Shake it Off: Why You Need a Logo Refresh
Statistics have proven that 94 percent of the world’s population recognize this brand’s logo and know what it is even if they haven’t tried one. Is it Apple? Google? Nike? Good tries, but the answer is Coca Cola. Even if they cannot speak English or recognize English, they recognize and know that Coca Cola is a softdrink. The first logo design was printed in 1886, the first refresh was in 1887, then 1889, 1891. All in all, there have been about 20 Coca Cola logo refreshes.
Why Refresh?
Coca Cola refreshed its logo as it became more popular. They wanted appealing, eye-catching color and fonts. And the truth is, once they found their signature red and white script, few changes were made. It worked. It looked good on glass bottles, on cans, on labels, on boxes, it all worked.
The first Coca Cola logo was simply the words typed in a serif font. That means a font that has “feet.” Times New Roman, Bodoni, Garamond – they are all serif fonts. But you can imagine how stark and uninviting that looked. It was a bookkeeper that decided it needed to be in a script font, and that the C’s should be the focus since they are repetitive.
The main reason, and there are many, to refresh a logo is to reflect the changes happening within a company – mainly growth. The logo that you started the business or practice using might have been inspiring and distinguished at the time. But the logo is personal, not just to you, but to your potential patients.
Out With the Old
We know you’d love to forget the Grunge era, but we still have some flannel and beanies hanging around, so we are just going to bring up the fact that Grunge was one of the most forceful and powerful cultural trends to live in the world of graphic design. All of a sudden fonts were “destructed” or “rusted.” Fonts like Destroyed and Corrosive and Skull that looked hard and edgy and, well, grungy were becoming popular as logo components.
Add to that the idea of smears, dry brush swipes, coffee stains or drips and you have a perfect logo for (insert rock band name here.) And it was catchy. Retailers were doing it with clothing lines and shoes and purses. It was a full-force movement.
It is finished now.
And if you are still installing Skull font on every computer you work on so you can brand your merchandise or your product, your logo is dated. It is time to let it go.
As much as we all enjoyed our younger years, some of the decisions we made during that time are beyond questionable. The logo from that era deserves a shower, a hair cut, and a shave at least.
In With the New
So, what has changed since your logo was born? How many years have you been using it? What is the shelf life of a logo?
Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine if you need a logo refresh:
Did I design it myself? If the answer is yes, you need to consider having it evaluated.
Did a friend design it because I couldn’t afford a designer at the time? If the answer is yes, you need to consider having it evaluated by a professional.
Are you only sticking with it because you got a deal on 1,000 business cards and are waiting to run out before you change? If the answer is yes, you should call Caledon Virtual immediately.
This is Hard…
If you are doing it right, it should be difficult. You are examining the prophet that goes before, so to speak. Your logo is talking about you in places you might not be aware. And it might not be saying the things you’d want it to say.
It’s ok if you still have t-shirts with the old logo. Frame them and hang in your waiting room as a testament to your growth and flexibility. Yes, you will have to get a new sign. Yes, it feels a bit like breaking up with someone you’ve dated for a long time. But the bottom line is this: your logo is talking and you need to puppetmaster that thing before it goes rogue.
Caledon Virtual’s visual marketing team of designers and uber-opinionated content strategists can help you make a clean break from your old logo. We are matchmakers of the marketing kind and will help guide you through the process of discovering what you need and want your logo to say. Call us today for a logo evaluation. Remember, it is out there talking, all over town. Shouldn’t you know what it is saying?
