As your organisation grows and evolves, it’s not uncommon for your visual identity to fall behind. Maybe your services have changed, your audience has shifted, or your brand just doesn’t feel like you anymore.
But that doesn’t always mean you need to start from scratch. A brand refresh sharpens and modernises your existing identity, without throwing everything out. It’s about building on the brand equity you already have, while bringing it in line with where you are now and where you’re going.
We work with purpose-driven organisations to help them show up with clarity and confidence. From visual identity refreshes and branding for new products to the design of websites, social assets and digital collateral, we help brands evolve and stay consistent across every touchpoint. We also create brand guidelines to ensure your identity is applied cohesively, both online and offline.
If you’re a brand owner, marketing lead or product owner wondering if your brand identity is holding you back, this guide is for you!
“Your brand is the sum of how people perceive you. If your visual identity feels outdates or inconsistent, it undermines the trust you’ve worked hard to build.” – Joe, Founder @ Rareloop.
Why it matters
Your brand isn’t just how you look, it’s how you’re remembered. In a digital-first world, your brand assets are the first (and sometimes only) chance to make the right impression. Studies show that:
- Over half of a brand’s first impressions are visual (US Chamber of Commerce)
- People form an opinion of your website in just 0.5 seconds (CXL, 2022)
- Brand consistency can increase revenue by 10-20% (Marq, 2021)
- Consumers are 81% more likely to recall a brand’s colour than its name (Reboot)
7 signs it’s time for a brand refresh
1. Your brand feels outdated
Your logo, fonts or website might be giving off early 2010’s energy, even if your work is cutting-edge. If your identity doesn’t reflect your innovation, credibility, or current audience, it could be time for a reset.
2. You’ve evolved, but your brand hasn’t
You’ve added services, reached new audiences, or shifted your mission, but your brand is still telling the same old story. If your external identity no longer matches your internal reality, there’s a disconnect worth addressing
3. Your visual identity is inconsistent
If your social posts, sales decks and website all look like they come from different companies, your brand is lacking cohesion. In fact, only 30% of companies use their brand guidelines regularly, and 15% don’t have any at all (Statistica, 2021). A refresh helps you unify everything under one clear direction.
4. You blend in with competitors
Your tone of voice or design language should differentiate you, not make you disappear into the crowd. If your brand lacks the edge or uniqueness that once set you apart, it’s time to bring that personality back to the forefront.
5. Your brand doesn’t reflect your values
If you’ve become more human-centred, socially conscious or tech-driven, but your visual identity still reflects who you used to be, you’re sending mixed messages. A refresh helps ensure your brand expresses your values, not just your visuals.
6. Your internal teams are confused
When internal teams don’t have a clear guide to follow, they spend time reinventing the wheel, redesigning slides, guessing at tone or creating inconsistent content. A refresh provides structure, clarity and saves time across departments.
7. You’re embarrassed to share your website or materials.
This one’s a big red flag, and one we hear a lot. If you hesitate before sending someone to your homepage or handing over a business card, your brand is working against you, not for you.
What’s included in a brand refresh?
Every refresh is unique, but usually we’d address the following:
- Updated logo (or logo refinements/ variations)
- Refined colour palette and typography
- Iconography and illustration styles
- Photography and image direction
- Tone of voice guidance
- Brand usage guidelines (for print and digital)
- Website UI updates to reflect the refreshed brand
We guide you through a collaborative discovery process to identify what’s working, what needs to evolve, and how to make sure your brand supports your future, not your past.
Brand refresh vs rebrand. What’s the difference?
While they sound similar, a brand refresh and a rebrand serve different purposes, and understanding the distinction can help you decide which is right for your organisation.
A brand refresh is an evolution. It keeps the core of your brand intact but modernises or adjusts the visual identity, tone of voice, or messaging to better reflect who you are today. It’s ideal when your business has grown or changed, but your values, audience, and purpose are still aligned.
A rebrand is a full reset. It’s typically needed when there’s a major shift in your positioning, purpose of audience. For example, after a merger, a pivot in your business model or a reputation challenge.
Think of a refresh as a wardrobe update, a rebrand is changing your entire identity. Here are a few examples of brand refreshes in the wild, and what they hoped to achieve.
African Adventures
African Adventures is a social enterprise that organises life-changing volunteering experiences in Africa for young people cross the UK. As the organisation scaled and matured, its brand and website no longer reflected its credibility, ambition, or the quality of its impact.
We worked with African Adventures to create a refreshed visual identity and new website that communicated its purpose with more clarity and professionalism.
“We recently worked with Rareloop on our website build and are delighted with the outcome. They sought to understand who we are and what we do as an organisation during a highly productive discovery phase, and put forward design proposals that reflected exactly what we were hoping for. They were professional, efficient, and always came up with solutions during the build. We are continuing to work with them as a result.”
— Dan Mew, Managing Director, African Adventures
We delivered a cohesive and compelling digital presence that better reflected African Adventures’ mission and builds trust with schools, funders and volunteers. Read the full case study here.
Zendesk
As Zendesk grew into a global, enterprise-ready platform, its original start-up identity started to feel misaligned. In 2023, a refreshed visual system introduced richer colours, refined typography, and updated imagery to reflect a brand that’s both empathetic and enterprise-grade. The refresh has created a clearer, more confident expression of who they’d already become.
NuServe
NuServe is a commercial cleaning company with a people-first culture and a strong commitment to sustainability. While their service offering had grown and their internal purpose was clear, their old brand and website didn’t reflect the professionalism or values-led approach they’d become known for.
Rareloop worked with NuServe to develop a refreshed identity and new website that better represents who they are today, modern, mission-aligned, and future-focused.
“From the outset, we were impressed with their people, and by their well considered design and development process that served to guide our work together throughout the project. Excellent communication, useful design tools and a spirit of partnership meant we always felt assured of progress and part of the process. I would have no hesitation in recommending Rareloop to anyone considering a similar project.”
— Simon Duke, Managing Director, NuServe
The result is a confident, clean visual identity supported by a digital presence that clearly communicates their ethos and differentiates them in a competitive B2B market. Read the full case study here.
Slack
Slack’s original logo was quirky but inconsistent, tricky to reproduce and unsuitable for many contexts. Their 2019 refresh introduced a simplified, versatile symbol that retained the spirit of the brand while working seamlessly across platforms. It was a practical shift to support global scale without losing personality.
Figma
Figma refined its brand as it expanded beyond designers into enterprise teams. They kept the playful ‘F’ logo but introduced more neutral colours, cleaner typography, and less whimsical illustrations. The refresh supported growth and scalability while staying true to their creative roots.
Ready for a refresh?
A brand refresh isn’t about change for the sake of it, it’s about alignment.
If your current brand no longer reflects who you are, what you stand for, or where you’re heading, it might be time to evolve your identity. A thoughtful refresh can reignite your message, strengthen internal clarity, and help you make the right impression, every time.
Want to explore what a brand refresh could look like for you?
