Process · 21 October 2026
Refresh your logo, or start from scratch?
Simplifying an existing logo and drawing a new one are different decisions. When each one is right and what to look at before you choose, with Taze Sepet as an example.
A brand that wants to change its logo has two roads in front of it. It can build on the existing logo: fix it, simplify it, strengthen it. Or it can set the old logo aside and start from scratch. Both are legitimate. Their results are very different.
A refresh: keep the idea, fix the drawing
A logo refresh keeps the idea behind the existing mark and gives it a better drawing. Shapes get simpler, proportions get corrected, colours get clearer and unnecessary detail comes out. People still see the same brand when they look at it, just a tidier version.
This road protects the brand’s recognition. The familiarity the logo has built up over the years isn’t lost.
Starting from scratch: a new idea
A new logo means a new idea. Nothing from the old mark may carry over. This road makes more sense when the brand’s direction has changed fundamentally, or when the old logo’s idea no longer describes the brand.
It has a cost, though. Recognition gets built from zero, and it takes time for people to connect a new mark with the brand.
Which one, when?
Three questions help.
1. Is the logo’s idea still right? A logo’s idea and its drawing are two different things. If the idea still describes the brand but the drawing is dated, crowded or technically weak, a refresh is usually enough. If the idea itself clashes with the brand, a fresh start may be needed.
2. Do people recognise the brand by this logo? If the logo has been around a long time and people have it in their heads, throwing it away is a real loss. For a logo that’s new or hasn’t been used much, the loss is smaller.
3. Is the problem really the logo? Sometimes what’s missing isn’t the logo but the system around it. The colours aren’t written down, there are no versions, the rules are vague. In that case a new logo won’t fix anything. It’ll just move the problem into a new file.
A refresh example: Taze Sepet
Taze Sepet is an online grocery for natural, regional food. Its logo has a strong idea: a green “t” and a red “s” join to form a shopping basket. The words “taze” (fresh) and “sepet” (basket) are inside the mark itself.
We left that idea alone. What we did was simplify it. We took out the hand-drawn basket mesh, redrew the leaves as clean, solid shapes, and moved the colours from neon green and crimson to leaf green and tomato red: Fresh Green, #78BE20, and Basket Red, #E03C31. The wordmark is a custom logotype drawn on Expletus Sans Bold.
Then we built a system around the mark: colours, typeface, pattern, photography direction and applications. How to use the logo is written down in the new guidelines too.
What to watch in a refresh
- Write the idea down. Can you say in one sentence what your logo stands for? The refresh should keep that sentence.
- Put before and after side by side. If the new drawing feels foreign to someone who knows the old logo, the refresh may have gone too far.
- Don’t forget small sizes. Try the new drawing at app icon and profile picture size as well.
- Set up the system too. A refreshed logo with no written rules will scatter again within a few months.
We’ve covered the wider picture in When does a brand need a rebrand? You can see Taze Sepet’s new identity on its case page.