When I was studying graphic design one of the projects I worked on was to take some existing logos and improve or redesign them.
I selected 6 logos for this project.
On the left is the original logo and on the right is my update or redesign of that logo.
The original American Construction logo looks more like a business card than a logo and the Comic Sans style typeface seems a bit too casual for a construction company.
For my redesign I kept the idea of incorporating an American flag in the design but chose to update the typeface to a more bold and professional looking one. Selecting a thick sans serif typeface allowed me to incorporate the American flag theme by putting it INSIDE the text itself.
I’m sure you can see the star in the first “A” and if you look closely, you’ll also notice a starry sky effect in the rest of “American.” I even made the lines in “Construction” curve up and down to keep the waving flag theme (I think that’s what they were going for with the curve in the middle of the flag in the original design).
The original Braun Dental logo is blurry, hard to read, and the focus is on the swooshes and the ball/globe rather than on the company name and tagline. The casual, handwritten style of script used for the tagline does not look “cutting edge” and the swoosh going through the space between the words draws extra attention to the other space, making the tagline look very unbalanced.
For my redesign I kept the layout, one swoosh, the 3D effect, and most of the color scheme. I chose a modern and professional typeface that is easy to read and put the focus on the company name and tagline by highlighting it with a single swoosh in the same colors as the company name. The logo can be used with or without the dental tools on the side.
I’m assuming the design of the original Schroeder Homes & Remodeling logo was meant to be creative and highlight the house shape that one could associate with the letter H. They possibly even did it on purpose to bring the eye back up to Schroeder when you start reading the word Homes. But a hard to read logo is never a good idea. And the inconsistency between capital and lowercase letters seems random and unorganized – and that is NOT something one wants in a company that will be working on their house!
I created two versions of the Schroeder logo for my redesign – one with a similar design to the Ashley Furniture HomeStore logo, and one featuring a simple house image.
For both designs I created one concept with a typeface that is close to the original design and one with a more “wood plank” style to it. (In the first concept, the wood plank style typeface makes the S in Schroeder look almost like a chimney. This could be emphasized by placing a rectangular outline partially around the S.)
In both concepts I consistently used all capitals to represent strength and leadership.
In the first concept I chose to keep the black of the original design and selected orange for the roof since it is a color commonly associated with construction. For the second concept, I kept the black and orange color scheme and added blue to represent friendliness and trustworthiness.
The globe and swooshes in the original Millennium Interiors logo looks very similar to the original Braun Dental logo. And just like in the Braun Dental logo, the focus is more on the globe and swooshes than the company name, although in this logo they do have one of their taglines front and center on top of the swooshes. But it is still hard to read and I’m not sure what they were going for with such a dark color scheme. (Even though the globe is green, all that black and gold makes me think of the Death Star from Star Wars!)
For my redesign I kept the globe, serif typeface, and most of the color scheme. I dropped the black because I feel it is too dark and depressing for an interior design company and I changed the swooshes to a ring around the globe instead.
I kept the text straight for a more serious feel but it could also be curved around the globe like in the original design. I would definitely keep the new proportions and layout though (the text above and below the smaller globe) to keep the focus on the company name.
The Titan By Mereten Steering Systems logo is actually not too bad. It’s mostly readable, the words are appropriately weighted in order of importance, and they stuck to a simple color scheme.
My main critiques are that it’s a little too “busy” with the multiple outlines (and the outlined text is harder to read) and the inconsistent sizing in Titan lessens the bold, strong feel that they were going for and makes it look more “fun” and quirky than professional.
For my redesign I kept the layout, visual hierarchy, and color scheme, and chose very similar typefaces to the original. I kept the sizing consistent throughout the word Titan to emphasize the strong, bold feel of the thick typeface, and removed the outlines and increased the size of the other words to make them easier to read.
I also changed the multiple outlines of the box to just one that is about the same thickness of the previous 4 outlines together and added a line across the bottom to turn the partial outline into a full box shape. I feel this has a stronger and more supportive feel to it than multiple outlines that are open on the bottom.
The original Spa Warrior logo is very bold and fun/funky but looks more like an 80’s style poster or CD cover than a logo and may be hard for some people to read.
For my redesign I kept the rainbow color scheme but simplified it by putting the colors inside of the letters rather than in a thick outline around them which makes it easier to read.
I chose a more smooth and wave-like typeface for Spa and a “Celtic-inspired” looking typeface for Warrior. To draw further attention to the contrast between these two words, I put the cool colors into the word Spa to emphasize the associations with relaxation and health, and the warm colors into Warrior to emphasize the power and action associated with warriors.
I also turned the “o” in warrior into a shield to add a fun element that furthered the warrior theme.
Do you like these logo redesigns?
Sharise Mershon Design 