Sometimes familiarity really does breed contempt. If you've been working with the same brand and logo for a few years, you might be itching to make a change. Maybe you've been daydreaming about brightening up the color palette or redoing the mark altogether. It feels a little dated, and you're brimming with ideas to make it better. Unfortunately, boredom isn't a valid reason to redesign a logo. "The question isn't, 'Are you tired of it?'" says Bill Gardner, owner of Gardner Design in Wichita, Kan. "The question is, 'Is your customer tired of it?'"

Reasons for Change
In many cases, the public is only beginning to recognize a mark when it's already wearing on the design and advertising teams. And most logos carry a considerable amount of brand equity, so there needs to be a solid rationale behind an overhaul. Gardner says there are three common reasons a company might want to make a change: First, a business with new management or ownership may desire to visually signal its evolution. His firm, for instance, designed a new logo for the Conco construction company after it was sold. Since the old owner had an eroding reputation among customers, the new proprietors wanted to let people know the company was turning itself around.

There's an even more pragmatic reason to update: A shift in the product line. When a company known for selling widgets suddenly adds chicken to the mix, they may need to change both its logo and name. Gardner's firm, for example, redesigned the mark for an upscale lingerie brand called Belabumbum after the company expanded its focus on the maternity market. The old logo - prominently featuring a slender bottom in panties - didn't play well in this second business area. A geographic expansion can have the same effect. If a restaurant named after a city opens outlets across the country, the name and mark may not work three states away.

Finally, a shift in a company's overall ethos might be cause for a new logo. This often happens in conjunction with an ownership, management or product line change. When management at Dynamic Graphics changed, for instance, a new logo was created to reflect both a change in owners and business philosophy and to make sure potential customers could differentiate DG from existing product lines already owned by the company.

Anjou Bakery
Gardner Design (www.gardnerdesign.com) redid the logo for this artisan bakery so the company could use one mark for retail, wholesale and restaurant applications. The new mark combines contemporary and old-world elements.

Ballet Wichita
"When do you know it's dead?" asks Bill Gardner, owner. "When you notice everyone else's logo starts looking like your logo." Ballet Wichita needed to differentiate itself with something more unique than a leaping figure. The new logo expresses a feverish commitment to becoming a more vital organization.

Belabumbum
This logo update by Gardner Design reflects Belabumbum's expansion in the maternity market by capturing the idea of a woman in bloom - a figurative representation of pregnancy.

BigDog
This motorcycle manufacturer's new logo, also by Gardner Design, features the same spacing between letters as inside them, creating a pleasing consistency - like the sound of a motor.

Conco
After a change in the client's ownership, Gardner Design created a new - easier to read and reproduce - mark that signals this important change.

Makeover or Makeunder?
But even when there's a good reason for an overhaul, sometimes a light hand works best. "A slight modification is done quite often," says Ann Willoughby, founder of Willoughby Design in Kansas City. "You don't even see it. A complete brand overhaul is a very big deal. It's a lot better to have a logo that's completely out-of-date than to create confusion." Many iconic logos, such as the famous Coca-Cola script, seem timeless because they've evolved through a series of small changes over the years. Willoughby's firm, for instance, modified the Wonder Bread logo. Since brand loyalty is so high, the changes needed to be slight to avoid confusing longtime customers, but the logo also needed to work as part of a larger strategy that included new products and packaging changes. The makeunder solution? A move to lowercase type and a slight rearrangement of the dots.

Willoughby describes a logo as the symbol for a brand - a way to visually communicate what a company really stands for. As such, she suggests conducting a brand audit before redoing a logo. Take a look at all the elements of a given brand - from the way it's conveyed on business cards to signage and packaging. Evaluate each element from both aesthetic and strategic standpoints. Does the logo match the image the brand wants to convey? Does it differentiate the company from competitors? Talk with customers and suppliers about how they perceive the brand. Does it match the way the company wants to come across? Why or why not?

Since most logos operate as part of a larger system, this auditing process should give you a better idea of what really needs to change about a company's visual identity. Then, if it still makes sense, you're in a much better position to overhaul the logo. Start by working with your client to uncover the company's vision, values and meanings. Then take a look at all the products and services offered by the business and figure out who holds a stake in the brand - from internal staff and customers to retail buyers. It's also crucial to understand where a logo will be applied. "Where will this brand live?" asks Willoughby. Those uses may include everything from websites and outdoor signage to packaging, letterhead and business cards.

The Green Glass Co.
Noah Scalin at ALR Design (www.alrdesign.com) redid this logo after a new owner took over. The extreme makeover creates a younger, hipper and more cohesive feel for the environmentally friendly glassware company. The client taped this logo up on the door and lived with it for a couple of weeks before making a final commitment.

Richmond Peace Education Center
This logo redesign corresponded with the group's 25th anniversary. When Scalin worked on the new mark, he needed to honor the group's history, but also design something that would appeal to young people. The update feels warmer and more human, and it balances modern and historical qualities.

Wonder Bread
Willoughby Design (www.willoughbydesign.com) refreshed the Wonder logo - a brand with high loyalty - using restraint. The firm slightly rearranged the dots and went with a lowercase font to update the mark without alienating dedicated customers. As with many longlived brands, Wonder has evolved many times over its history. This redo was part of a larger strategy that included the introduction of new products.

Timeless Beauty
At least one key to the design process lies with words rather than images. "What are the adjectives you want to describe your brand?" asks Noah Scalin, founder of ALR Design in Richmond, Va. "If you're vague, the logo will be vague. All I'm doing is translating the client's message visually." A well-considered adjective list gives you a starting point to begin experimenting with a logo design. When Scalin redesigned the mark for the Green Glass company, for instance, the logo needed to communicate the firm's environmental sensitivity and help attract a younger clientele.

Try taking the time to talk with clients about what certain adjectives mean to them. What do they consider hip? Or understated? Can they show you examples? It also helps to take the time to understand where they see themselves in the business landscape. Management at Green Glass was able to point out stores and catalogs where they'd like to sell their products. Scalin encourages his clients to take the time necessary to develop an appropriate logo process - rather than rushing through to meet a quick deadline. As he reminds clients, "The design needs to represent you for a long time."

As you work up potential logos, focus in on the two or three most common ways the mark will be used. Then test the potential logos in those contexts. Take the time to mock up a business card, or illustrate how a sign might look on the side of a building. Try out the mark in color as well as black and white and make sure it works reversed out‹a common logo application. Willoughby believes a logo needs to be singular enough for people to easily understand it, but urges designers to avoid obvious, overused symbols such as houses and trees. Push for a more interesting way to express the client's ideas. Willoughby's firm also takes another important step before presenting to clients: They test initial designs with consumers. This allows the team to tell the client exactly how the target audience reacted to the marks.

Though some logos - like those for a temporary product line - aren't meant to last forever, most marks need a fairly long shelf life. So how do you avoid a logo that screams 2007 five years down the line? Avoid short-term trends - colors or type that may only be in style for a few years. Opt instead for classic elements. "Trends run in a 30-year cycle," Gardner says. "Take a look at movies being remade. Look at the colors being recycled - browns, light blues and oranges." Instead of taking your cues from these '70s revivals, focus on what differentiates your client from the competition and communicates the brand message.

The Metro Express
Willoughby Design created this mark for a rapid transit bus system in Kansas City called Metro Area Express. Going with the initials - MAX - humanizes the service, while blue makes a connection with the larger metro system. The mark includes movement and energy and makes a friendly impression. Plus, the dotted lines suggest the road.

Feng
This logo for Feng - an upscale clothing and lifestyle store - needed to work well on everything from bags to environmental graphics. It embraces key brand attributes, including exotic, worldly and a hybrid of American and Chinese. Willoughby Design chose this particular font because the ascenders and descenders have an Oriental feel.

About the author
Michelle Taute is a freelance writer and editor in Cincinnati who specializes in design topics.

This article was originally published in the June/July 2007 issue of Dynamic Graphics magazine.

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