Considering Redesigning Your Company Identity? Read These Tips First ✨
Are you a business owner or marketing manager thinking about visual identity redesign or even rebranding? Before jumping into action, take a moment to consider these tips to make the best decision.
We’re sharing valuable insights to help you understand when it’s the right time for rebranding, and to clear up some of the terminology, process, and outcomes. Ready? Let’s dive in!
4 Reasons to Refresh Your Visual Identity 🔄
Identity redesign usually happens when:
Your target audience or communication style has changed.
Your vision, mission, or business goals have shifted, requiring a new brand strategy.
You’ve added new products or services that impact your brand.
Your identity looks outdated, making your brand seem stuck in the past.
A fifth, more subjective reason is simply feeling bored with your current identity. We understand the need for fun. But without a clear plan, this can be a waste of time and money.
Real Results from Our Rebranding Projects 📊
At Studio Disegnat, we've seen these reasons play out in real client projects. We’ll take a look at a few examples that demonstrate the impact of thoughtful visual identity redesign.
But before diving into details we'd love to clear some basic things that often get misunderstood and may cause headaches in communication.
What Does Visual Identity Mean? 🎨
Visual identity encompasses all the consistent and recognizable visual elements of your brand, such as the logo, color scheme, fonts, and imagery. It’s everything others see when they interact with your brand.
Another important term in English language is brand collateral, which includes all the media used to promote your brand, like business cards, brochures, websites, signage, packaging, presentations, and social media templates. Some of these marketing materials are also known as assets for print and digital.
Basically, the visual identity is applied to your brand collateral. Like a stamp on multiple different papers.
What Is Verbal Identity? 💬
Verbal identity is about the tone, style, and message you use in communication—your slogans, social media voice, and how your employees interact with customers. Your visual and verbal identities should work together to avoid confusion.
Together, these form your brand identity—all the elements that make your brand unique in the minds of consumers. Both visual and verbal ones included. A strong brand identity is built on consistency across all media and interactions. And it takes some discipline and structured approach.
One large example could be McDonalds which has a pretty consistent communication on social media, at the restaurants, on the posters etc. You always know its them when you see something.
The Importance of Brand Strategy 🧭
Brand strategy is the foundation of everything else. It’s the bottom of the whole brand-business pyramide.
It’s your long-term plan for how you want to present your brand and achieve your business goals.
This strategy typically includes:
your brand voice (communication style)
brand story
your values, vision, mission
defined client group (target audience)
key messages you want to communicate
and the overall vibe (personality) you want to convey
Without a brand strategy, you’re like a captain without a compass, sailing aimlessly.
When your brand strategy is clear, designing a brand that resonates with your audience becomes much easier. And trust us, it’s much more enjoyable for both sides.
Another great thing is that you can always go back to your brand strategy when having doubts or uncertaints about your next move with your brand.
Case Study: Adriagate Rebranding ✨
For Adriagate, we started with a solid brand strategy before touching any design elements. By clearly defining their target audience, mission, values, and positioning them as a national leader in property rental, we created a visual identity that truly reflected their business goals.
The Brand Style Guide 📘
A key tool in maintaining consistency is the brand style guide, a visual style guide or a book of graphic standards (depending on your native language). This guide defines all visual and verbal components of your identity, ensuring that your brand is used consistently across all media.
There are two common types of guides:
Core Visual Style Guide: Covers the core visual identity elements like logos, colors, and fonts. Simple.
Expanded Style Guide: Includes detailed applications for business materials, signage, advertising, etc.
The Domino Effect of Redesign 🔄
When you redesign your identity, it often triggers a domino effect, requiring updates to all related materials—logo, color schemes, business documentation, promo visuals, signage, and more. Planning ahead is crucial to avoid costly back-and-forth revisions. And trust us, we had situation where clients didn’t think about this, but later on proved to be inevitable.
Case Study: Destina Rebranding 🚀
When we refreshed Destina's visual identity, we carefully planned for the domino effect. The new logo and color scheme required updates to their website, mobile app, physical store signage, and marketing collateral. This comprehensive approach led to a 40% increase in revenue and brand recognition among their target demographic.
Common Fears About Redesign 😨
Fear is natural when considering change. Concerns might include:
alienating existing clients
high costs
losing brand recognition
and uncertain outcomes.
However, with careful planning and expert help, a redesign can revitalize your brand and bring significant benefits. We will publish another article just on this. :-)
Applicability and Flexibility 🔄
During the redesign process we pay close attention to how your new identity will apply across different media, ensuring it works well in both digital and physical forms. A design that looks great on a billboard should also work on a business card or a t-shirt.
Time Scope: How Long Will It Take? ⏱️
The timeline for a visual identity redesign can range from 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the project’s complexity.
Rebranding, which may include crafting a new brand strategy, could take longer—typically 1 to 2 months for mid- to large-size companies. The timeline can extend if web redesign is involved.
For the best estimate, reach out to us with some initial information, and we’ll provide a more precise timeline.
We also advise you to do some homework before reaching out to us. ;-)
Summary 📝
To wrap up, a redesign or rebranding is often triggered by changes in your target audience, business goals, or an outdated identity. Before diving in, ensure you have a clear brand strategy and understanding of your verbal identity and brand collateral. We can also help you with that.
Case Study: Fjok Rebranding Success 🏆
Fjok approached us after struggling with multiple name and logo changes along with an unclear market position. Our comprehensive rebrand created a playful, friendly identity that showcased unique local Croatian products. Within months, brand awareness increased multiply, they expanded from seasonal to year-round operations, their B2B sales grew by 50% and sales in general by 30% while inspiring other local entrepreneurs to rethink their approaches.
When executed correctly, a redesign can strengthen your brand, keeping it relevant and resonant with your audience. Despite the challenges, the results are often worth the effort.
We hope this article has been helpful. Stay tuned for more tips on design and branding!
