Time for a logo makeover? FREE download
Last week I announced my new logo and it’s slowly replacing my previous one on all of my marketing materials, social media banners, and icons.
Today I’d like to share some tips on how to revamp your logo. I’m not talking about re-branding, that’s something that will take a longer time but, if you think your logo just needs a refresher, this is the blog post you want to read. The process is much simpler and a lot of fun!
As you know, I have two businesses that target two completely different audiences in the same industry. People think it’s easier to create a consistent brand for both businesses because, after all, we’re talking about the same stuff: weddings and events. But that’s not the case: it’s two different clients, it’s two different messages, it’s two different goals and you shouldn’t have the same look.
For the event planning business, my client is about 80% social (weddings, private events). The remaining 20% is divided between non-profit events and corporate functions. My brand style is a mix of classic, high-end, personal, innovative, fun, and soft. I definitely target mostly the wedding client because that’s my specialty: they want a unique and memorable celebration thanks to innovative and personalized ideas with soft touches and they hire an expert (me) to help bring their vision to life.
For the business coaching, my client is a 100% event/wedding and creative entrepreneur. My brand style here is strong, still high-end, inspiring, engaging, guiding. I show authority and business owners hire me because they want to be successful and profitable, they want to see results by implementing the strategies that I discuss with them.
Time for a change
The logo for my business coaching was just a couple of years old but it looked outdated and I was tired of the chocolate brown font. It seemed too obvious, too common. Chocolate brown is one of the colors in my event planning brand but I felt I needed to use a different color, more sophisticated and more distinguished.
The gold icon in the center also seemed flat, it didn’t really have depth, it didn’t convey the message that I wanted which is “strong” but at the same time “sophisticated”.
I was tempted to start from scratch and just forget about the current logo but I realized that it would involve more than a logo makeover and, honestly, I don’t think I really needed a new design. I decided to just apply some changes, reflect the evolution of my brand from two years ago, and give more character to it.
One thing that I learned during the process is that, when you design a new logo or just make some changes, the best thing to do is to keep everything simple. Don’t make it too complicated. A simple font (which means more readable), a simple icon, no images, fewer colors will give you better results.
A lot of questions
Since your logo tells about you, your brand, your business, how you can serve your clients, you always have to be very careful with the choice of the design/colors/style, etc. There are different factors that play a very important role when designing or restyling your logo, and you have to analyze every single detail.
I asked myself a lot of questions:
- Why do I want to change my logo? What is it that I don’t like?
It’s not that I didn’t like it, I was a little tired of it. And that, to me, meant – Maybe my clients are not that excited about it either - What should be changed about my current logo?
That was a very good question! At the beginning, I wasn’t sure if it was the colors, the font, maybe the gold icon… It was hard because I was looking at my logo as a whole until I decided to analyze every single part of it and the magic happened! - What should be kept in the logo design?
Once I realized what I wanted to change about the logo I knew very clearly what I wanted to keep, which was….. My full name and the initials! Those were the only things that I wanted to keep, everything else needed to be restyled. The font was too playful and I wanted something more stylish. I was envisioning a cleaner and more professional look, a more simplified version of the logo. - How can I help my business coaching with the new logo design? What do I want to communicate?
The secret was to incorporate those words that describe my style, my message, my brand into the new design.
The makeover process
A – Font
I first thought about a handwritten font because it can be very elegant. Maybe using modern calligraphy that is very trendy in the wedding business? I found myself leaning towards something that works for my wedding couples but maybe not so much for entrepreneurs. Modern calligraphy is gorgeous but, after thinking about it, I realized it was too soft, too ethereal, it didn’t really convey a message of power, of leadership.
I’ve seen so many logos with handwritten fonts, some of them used for great luxury brands, but I couldn’t really find one that was speaking to me. I thought the handwritten font was a little too traditional for my personality, and my name wasn’t easy to read with most of those fonts. So, that was a big no.
I looked at alternatives with a simpler font, and I tested them with my name. I probably tested about 80-85 different fonts until I realized that a serif font was what I wanted. Serif fonts have lines at the end of each stroke and they are considered traditional but at the same time, they’re very powerful. I started playing with different fonts, and I explored the option of capital letters… and that’s when I found the solution. A stylish, grown-up font that showed authority, described my expertise and the evolution of my brand.
B – Icon
This was not an easy task. I knew I wanted to keep the icon because I felt the need for a visual element in the logo, I wanted to soften the look and keep the gold color. However, I wanted something lighter, more modern than the coin style of that round shape. That’s how I started to play with circles and round frames until I found this beautiful, imperfect circle that allowed me to add a glittery gold texture. Done! I was completely sold! Less gold and more stylish.
I chose to keep the gold color because it’s part of my brand colors. I chose to incorporate glitter because I love it! Most of my clients are bubbly, fabulous, female business owners and they love it, too. Glitter adds excitement to the logo which is what my clients feel when they work with me. I also liked the imperfect round shape of the icon because I work with different entrepreneurs, each one has different needs and I don’t provide cookie-cutter packages. The imperfect shape brings a human aspect into the picture. I think it was a great contrast with the traditional font and it added playfulness to the logo.
And what about the font for my initials inside the round shape? Those were created with a modern calligraphy font (which I was thinking about using in the first place but it didn’t really work for my audience). By using that font just for my initials was the perfect compromise!
C – Colors
Colors are super important when it comes to a logo. There’s a whole psychology around the selection of colors in a logo: generally speaking, black is for power, red is for passion or energy, grey is for authority, blue is for tranquility, orange is for creativity, green is for growth or money, purple is for royalty, white is for purity, and so on.
People will remember your logo better if they see a certain color that speaks to them.
I mentioned the gold in the round shape and that was an easy choice because gold is part of my brand colors and I didn’t want to change that.
The font color used for my name was a little bit harder. I wanted to move away from the predictable, boring chocolate brown and use a similar color with warm tones but with more character and sophistication. I was looking for a more unique shade. Again, I provide personalized service, and that’s what I wanted to point out in my logo. That’s when I found this greyish, smoky brown that is softer than chocolate brown but at the same time, it has character. It is unique just like my clients.
Once I had all of my elements selected, I put them on a…
Brand Board
A brand board is a very helpful way to gather and display the visual elements of your logo or your entire brand altogether. It’s very useful because it helps keep consistency in your brand. You will have access to your fonts, color palette, logo and its variations, patterns and style ideas that you can add to your website, blog, social media accounts, and marketing materials.
This is my new brand board with the new logo, the color values for the brown that I used in the font, the two fonts used for the logo, the gold sub-mark or icon, and some graphics that have my color palette with the aqua green which is the accent color in my brand.
FREE for you!
My logo makeover was very exciting, and putting together all the elements helped me create consistency and proudly congratulate myself for the results. I strongly suggest that you put together all of your visual elements in one place and I have a free gift for you!
Download the exact brand board template that I created for my logo makeover. Just enter your email address below and you will have access to the file that you can save on your computer.
(Free for personal use – © Sabrina Cadini)
~~~ TAKE ACTION ~~~ Download my Brand Board Template today and fill it out with your pretty brand elements. Send it to me at sabrina@sabrinacadini.com and I’ll feature it on my social media channels!
~~~ LEAVE A COMMENT ~~~ Did you recently go through a logo makeover for your brand? Share your process and let me know what you liked best!
Need help with your logo makeover or brand design? Schedule a FREE Clarity Call with me HERE and let’s chat!
Holistic Precision Life Coach, Brain Wellness Coach, and Life-Work Balance Strategist helping busy professionals and high achievers live and work better by prioritizing themselves. I use different modalities (epigenetics, neuroscience, chronobiology, and positive psychology) to implement effective lifestyle changes.
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