Redesign
Brand redesign is one of the most misused terms in the industry. Studios pitch full rebuilds when a type adjustment would do; clients request “a refresh” when the underlying system is broken beyond repair. We’ve worked through both scenarios enough times to know the difference isn’t aesthetic — it’s structural, and getting it wrong is expensive.
Redesigning is one of the hardest design jobs you can think of. Incorporating the legacy of the existing brand is a demanding job where only years of experience can help you solve it.
Even strategically, this is hard for both sides. We all quickly see where the problem is, but choosing the right path is hard, and we can’t do this again. All brands should be built to last; the aim is long-term, and the wish is forever. It sounds like an impossible mission, but this is what a good decision does.
The reasons why we need a redesign are:
– an old brand that is hard to adapt to new media
– new product direction
– new company vision
– shift in the audience, new markets
– old marketing
– the competition is way ahead
-…
Most of the time, they are not all above; in this case, we are considering a brand refresh rather than redesigning it. We can decide together, and if it helps, ask yourself these questions and compare them to where you stand now:
– Vision: what do you want to create?
– Purpose: why do you want to create?
– Values: Who are you?
– Mission: how can you create the future?
What Brand Redesign Actually Requires (vs. What a Refresh Can Fix)
What a logo system looks like before any redesign beginsDon’t miss the next essay. Signup for our newsletter
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The highest award for a designer: finished work, payment, and client bragging
Designer success metrics are rarely what the industry tells you they are. We've delivered 128 projects across two decades, and the measure that holds is deceptively simple: the work is out in the world, the payment landed, and the client is doing your marketing for you. Those three moments, in sequence, define whether a project actually succeeded.
Do What You Don’t Know
Do what you don't know — this is the only instruction we've ever given ourselves that consistently produced something worth keeping. Doing what you know is maintenance; it sharpens the tool but never changes the hand that holds it. We've built 25 years of work, 128 projects, and every award worth mentioning by leaning into the thing we hadn't yet figured out how to do.
Branding Agency vs Logo Designer: Understanding the Difference
Branding agency vs logo designer — the confusion is real, and it costs clients money. Most briefs we receive conflate the two, assuming a mark is a brand. It isn't. A branding agency vs logo designer comparison isn't about prestige; it's about scope, process, and what problem you're actually trying to solve.
Why Are We Searching for Clarity?
Clarity in design is what every brief promises and almost nothing delivers. We've been watching this gap widen for two decades — between what communication claims to say and what it actually lands. Searching for clarity isn't a trend. It's a signal that something structural has gone wrong.
When was the last time you went on a date?
Brand dating strategy is something most studios won't admit they've ruined. We've watched clients walk into pitches dressed like a corporate handbook and wonder why nobody called back. The problem isn't the product — it's that design forgot to be interesting before it tried to be impressive.
Why so serious?
We ditched the books, picked up a pen, and let strange creatures appear. Turns out that's not a detour — it's how branding actually starts.
We use craft in every project. Not as decoration. Not as nostalgia. As a way of thinking.
Craft in design thinking is how we structure every decision we make — not what it looks like at the end, but how the problem gets interrogated from the start. We've been working this way since 2004. Craft in design thinking means slowing down where other studios speed up, and knowing exactly why.