Need a Touch Up? 6 Tips for Updating Your Logo

Changing your logo can be a scary idea. It's served you well. It's what your customers know.

But there's a reason why companies like Calvin Klein, Subway, Airbnb and MasterCard updated their logos recently.

A few tweaks here and there can bring your logo into the 21st century and make your Brand visible to a new audience group. More Brand visibility means more exposure for your company - which means more customers for you.

Now, we've mentioned a couple of successful logo updates in recent times, but there are a few logo disasters still lingering in the public conscience (yeah, we're talking about GAP and Uber, but the less said, the better.)

No one wants to end up the laughing stock of social media pundits. But how do you avoid it?

First, let's look at the signs you need to update your logo.

3 Signs You Need a Logo Update

Your logo is showing its age

If you've been in business for a long time, your logo might need a bit of a refresh. Have a think through these questions:

• Does it still use old company colours or tag lines that haven't been used in years?
• Does it represent your company as it operates now or does it reflect what you were doing in 90s?
• Are you proud to show it to people?
• Is it web, mobile and print friendly?
• Does it speak to today's audience?
• If you'd never seen it before, what would you think about the company that used it?

Your logo is too complex

Modern logo design favors simplicity - and for good reason. Simple logos translate well across all mediums - from business cards to social media, from websites to printed brochures.

A good logo gets straight to the point, people should know what it is and what it represents. The easiest way to do this is to keep it simple.

When you think 'logo' what are the first five companies that pop into your mind? We're willing to bet they're all incredibly simple to look at.

To stay in your consumers' minds, you need to make a quick impression and a clean, simple logo is one of the most basic ways your company can do this.

Your logo is confusing

Some logos just look bad. The number one reason? People can't tell what it's meant to be.

Do you see people frowning at your logo? Squinting at your website? Unless they need glasses, you might find it's because they don't understand what your logo is.

Not sure if your logo is confusing? Ask people. You could even try out some user testing on your current Branding - get anonymous people in your target audience to give you their feedback. If the feedback is brutal, it's time to change your logo.

So, now you know if you need to change up your logo - what's the story with actually changing it? How do you avoid an embarrassing and expensive mistake like Tropicana (they lost around $137 million in just two months due to a bland reBrand)?

6 Tips for a Successful Logo Makeover

Know exactly why you want to change your logo.

Make sure you're clear on your reasons behind the changes to your logo - this will help you create a defined vision for your design going forward.

If you're not sure why you're changing, you won't really know what to change and you won't be happy with the results you get either!

Knowing why you need to change your logo will help you work with your chosen designer towards a set goal. A successful logo redesign is all about knowing what you want, what will work best and what success actually looks like for your company.

Update vs. overhaul

Do you want to completely reBrand or want a few small tweaks to your current logo and Branding?

Upgrading your current Branding may feel less daunting, but it's still going to take a lot of work to modernize your logo and keep your current customers happy.

A complete overhaul is sometimes needed for a completely fresh start (or distancing from some bad PR).

Research, research and research some more.

When you work with logo and Branding experts (like us!), they do most of the research for you. If you're thinking of doing more yourself, you'll need to look into your competitors' logos and different logos used within your industry.

Learn the psychology behind the colors used in their logos. Take note of any common design elements, fonts and general themes. Look at other companies' logo redesigns. What did they change? Do you like the changes? Were they popular choices? Did their business improve with the changes?

What are you keeping?

Decide what you love about your current logo and if there's anything you'd like to keep: colors, font, graphic, style or general idea behind it.

Many companies choose to stick with their Brand colors throughout many reBrands - do you want to?

Test, test and test again.

Never choose a new logo and run with it without testing it out!

The chances of your designer coming up with the perfect logo first time that pleases everyone at your company and speaks to your audience (both current and future) are pretty slim.

Once you have your logo choices, hold a meeting with your company's important players - discuss what you like about each and what you'd like to change.

When you've all decided you've got your finished logo, print it out and stick it to the wall. Look at it whenever you pass, see what sticks out, see what's memorable. If it's difficult to remember the design, it's not the logo for you. Still love it after a couple of weeks? You might be onto a winner.

Let the people know!

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome with a logo change is confusion. Keep your staff updated as to why, how and when things will be changing (and how this will be better for them going forward).

Roll out the new logo on all of your Branding materials and marketing materials at the same time.

Keep your customers and clients informed too - let them know you're changing. Keep the change seamless for them - make sure every customer touch point has the updated logo.

So, how does your logo measure up? Does it need a new lease of life? Branding is what we do best. Let's Talk.