We all develop and change throughout time, so why not brands? A rebrand maintains a company updated and reminds customers that "yes, we are still in business" whether it's offering new products or simply updating a logo.
Rebranding, on the other hand, should not be approached lightly. It not only takes time and money, but it also ruins your company's reputation if you miss the point.
What is Rebranding?
Traditionally, rebranding is driven by a new business strategy. It is usually used to improve any of the company's branding elements, such as the logo, colour palette, and typography.
You can rebrand as little or as much as you like, from just altering your tagline to completely changing your company name. It's easier to conceive of it as three distinct categories:
Brand refresh - You change minor details only, such as modernising individual aspects of your logo or slightly changing the hues of your colour palette.
Partial rebrand - You change certain elements but not others, such as using a new logo that uses elements, themes and colours from your old logo.
Full rebrand - You take an overhaul of your existing branding and start all over.
If you're considering a rebrand, keep reading to learn the process of rebranding a company - we’ll be going through an in-depth case study of one of our clients (Foura) who has been very happy with the results.
What kind of company is Foura?
Foura is a matchmaking service which helps people find mates; not dates. A new product which is changing the way people meet each other across Australia. Tam Al-Saad, the founder of Foura approached us to assist him with a brand refresh to coincide with a product relaunch.
Foura’s Previous Branding
Before we began the redesign process, Tam and our team had regular meetings to ensure our vision and goals were aligned to make the design process more efficient. Tam expressed that that he liked the current logo, however it looked too dull and dispirited which did not meet the company’s identity. We discovered that the pre-existing brand guidelines did not provide much design guidance. Therefore, Tam and the team decided to go with a partial rebrand.
The Rebranding Process
Brand Colours
Choosing the right colours for your brand can help you draw in the right customers by highlighting your business’ strengths. As you may expect, the incorrect combination can have the opposite impact.
Colour psychology, which states that colours influence our emotions and behaviours, is an important aspect of graphic design. Green is relaxing while yellow is happy (since the sun is bright and brilliant) (like laying in the grass and looking up at a bunch of leaves is peaceful).
Primary Colours
Primary colours make it easier for customers to recognise a brand. These are the brand's primary colours. Commonly, primary colours are incorporated into a company’s logo. A company's primary colours range from one to three, but more can be added if needed.
We started by choosing the primary colours and logo fonts. We gathered different colour and logo variations that resemble unity, playfulness and liveliness which meets Foura’s brand values. With the colours narrowed down to a couple, we designed a set of logo variations. Secondary colours Secondary colours can be featured with primary colours as accent colours. The primary palette is still the dominant colour but secondary colours are used in combination to draw attention. They usually have a range of 1-6 colours. Companies can decide to have an infinity of secondary colours but we suggest to limit the colour palette as it helps with recognition and consistency.
The Final Graphic Design Branding Guide
A branding guide is a document providing instructions about correct and incorrect ways to use the graphics created for the brand. It includes the explanation of the idea standing behind a logo as well as the presentation of a colour palette which can be used for different purposes. It is good to demonstrate the examples of incorrect usage to avoid poor visual performance and communication. Once Tam and the team were both happy with the new logo, we began creating the full-package brand guidelines including:
A detailed guide of how to use the Foura logo including dos and don’ts, exclusion zone and logo colours
Primary and secondary brand colours, and gradient palette
Typography
Social media templates for posts and stories
Transfer of Finalised Designs to the Client
Since Tam wasn’t familiar with design softwares like Adobe, we migrated the logos, colours and the templates onto Canva so he can easily design by himself without needing our help.
Tam was very happy with the work our team produced. He mentions that: "Working with Cureative was a real joy. They showed me a number of different directions we could have taken the brand and then helped me narrow it down until we found the style that was just right." - Tam (Founder of Foura)
As you can see, rebranding is a complex process. Each step should be well-thought, based on the needs of the target audience and business goals. To learn more, contact us at hello@cureative.studio!