Change? Or Just Refresh Your Branding

It is fairly common for companies to re-brand every once a while. Especially if there is a new marketing person or executive.  But...there are a couple of things that need to be considered when deciding how far you want the re-branding to go.

1. Is everyone on board with changing your look?
This one might seem simple, but if a new logo and materials have to be run by Board Members, Managers, or Employees, and they are perfectly fine with current stuff, they will never approve a new one.  They will always find a reason or fault to shoot down a design comp and the project typically stalls.

2. What is the budget?
Decide if you have a couple hundred dollars or a couple thousand.  The more you know about your budget, the easier it is for a graphic designer to tailor you a package that fits your needs and budget.  This may be the biggest factor in deciding to change or refresh.


3. What all needs to be updated if you do a full change?
It's very easy to say "We're getting a new look", but make sure you think about all it implies.  For instance, if you decide to get a new logo then you need to think, what all is our logo on? Signs, trucks, buildings, advertisements, business cards, brochures, website, and so on. Are you willing to get all these items re-done? Or are you ok with some stuff having the old logo and some stuff the new?

After you answer these questions, you should have a good idea if your in the change category or refresh category.  I have worked with many clients who thought they wanted to do the full change, but once we were getting into it, and it came down to making decisions on designs, it was clear they were still quite attached their old brand, so a lot of time and money could have been saved had they decided to just refresh.

What is the difference between change and refresh?

Changing typically means that your scrapping the old and going completely new. New ideas, new colors, new style.

Refreshing means that your keeping most (if not all) of the current brands fundamentals but maybe changing the colors, or giving it a face-lift into a more modern look.

With either you have lots of options to play around with!