Refresh or rebrand? How to tell which your business needs
Refresh or rebrand? How to tell which your business needs
A logo refresh keeps what customers already recognise. A rebrand starts again. The signs for each, real examples and how the cost compares.
Most people who get in touch about "a new logo" haven't decided yet whether they want to change a bit or change everything. That's fine. It's the first thing we work out together, because the two jobs are different in size, cost and risk.
The short version
A refresh keeps the idea people already recognise and makes it clearer, cleaner and easier to use. A rebrand starts again: a new mark, new colours, sometimes a new name.
If customers already know you by your logo, lean towards a refresh. If the business itself has changed, lean towards a rebrand.
Signs a refresh is enough
People recognise you. Customers mention the logo, or describe your van by it. That recognition took years to build and it's worth keeping.
The idea is right, but the drawing has drifted. Maybe it was redrawn by three different printers, or it only exists as a small, blurry file.
It struggles small. A logo that works on a sign but turns to mush as a browser icon or a social media profile picture usually needs simplifying, not replacing.
You're doing the same work for the same customers. If the business hasn't changed much, the brand probably shouldn't either.
Signs you need a rebrand
The business has moved on. New services, new customers, a new area. The old brand describes a company you used to be.
There's nothing to keep. Nobody recognises the current logo, or it's a template other firms use too.
You're merging, splitting or renaming.
You're ready to start properly. Plenty of businesses trade for years on something put together in an afternoon. When they're ready to grow, starting fresh is often simpler than rescuing it.
What a refresh looked like
ADL Consultancy, a family-run compliance consultancy, had an idea for their logo they wanted to keep. They asked for a new, fresh version of it, not a different company. So the work kept the idea and rebuilt it properly: a main logo, a secondary version, a text-only version and a favicon. Then it was tested where it would actually live: on a reception sign, a phone screen and an email signature.
Pilot IQ, a managed IT company, wanted the same kind of thing: an updated version of the logo they had. The refresh pulled the IQ into one letter, so the dot and the tail inside the Q also make an i. They got versions with and without the strapline, in colour and in white, and the Q on its own as a favicon.
What a rebrand looked like
Global Outdoor Design do driveways, patios and roofing near Ferryhill. They wanted a full rebrand and a website to go with it, so we started from what they actually do. The logo is seven paving blocks laid in a diamond, the way a herringbone drive goes down. The colours, the type, the pavement sign and the workwear all came from there.
How the cost compares
A refresh is usually the smaller job, because part of the thinking is already done. You know what you stand for; the work is in the drawing, the testing and a proper set of files. A rebrand includes that thinking, so it takes longer and is quoted per project.
Either way you get one fixed figure in writing before anything starts. Prices are on the pricing page.
If you're not sure
Send me your current logo and a couple of lines on what's changed in the business. I'll tell you which one I think you need. If the answer is "neither, you just need better files of what you've got", I'll say that too.
See the full refresh and rebrand projects on the work page, or tell me about yours.