Tuesday, November 8, 2011

You Don't Need a New Logo

You don't need a new logo. It's likely the first thing that anyone who wants to do any sort of design work for a business wants to get their hands on, and the last thing they should be allowed to tinker with, unless they can demonstrate a compelling reason for doing so. "Compelling" as in something other than their opinion of the aesthetic qualities. Here's why:

The logo of a business is a symbol that represents the business itself. It is a mnemonic device that has been ingrained in the memory of your customers and prospects to the point that the mere sight of this particular combination of colors and shapes causes them to immediately recall the name of your firm (even if the logo doesn't contain the name), the industry you are in, the products you offer, and the memories and emotions they connect to a firm.

The people who are familiar with your existing logo refer these connections without a deliberate process of thought. And while there probably aren't many who would claim to have spent time studying and memorizing your logo, they have done effortlessly. Meanwhile, you have likely put a great deal of time, money, and effort into establishing that connection, to connect your current logo to your brand in the minds of the customers. It was no accident.

And even if the logo is outdated or "ugly" in the opinion of some who favor what is current and trendy, your old logo is quietly and unobtrusively doing exactly what it is supposed to do. If people can name your firm when they see the logo, it works perfectly and needs no modification. If people can't name your firm when they see the logo, changing the design is unlikely to improve that.

In fact, any modification is going to be harmful. A complete change of logo largely breaks all associations that the old one used to represent. Customers don't recognize the logo, don't think of the firm when they see it, until they "learn" the new logo. And even then, past experience may not successfully associate to the new logo.

Even if the changes is minor, it will be harmful to some degree. Memory is a funny thing: some people remember colors, some remember shapes, some remember the negative space around shapes. Change any one of those elements, and you decrease the number of individuals who will remember your brand when they see the logo. The new logo may look "smarter" or "more contemporary," but it is not effective at doing the one thing it is meant to do: to cause a person to remember your brand.

There are instances in which a firm wants to break associations. Perhaps the firm has done serious damage to its brand, and the memories and associations to the logo are all negative ones that the firm would like to have discarded. Or perhaps the firm has not done anything particularly egregious, but wants to make some sort of significant change, such that they would be better able to transition if they could convince people to "forget" the memories and emotions they associate to the "old" brand and the "old" logo and regard them as new - to start over under a different brand and hope the past will be forgotten.

If either of those cases, a change of logo is in order, but not until the change or improvement has been largely effected or the negative incident has faded from the public's mind, such that the new logo can start fresh without carrying forward old baggage - or carrying forward as little as possible.

But if your business has not soiled its reputation, and if you do not wish to make a major change and be perceived as something different than you formerly were, and if you don't want to decrease brand recognition ... then there's absolutely no reason that you should be talked into letting someone tinker with your logo. Ultimately, it will do more harm than good.

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