Dear Bhav…how do we rebrand without losing our identity?
A brewery, venue, and food truck owner up north gets in touch with a brilliant (and very relatable) rebrand dilemma. Proof that growing up can be tricky, but it doesn't mean throwing away who you were.
With a brand built on working-class graft and local pride, how do you make things feel more vibrant and inclusive without losing the loyal community who got you here in the first place?
Dear Proud & Ready for Change,
This is quite an exciting (and a little bit of a daunting) place to be; this is such a good question. You've built something with real meaning behind it, and now you're wondering how to evolve it without losing what made it special in the first place. That's absolutely not a sign you've gone wrong. It's a sign you've grown.
So where do you actually start? My recommendation…not with a moodboard, and not with a new logo.
Start by asking questions and doing some research
Before any words or visuals get touched, it's worth asking questions and understanding how your brand is actually perceived right now, and what people genuinely connect with.
Talk to your existing customers. Ask them what draws them to you, what local pride means to them. You need to figure out whether they'd respond well to something more inclusive and positive
Ask these same questions to your team and employees to get everyone aligned on what you collectively want the brand to stand for next
Ideally you need to do both
This will give you a really good foundation to create a strategy, and then brief any specialists you want to work with. Asking the right questions, and listening, is a much better starting point than guesswork is.
Then move onto looking at the words, not the visuals
Names and slogans rooted in tough labour worked when your business was started, and for where your brand used to be. If you're moving towards something warmer and more welcoming, naming and tone of voice need to be 100% figured out before any design work begins, because the words and language you choose, and feel of these, will shape everything that follows visually.
This is genuinely one of those areas where bringing in a specialist pays for itself many times over. Someone who lives and breathes naming and tone of voice will get you somewhere a brainstorm never will. (I know people who work in this exact space, and I'm always happy to make an introduction.)
Think across the whole family of brands, not just one
If your business spans more than one venture, each part will be likely to have a slightly different personality. But your customers move between all of them, so it's worth thinking about how everything works on its own and as a family. I really can’t emphasise how important this is.
A few ways you could do this:
A shared supporting colour palette can tie things together
Typography can be used to express the slightly different personalities within the family
Each part of the business can still have room to express its own character within that
The goal is connected, not identical
I worked on the Sickle Cell Society brand refresh recently. The sickle cell icon stayed as it’s become recognisable, and the charity didn’t want to lose that . But the dark, heavy background is gone, the typography is modernised and feels more approachable. The whole thing feels lighter and more confident. Refreshed identity, next chapter.
Visuals come last, and nothing needs to be thrown away (promise!)
Once the research, naming and tone are all figured out, a full rebrand is likely to be the next step. But your existing colours and fonts have built up real recognition over the years, and that's worth holding onto. At least in part.
For example, rather than scrapping your entire colour palette, shift some of them into a secondary palette that nods to your history, while a new primary brand identity, based on all of your research and strategy, carries the more vibrant, inclusive feel you're after. Loyal customers will still see familiar threads; the brand just grows up around them.
The bottom line
Think of this less as leaving behind your brand with lots of history, and more as the next chapter of your brand. Some of the strongest rebrands I’ve seen don't wipe out everything that came before; they build on it with a clearer sense of who they're for now.
Go and make something brilliant.
Onwards,
Bhav x
If this sounds a bit too familiar, you don't have to figure it out alone. Book a call with me and let's work together to make sure your brand is as inclusive as it is beautiful.
Go on, ask…
Got a burning brand question you're too embarrassed to ask out loud? Whether your logo is giving you a headache, your website feels a bit Frankenstein, or you just don't know where to start, send it over completely anonymously to dearbhav@b81designs.com.
No judgement, just honest advice. Anonymously.
