When was the last time you took a step back and had a proper look at your logo?
For many businesses, it becomes part of the furniture, or at least, it should be a part of the stationary. For that reason, unless you stop and think about it, it’s easy to leave your logo and branding alone for a very long time for fear of the potential disruption. This can be a good thing, as it means you have a long established logo, but there are a few signs you may need to tweak or refresh that logo from time to time.
1. Your branding isn’t completely consistent
This is one of the most important aspects of branding – consistency. Do you have exactly the same logo everywhere? On your uniforms and your website, from business cards to the sign outside your place of work?
For many businesses, small differences may slip under the radar. Maybe you had some more stationery printed and you had to guess the colour, or a slightly different font was used on the website. These may not be obvious to the untrained eye, but even an amateur will have an awareness that things don’t quite match. When consistent branding falls into place, the impact is greater than the sum of its parts.
Don’t worry, if you have a little inconsistency, you may be able to track down the right version of your logo to replace the duds. A bit of branding spring cleaning may be all you need. However, if these issues have cropped up because you don’t have variations of your logo that work in different situations, it may be worth having a new version, or versions, designed to help you maintain consistency.
2. You can’t use it properly online
If your logo was designed more than a couple of years ago, it may not have been designed with website and social media usage in mind. These are now key areas for attracting new customers, so you need to make sure your branding makes the right impression in these places. If the style, or simply the format of your logo doesn’t work well when seen as a small thumbnail in the corner of a computer or mobile phone screen, it could be time to think about refreshing it.
To use a logo properly online, you need to make sure it’s in the right file format and will be easily identifiable on any screen size, from the small circular or square display pictures that accompany social media posts, to being front and centre on your website. If your logo isn’t the right size or shape for these uses, or looks messy when scaled down, it’s going to be tricky to pick it out from the crowd in a packed social media news feed.
3. It’s still skeuomorphic
When it comes to design, there are no strict rules. There will always be an exception. When it comes to designs moving away from skeuomorphism, where textures are used to mimic 3D real-life objects, it’s more than just a fad.
Most mainstream businesses now go for a flat, “material” style of design as made popular by Google and Apple. Not only does going for a flat design look more modern, minimal and professional, it will be much easier to use for a range of purposes. Using simpler colour palettes with more distinct lines, a flat logo can look great at any size, from a few millimetres across to a few meters wide.
Need a refresh?
If you’ve been thinking of refreshing your logo or branding we would be delighted to help. Our logo and graphic design services are adaptable, so regardless of your budget we’ll find a solution. Whether you know where you want to take it or haven’t the faintest idea, we’ll guide you through the process and leave you with a versatile, high-impact logo that works for your business. Give our friendly team a call today, for more information about our branding and design services.