When design and re-branding goes wrong.
There are many things to do and not to do when going about re-designing or re-branding a product. Successful products can always be improved. It happens for nearly every new product that people buy. Websites, cars, clothing and even furniture. It’s not necessarily because the current product is bad or an inferior, it’s purely easier to sell a new product that can be labelled as ‘new’. Very few people seek out ‘old’ products. No one, or very few people are actually interested in things that are old. However, when a new product is re-designed, it’s important to take many factors into designing or re-creating a new product. Things to consider are: • Focusing on the details of what made the first iteration of your product good • Changing things that need changing, don’t change things that aren’t otherwise broken • Adding details that could further the development of your product • Market research, what is everybody else doing and how can you do it better? Taking those factors into the creation and design of your new product will really help in the success of your newly created and improved product. The things not to do are somewhat straight forward. Although people don’t always consider these things when they’re creating product 2.0. An example of a poorly designed logo can be seen in the latest re-design of the Oxford Dictionaries logo. They attempted to put the O and D together to create a slicker and less wordy logo. On the face of it this seems like a rather good idea. However, when you place a lowercase D in an O, you get a very similar looking icon. That icon is the Beats by Dr. Dre logo. It was uncanny in 2014 as to how similar both logos looked. Both products couldn’t have been anymore different and yet their logo’s looked almost identical. It’s crazy to think that the Oxford Dictionaries logo more than likely went through many different boards of directors and designers and none of them recognised that it looked similar to a internationally famous logo.
This is a prime example of not considering what your brand needs when creating such a image. The Oxford Dictionaries as a brand is a far cry from fashionable headphones. This issue could cause a brand identity crisis as it looks more like they are an extension to the Beats by Dr. Dre brand and not an entirely different company. This is also a great example of why market research is important and why it is essential when you go about changing your logo or product. An example of a brand successfully transitioning to a new logo we can look at Adobe. In 2020 they changed their logo ever so slightly. From a design point of view here at LMRT we think we know the main reason for this change, social media. Adobe have seamlessly added their name below their icon in the logo, taking away the need for an elongated logo. This in turn now fits much better with social media icons and profile pictures as the logo will fit much better into the circular or square space that the social platforms offer. Obviously they wouldn’t just change the logo for their social media but many companies are having to change their logo due to the fact it won’t fit properly within the small icon space required.
Now the logo represents your business and in some cases, your product. does your logo fit into your social media okay? If you would like LMRT to look at your logo and call 01476 585100 or email paul@lmrtdesign.com