Branding and rebranding creative projects can be difficult and have mixed results. For a successful rebrand of your creative project, there are some things you should consider beforehand.
Don’t rebrand without some research about your project’s audience. A hasty rebrand often results in a lackluster reception. To get shining results from your creative rebrand, consider these things first.
1. How Will Your Project Benefit From a Rebrand?
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One of the main things to consider before rebranding any project—whether it’s a creative project or a professional one—is how the project will benefit from a rebrand. There should always be a purpose and reason for rebranding. What are you hoping to gain from rebranding?
Perhaps your original branding didn’t followdesign accessibility guidelinesand you’d like to be more accessible. Inclusivity is a great reason to rebrand; it benefits a wider audience and invites people to engage better.
Your project could also benefit from a rebrand if your original brand followed design trends. While it’s great to use design trends, it isn’t a good idea to include them in branding design—a brand design should have longevity. Trends do not have longevity and quickly look out of date or from the wrong era.
Your branding should evoke feelings in your audience. If your current branding doesn’t evoke the intended thoughts or actions, that’s also a good reason to rebrand, so long as you do it correctly.
2. Work With a Qualified Creative Team
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Whether you are a designer or the head of a creative project, you should work with a qualified creative team when rebranding. This will likely boost the results because a qualified creative team will have great knowledge and skills to push your rebrand further.
Your team should include researchers and testers, UX/UI designers or writers, and experienced graphic designers. Don’t be afraid to branch out to multiple designers and include illustrators and web designers too.
A full team will result in a well-rounded rebrand. All bases are covered because your team knows exactly what to look for and include, as well as what to avoid.
3. Rebranding Is More Than a New Logo
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If you already knowwhat to include in a creative brand style guide, you’ll know that a brand is more than just a logo. The same can be said for a rebrand.
For example,Twitter rebranding to X was a bad ideafor many reasons, not least because even weeks after the initial “rebrand” the only difference was a new logo. There is no new brand. Yes, the logo and name have changed—but nothing else. Users are still hanging onto everything Twitter was known for, including its name.
A rebrand should encompass all aspects of your project’s brand, such as colors, text, tone of voice, imagery, and much more. Your brand’s reputation needs to be reflected in its branding.
4. Create a Reveal Worth Waiting For
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A rebrand should be worth a big reveal and provide a wow factor. It should serve a purpose and be more than just a logo change—something worth the wait.
Think of a rebrand as a grand opening with a velvet curtain. Your audience should be excited to see what’s behind the curtain and be surprised and impressed by the reveal. A rebrand resulting in a flat “oh” isn’t much to be proud of. Your rebrand is your project’s new face, so it should make you proud to show off and advertise.
Creating a full rebrand should take time and needs to be revealed all at once for the best reception. Don’t drip feed a rebranded identity, otherwise, it won’t have much effect.
5. Don’t Rebrand on a Whim
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Anything done on a whim is usually ill-thought-out, and it will show. You’ll have inconsistent brand elements, colors, or values. Rebranding off the cuff also shows you’re not thinking about your creative project in the long term. Branding should have longevity, and your reason for rebranding should be thought through first.
This is why it’s important to work with a creative team and spend time on your rebrand. Joiningcreative online communitiesis a great way to get some inspiration for a rebrand.
Make a list of pros and cons for your current brand versus a rebrand. Decide what values your brand requires and if a rebrand will amplify those values. What parts of a rebrand will push your creative project in a better direction? Focus on that.
Work on rebranding your creative project behind the scenes before announcing it and changing the brand publicly.
6. How Will a Rebrand Affect the Project’s Reputation?
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The brand is the personality of your project, that’s why we consider colors, fonts, imagery, elements, and tone of voice when we start creative projects. Your brand denotes the audience’s expectations and its reputation.
For example, Apple is known for its minimalist color palette and simplicity. This is represented in its branding of a simple logo, white color palette, and sharp, sleek designs. Apple wouldn’t have the same reputation if it changed its sleek white apple logo to a cartoon red children’s illustration.
For Twitter, Elon Musk changing the famed blue bird to a black and white X logo confuses the audience. Now the logo looks like it should be for a secret, highbrow, expensive company that perhaps deals with cars or electronics. The new logo—and lack of a full rebrand—doesn’t match Twitter’s reputation as a fun, light-hearted social media platform.
It’s okay to rebrand to pave a new direction for your project. But, unlike Twitter’s rebrand, you should give reason and understanding to a drastic rebrand, and it shouldn’t cut off a major part of your audience.
7. Don’t Rebrand Too Often
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You should always rebrand with the idea of it being permanent. If you want to have fluidity in your branding, you’re able to give yourself options within the branding rather than rebranding every six months.
Rebranding too often shows your audience a lack of confidence in your branding. If you’re not confident, then why would your audience be confident in the brand? Branding should be recognizable, which is why a rebrand should be few and far between and have a good reason for change.
Think Carefully About Your Rebrand
If you’ve considered rebranding a creative project, refer back to this list of considerations first. Take your time researching, experimenting, and working with a team. And keeping everything behind the scenes before a big reveal allows you to test and change branding elements before announcing them.
Overall, once you commit to sharing your project’s rebrand, do it with confidence and pride for the best success.
