We get it – you really dig your logo. We might, too. The fact is that not every logo that’s not good for representing a company is necessarily bad design. We have seen works of art for logos. We have seen funny, clever, witty logos. We have seen logos that are all shapes and sizes. Some of them are amazing, and represent amazing companies – companies that need a logo design update.
Badly.
There is no shame in updating your logo. In fact, an update is a cost-efficient way to not only keep up with the times, but to refresh and renew your brand without scrapping your entire image. That’s always a good reason for a logo design update, and while you might decide in the end you don’t need an update, you might want to consider one if you detect any of the following issues.
Your Business Has Changed a Lot
Even if you sell the same things that you sold when you first opened, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the same company (take a look at our Starbucks Coffee logo post, for example). People change, companies evolve, things blossom. This often means that you’re just due for a logo design update, even if your original logo has held up well to the mistress of time.
Perhaps your business has decided to change focus a little and become more environmentally friendly. Maybe you’ve even expanded your line and are only a US-based company now. Whatever the reason may be, change to your company – both spurred on by you and ones that have happened naturally over time – demand updates to your company representation.
There’s No Good Way to Make It a Social Icon
Logos that are long, intricate, or ones that don’t shrink well often need some adjustment. Even if you do something simple with your logo design update, you’ll want to ensure that you have something that is either universally usable across social media – such as a square logo – or that it can shrink down into something recognizable for your brand when you use it on social media. Let’s take NextDoor, for example:
This logo will not, and does not, fit a pretty little social media square. It will not shrink correctly. It will not be readable on tablets and phones – and you need to care about that. So what did Nextdoor do?
They made a recognizable icon to represent themselves on social media. As you can see, the house is identical; we aren’t sure about the color change, but you’d know that this is Nextdoor’s logo at a glance.
If you just need help “translating” your existing logo into a byte-sized social media icon, we do that, too – just give us a buzz.
Complicated Features
We’re looking at you, original Apple logo.
While this Apple logo is meaningful, artistic, and looks quite nice on paper, I am literally staring at a huge version of it and still can’t quite make out the words around the edge (did you see the words around the edge?). We’ve come a long way since this original design, and the needs of our society has changed quite a bit. Today, this logo would just not work. It isn’t scalable, it isn’t really representative of the company, and who wants to try to get a vector of this bad boy? Not me.
Apple has had one logo design update after another, and they’ve paired their apple down to something that’s easily recognizable, infinitely scalable, and they can stick on their products – even their nano iPods.
Your logo doesn’t need to be complicated to be awesome. Simplification will make it easier to remember your company. Be bold with your logo. Have fun with it. Just don’t make it hard to see or understand.
It Wasn’t Professionally Designed
No, this section isn’t here just to convince you to use our designers for your next graphics project – I promise. There is a lot of value in choosing a designer to make your logo. Here are just a few of the reasons:
- A designer has logo and branding understanding. We’re not saying you’re undereducated; you have a business to run, and it’s likely that’s where your expertise lies. If you were a designer, you’d know more about designing. However, you don’t have to be! People have already gotten that education for you, and are ready to create something that you want, but meets modern design principle expectations as well.
- Tons and tons of small changes make a difference. A few colors or a few small changes to a graphic can make an entirely different image; if you don’t get a professional to do your logo, it can be difficult to make those small changes. Professional designers build their graphics in vector format, which allows for a logo to be infinitely scaled and adjusted element by element. You don’t like a shade of green on your existing logo? No problem – as long as the file is a vector, that’s a really easy logo design update. How do you know if you have a logo in a vector format? Use a professional designer. Here at Logoworks, we keep your logos for basically all of time and eternity – just in case you lose them, we have them. Find a designer that does the same.
- You’re supporting an artist. A lot of designers don’t charge much to do what they do, considering the work and effort they put into what they give you. At Logoworks, we pay each and every designer you decide to put on your project, too – even if you don’t choose their design, so you’re feeding more than one family. Even if you choose an independent designer, you’re keeping someone’s lights on.
- Perfection. A good designer will tweak and tweak until you’re both happy – she with her design, and you with the result.
So just remember – when in doubt, ask a designer. If your logo needs an update, update it. Don’t put it off. Get it done, start using it, keep your designer’s contact information, and start making the best of your logo design update – you deserve it.
