresh. Maybe you’ve really broadened your product lines or expanded into a new area of business. Perhaps your core customer base has changed. Or maybe it’s just time. Here are some key things to consider when creating a new logo.
1. What is your mission?
Your logo should reflect your core mission statement. The logo for The Water Project, a nonprofit bringing water to villages in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, uses a water drop. Adidas, a top sports apparel manufacturer, uses a mountain-like graphic to represent facing and overcoming challenges. If you don’t have a mission statement, let us help you create one.
2. Who is your audience?
You will design your logo differently for an audience of young professionals than you will stay-at-home moms. In 2010, Gap changed its logo without testing it with its customer base, and its loyal customers hated it. Gap returned to its original logo, a mistake that cost the company $100 million.
3. What are your competitors doing?
You may have created an awesome logo that perfectly reflects your mission, but if it looks similar to your competitor’s logo, it’s a disaster. Many designers may remember back to 1998 when Google changed its logo to include an exclamation mark, very similar to the logo of its competitor Yahoo! This rollout was a major fail, and Google launched another logo soon after.
4. Is it clear?
The marketing world is filled with bloopers where marketers intended to send one message, but accidentally sent another. Tight kerning turned “LI” into “U,” for example, changing the meaning of the text; or ambiguous graphics gave the logo an embarrassing meaning. Researching logo bloopers can result in hours of Internet fun.
5. What is its lifespan?
Will it stand the test of time? For 2019, some of the top logo design trends include New Age geometry and logos that trick the eye. These can be effective in the short term, but what if they go out of fashion next year? Will you change your logo again? That creates a sense of instability. Not the message you want to send!
