Logo design is one of the many marketing services we provide at Clarity Quest, and many have told us we’re quite good at it!
Clients often approach us thinking they need a complete redesign of their logo. However, that’s not always necessary. In some cases, we recommend a logo refresh.
Redesign vs. refresh
What’s the difference? I’m glad you asked!
A redesign means creating an entirely new logo that carries little to nothing over from its predecessor.
On the other hand, a refresh keeps the overall design concept (and usually the brand colors) but gives it a fresh spin to achieve modernization and simplification.
A refresh is appropriate when your overall brand messaging still rings true, the current logo’s design concept is relatively strong, and you have some solid brand equity you don’t want to lose. Sometimes simplifying the current logo design is all that is necessary, and we can do this without the risk of confusing longtime customers.
A refresh is much less risky for more established companies than a complete redesign, and you still end up with a logo that feels appropriate and exciting.
Here are a couple of real-world examples where we completed a logo refresh for our clients:
Arboretum Ventures logo refresh
An Ann Arbor-based healthcare tech venture capital firm was happy with its logo’s overall concept and leaf design element, but they felt it looked dated. They tasked us with giving their mark a makeover, making it more modern while holding to the legacy and brand equity their firm had accumulated over the past 20+ years.
We utilized a modern, bolder serif font to help the company name stand out more and shifted the leaf to the right side. At first glance, this move seems insignificant, but upon closer review, you’ll see the stem forms a small gap in the letter “m” creating the word “return” (which is one of the end goals of any good venture capital firm). We also shifted the word “ventures” over to the right to span the width of “return” to help that design easter egg show itself a bit more.
With these adjustments, we accomplished the goal of freshening up their brand while also letting their logo begin to tell the story of what Arboretum Ventures brings to the table.
Viewgol logo refresh
As creators of an intelligent healthcare revenue cycle management tool, Viewgol felt their logo was fun (like them) but needed something done to help it all tie together as one cohesive unit.
We noticed the uneven letter spacing and color change mid-word awkwardly broke up the text in the logo leaving many people not even knowing what the name of the company was.
We gave the logo a fresh look while keeping the overall concept and brand equity by nudging the V over a bit to the right, increasing some negative space, unifying the company name into one color, and adding a fun, complementary palette.
Feeling refreshed?
Next time you look at your logo and get the urge to toss it in the trash, consider a logo refresh to see how a little polishing can make your old logo look brand new.
Partner with a healthcare marketing firm experienced in graphic design to breathe life back into your current design.