A logo refresh works best as a sequence: audit the current logo, decide what to keep, set a brief, design and test options, build a complete file set, write usage rules, then roll out in a planned order. Skip a stage and the usual result is a pretty new mark that does not fit on a favicon, a van or a purchase order. This checklist walks through each stage in the order we would work through it with a business, with the questions to answer and the files to have in hand at the end.
It is written for owners, directors and marketing managers who already have a logo and want to modernise it without losing the recognition it has earned.
The three words get used interchangeably, and the difference decides your budget and timeline.
If customers love your current mark but it looks dated or breaks at small sizes, you need a refresh. If the business has outgrown its identity, you are looking at something larger, and our guide on how to rebrand a company covers the wider process. This checklist assumes a refresh, with notes where a bigger change alters the steps.
Start by deciding whether the logo is actually the problem. Shopify advises clarifying the specific need for a redesign and assessing how customers perceive the brand before touching the design. That order matters, because a logo cannot fix poor service, a weak offer or a pricing problem.
These are genuine design problems, and a refresh can solve them:
If your issues are about leads, conversion or reputation, look at your offer, your website and your marketing first. Our piece on website redesign strategies is a good place to check whether the site, not the logo, is holding results back.
Before you design anything, list every use. You will need this list again at rollout, so build it properly now. A spreadsheet with one row per item works well.
For each row, record who owns it, where the master file lives and how much it costs to change. Signage and vehicles may set your phasing.
Recognition is an asset you have already paid for. Shopify’s guidance is to preserve the elements that resonate with loyal customers and review those that overcomplicate or confuse. In practice, ask four questions about your current logo:
Then turn the answers into two or three measurable objectives. Good objectives read like this: “works at 32 pixels square”, “reproduces in one colour”, “feels current beside our new website”, “still recognisable to existing customers at a glance”. Vague goals such as “look more modern” lead to endless revisions.
A one-page brief saves more time than any other document in the process. Include:
Name one decision-maker. Logos designed by committee drift toward the average.
Good refresh work usually presents two or three routes that all respect the “keep” list, rather than ten unrelated ideas. Ask your designer to show each route in context, not on a blank white page: on your website header, a phone screen, a business card, a van side, a social avatar.
You do not need a research budget to test sensibly.
Treat feedback as evidence about clarity and recognition, not as a vote on taste.
Logos have a special status in accessibility rules: under WCAG, text that is part of a logo or brand name has no contrast requirement. That is an exemption for the logo itself, not a licence for poor legibility. Where the logo appears next to buttons, headings or navigation, make sure the surrounding text and interface elements still have enough contrast, and choose a logo colourway that is clearly visible on your standard backgrounds.
This is where many refreshes fall short: you approve a design, receive one PNG and discover three months later that the printer needs a vector. Ask for the full set before final payment. A brand identity checklist from TDS DaaS recommends a primary logo, a horizontal variant, an icon or mark, reversed and monochrome versions, a minimum-size specification, a clear-space rule and documented examples of incorrect use, supplied as AI/EPS, SVG, transparent PNG, PNG on white and PDF files.
Turn that into a delivery checklist:
Check the small sizes personally. Open the icon version at the size of a browser tab and a phone home-screen icon before you sign off.
You do not need a 60-page brand book. A single page or two is enough if it covers:
Store the guide and the assets in one shared location with a clear name, and retire the old folder from view. Having two logos circulating is the commonest reason refreshes feel messy six months later.
If your logo is a registered trade mark, speak to a trade mark attorney before launching a changed version, because a registered mark is protected as it was filed and a visibly altered design may need its own application. Separately, the Intellectual Property Office says you must tell it if details held in the trade mark register need updating, such as an address or representative, and that there is no fee to update the register. Business name changes, if part of a larger rebrand, also need to be reflected with Companies House and your bank and insurers.
A rollout checklist from a brand-launch template covers inventorying every active touchpoint, assigning owners and dates, preparing redirects for any approved URL or email changes, briefing employees and sending final asset instructions to agencies, resellers and directory owners. That maps neatly onto three waves.
Digital is quick to change, so do it together:
If the new logo changes your site’s look, it is a good moment to review the whole experience. Our notes on planning a website redesign and the mistakes to avoid when redesigning help you decide how far to go.
Replace items as they wear out or run out, starting with the most visible: signage, vehicles, uniforms, then packaging and print stock. Use up old stock if the difference is small, but recall anything that shows the old logo next to the new one in public. Archive the old assets so they are not used by mistake, and write down audit discrepancies with an owner and a due date.
Keep this table up to date until every row is done.
The evidence column sounds fussy, but a screenshot per row is what makes the final audit quick.
For principles behind a durable mark, see our best practices for logo design.
A logo refresh is one of the highest-leverage small projects a business can run, but only when it is treated as a system rather than a drawing. The mark itself is perhaps a fifth of the work. The rest is the audit, the file set, the guidelines and the rollout that make it work on a website, a van and a proposal template alike. We build identity and web work together because that is where refreshes succeed or stall. A new logo that has to be squeezed into an old website, or a site relaunch that has to guess at the logo, costs more than doing both with the same plan. Our advice: keep what your customers already recognise, simplify what holds the design back, and insist on the complete asset set. If you are unsure whether you need a refresh or a fuller rebrand, start with the audit in Stage 1, because the answer is usually clear once the logo is laid out in all its real-world uses. Rob
A logo refresh is one of the highest-leverage small projects a business can run, but only when it is treated as a system rather than a drawing. The mark itself is perhaps a fifth of the work. The rest is the audit, the file set, the guidelines and the rollout that make it work on a website, a van and a proposal template alike.
We build identity and web work together because that is where refreshes succeed or stall. A new logo that has to be squeezed into an old website, or a site relaunch that has to guess at the logo, costs more than doing both with the same plan.
Our advice: keep what your customers already recognise, simplify what holds the design back, and insist on the complete asset set. If you are unsure whether you need a refresh or a fuller rebrand, start with the audit in Stage 1, because the answer is usually clear once the logo is laid out in all its real-world uses.
Rob
Our team handles logo and identity work alongside web design, so the new mark is tested on your real site and materials, not just on a slide. A Logo Design Package is listed at £250.00 one-off, and our Brand Design Experts service starts from £1,749.30 one-off for wider identity work. Bring your audit and brief, and we will tell you which route fits.
You can see everything we offer on our services page, or get in touch through our site for a free consultation.
There is no fixed cycle. Refresh when the logo stops doing its job: it is illegible on screens, no longer fits your offer, or looks out of step with the rest of your identity. Many businesses review it whenever they plan a major website update, which is a sensible trigger.
The design stage is often a few weeks, depending on the number of routes and revision rounds. The audit, the file set and the rollout add time, and signage or vehicles may be phased over months. Plan the rollout before design starts so the launch date is realistic.
Yes, briefly. A short email and social post showing old and new side by side reassures customers that it is the same business. If the change is subtle, a line in your newsletter and a note on your website is enough.
Usually it is efficient to plan them together, since the header, favicon, colours and sharing images all change. The website can follow shortly after launch if budget is tight, as long as the logo is updated there on day one.
Ask for vector masters (SVG and EPS or AI), a PDF, transparent PNGs, and a PNG on white, in primary, horizontal, icon, reversed and single-colour versions. Request the colour codes and a short usage guide at the same time.
Book a Demo
Forgotten Password
Get your free SEO guide
Thank you, please check your email
Sign into Brainiac Media
Please sign-in using your email address and password.
Forget your Password?
no worries, click here to reset your password.