When you are redesigning a logo that has been around for years, the goal is not to simply improve the design. A designer doesn’t want to alienate a client that is already familiar with the brand and do away with the brand recognition that the company has worked hard to amass over time. One of the most important goals of a business’s logo is to build instant visual identification with its brand and brand values (that is why a logo is known as an identity). Moving too far away for an existing logo that is currently being used too quickly can destroy a company’s developed brand awareness. The only time you want to dramatically change a brand’s identity is if the company needs to change it’s entire image due to a disaster or massive failure.
So the goal of a logo redesign for an existing business that wants to update the look of their logo is to walk the fine line of pushing the design as far as you can while maintaining some core elements of the existing logo. Doing this will help a design retain an overall recognition to the brand. You can do this in a number of way using similar colors, images, and/or typefaces. As designers, we try to find what people are visually responding to in the design of the original logo and try to transition that element to the new design.
When redesigning the logo for the local French Quarter Candy store Laura’s Candies, we identified two elements that we wanted to transition into the new design. The sensibility of the “L” that underlines Laura’s and the color red. Also, we wanted to develop a modern design that had an older sensibility because Laura’s Candies is the oldest active candy store in New Orleans. Using these elements, we redesigned a logo that we feel improves on the original design without losing too much of the existing design.
As with Laura’s Candies, re-designing a logo often implements changes to refresh the look while considering customer recognition.
