Freshening the Brand
When you’re the designer in charge of maintaining a client’s brand through regular use in projects like social media posts, print flyers, postcards, etc., there are multiple responsibilities on your shoulders.
You have the responsibility to not only maintain that brand, but to regularly refresh it. And in refreshing it, to not give in to the temptation to salt the proverbial Earth where the elements of that brand are involved. That means re-evaluating elements like typography, colors, and other design elements you’ve already established. This helps maintain a sense of familiarity in your designs.
The need to freshen a brand identity should always be carefully considered. A couple key touchstones to consider are how long you’ve been using a general design approach and are graphic applications starting to blend together.
Be careful to always keep in mind the core elements that define the brand when freshening it up. Keep your alterations minimal and in line with what should feel like a natural evolution. Maintaining the flavor of the brand while tweaking the elements can be like adjusting a recipe. A little variation might reveal a unique twist on a favorite meal, but, if you change too much, you’ve lost the meal you set out to make.
If your brand colors are specific shades of blue, don’t CHANGE that. Instead, try finding a complimentary color to use as an accent.
Look across the entire brand and see where there’s consistency and inconsistency. If one graphic uses a serif font, when the rest of the brand uses sans-serif fonts, consider revising that graphic for brand consistency. That’s a key word in any kind of branding design: consistency. Make sure when you tweak branding, that it still feels like the brand your consumers already know.
Generally, don’t do this so often that your brand loses all recognizability. Instead, employ such tricks sparingly, over time, so that the identity you’ve worked so hard to establish isn’t lost.
Be careful, but be creative.
Written by Blog Contributor: Dee Fish
