Marketing design
10
min read
Thinking about a brand refresh? This guide shows you exactly how to do it right, with real-world examples and a clear, step-by-step process to modernize your brand, stay relevant, and connect more effectively with your audience.
A brand refresh isn’t just about “looking modern.” If all you’re doing is updating colors or swapping out a logo, you’re not refreshing your brand. You’re applying a cosmetic fix. A real refresh goes deeper. It evolves your identity to reflect who you are today and where you're heading.
That’s what makes it both challenging and necessary. Maybe your messaging feels off. Maybe your visuals no longer reflect the quality of your product. Or maybe you’ve grown into a different company with a new audience and new vision, but the same tired brand.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through:
And if that last one hits close to home, you don’t have to do it all yourself. A solo marketing designer might handle a new logo or palette. But a real refresh touches your website design, social media, messaging, and more. That’s where having a full team makes a difference.
With TodayMade, you get access to UI designers, developers, and motion experts under one subscription. It’s a flexible, cost-efficient way to build a cohesive, modern brand without juggling multiple freelancers or agencies.
Let’s get into it.
A brand refresh is a strategic update to how your brand looks, sounds, and presents itself. You’re not changing your identity. You’re making sure it reflects who you are now and where your business is heading.
Unlike a full rebrand, a brand refresh strategy doesn’t involve renaming your company or overhauling its core. It focuses on refining the visuals, messaging, and tone to stay relevant and aligned with your goals. That might mean:
Most companies refresh because something has shifted. Maybe your product has matured. Maybe your messaging no longer fits. Maybe your market has changed, but your brand hasn’t kept up.
So, how do you know it’s time? Here are some common signs:
And sometimes, it’s just a gut feeling. Someone says it out loud: “This doesn’t feel like us anymore.”
Still unsure? Use this quick checklist. If you check three or more, you’re likely due for a refresh.
...If you check three or more, you’re likely due for a refresh. Whether you're refining your visuals or relaunching a brand to better match your evolved mission, the goal is clarity and alignment.
Knowing you need a brand refresh is the first step. But before you dive in, it’s important to understand what kind of change you’re actually making. Are you refreshing — or rebranding entirely?
Let’s break that down.
A brand refresh and a rebrand are not the same thing. The difference comes down to depth.
A brand refresh keeps your core identity intact (your name, your mission, your market positioning) and focuses on how that identity is expressed. It updates visual and verbal elements to make them more relevant, consistent, or aligned with your current stage of growth.
A rebrand,or brand transformation, on the other hand, is a full reset. You might change your company name, redefine your values, reposition in the market, and create an entirely new visual and messaging system from scratch. It’s rare, often risky, and usually tied to a major shift in the business — a brand relaunch triggered by a new name, business model, or market.
Here’s a quick comparison:
Most companies need a refresh, not a full rebrand. That was the case with Refera. Their product stayed the same, a platform for dental referrals, but their visual presentation needed to evolve. We helped them replace outdated flat graphics with 3D visuals, human imagery, and a more professional color system. Nothing about their core offer changed. They just started communicating it better.
Eleken followed a similar path. They’re still a SaaS design agency, still known for their pragmatic and clean design approach. But their brand assets were inconsistent. Through a visual refresh that included their landing page, social graphics, ebooks, and email designs, they now present a unified, polished image that reflects the quality of their work.
So before you launch into any brand work, ask yourself: Do we need to change who we are, or just how we show up?
If the answer is the latter, you’re not rebranding. You’re refreshing, and that’s a lot more achievable than it sounds.
Once that’s clear, the next step is understanding what actually makes a brand refresh work and what separates a good one from a forgettable one.
A successful brand refresh aligns how you look and sound with who you are and what your audience expects. Here’s what that takes, with successful rebrands that show how real brands made it work.
Your brand should feel cohesive across everything: website, app, ads, emails. Eleken’s refresh focused exactly on that. Their assets used to look like they came from different places. Now, bold typography, consistent layouts, and sharp color choices make every touchpoint instantly recognizable as Eleken. No logo needed.
Your visuals might look fine, but if your words no longer match your audience, the brand still feels off. Refera’s original landing page used generic language and flat illustrations that didn’t build trust. Through the refresh, we introduced more direct, professional messaging and paired it with imagery that speaks to medical users. The result is a brand that feels clear, confident, and grounded.
A good refresh is based on how your audience sees you, not just how you want to be seen. As Slack moved from serving startups to enterprise teams, they softened their playful tone and refined their visuals. The brand became more grown-up without losing its personality, which made it easier for larger clients to take them seriously.
If your support emails sound different from your ads or your product UI feels disconnected from your homepage, trust breaks down. Mailchimp ran into this. Their marketing strategy was quirky and bold, but their app felt generic. The refresh brought everything into one voice, from campaign visuals to interface copy, making the entire brand experience feel seamless.
Every update in a refresh should serve a purpose. Burger King didn’t modernize just to follow trends. Their 2021 refresh leaned into a retro aesthetic that tapped into nostalgia while simplifying their visual identity. The change was bold, but intentional, making the brand feel both fresh and familiar.
Knowing what makes a brand refresh successful is one thing. Putting it into action is another. Now let’s walk through the steps, from early audits to rollout, so you can build a refresh that’s not just smart in theory but strong in execution.
A brand revamp isn't something you wing. To avoid half-finished updates and internal confusion, you need a clear plan. Here’s a step-by-step process that can scale to your team’s size and budget.
Start by taking stock of your current brand. What’s working? What feels outdated? Where are the inconsistencies? Look at everything: your logo, website, pitch decks, UI, emails, and social media. A good website owner's manual can help you keep track of these assets and how they evolve. You don’t need a massive research effort — just honest input from your team and your audience.
Pro tip: Screenshot every touchpoint and pin them to a single board. The patterns (and problems) will reveal themselves quickly.
Decide what needs to change and why. This isn’t just about design. It’s about aligning your brand with your business goals. Are you targeting a new customer segment? Planning to raise prices? Launching something new? Let those goals guide the refresh, not the other way around.
This is where things get visual. Update your core brand assets:
This is also the stage where many companies try to DIY — and where many fall short. Visual design alone doesn’t carry a refresh. The Eleken case is a good example: their new brand system didn’t stop at a pretty landing page. It extended into ebooks, social graphics, and email modules, all using the same visual language.
Apply the new system to your most visible touchpoints first — typically your website, product UI, and sales materials. If your refresh includes a redesign, it helps to know what it really costs to hire a website designer. Start small, test internally, and iterate based on feedback.
Refera followed this model. They began with a landing page redesign focused on clarity and trust, then extended those updates to the product UI. That allowed them to keep momentum without overcommitting upfront.
Once you're confident in the system, roll it out across all channels. Announce it if there’s a big enough shift, or let the change speak for itself if it’s more subtle. Update documentation, train your team, and make sure everyone knows how to use the new brand correctly.
A refresh doesn’t end at launch. Monitor its performance using relevant marketing KPIs. Are bounce rates improving? Are customers more engaged? Treat your brand like a product and refine it based on data and feedback.
A clear process makes a brand refresh manageable. But what if your resources are limited? Whether you're a solo marketer or a lean team without in-house design, the next section is for you. Let's look at how to refresh your brand on a budget without cutting corners.
You don’t need a massive budget or a full in-house team to pull off a successful branding refresh. What you do need is focus, a few key tools, and a realistic plan.
Here’s how small teams can make it work:
Start with the areas that shape first impressions. Usually, that means your homepage, social media profiles, email templates, and sales decks. These are the places your audience will notice changes fastest.
You don’t have to buy an Adobe license or hire a creative agency on day one.
Your refresh doesn’t need to be wildly original. It needs to be clear, professional, and aligned with your message. A simplified color palette, better layout, and sharper copy can do more than any expensive brand video.
You don’t have to refresh everything at once. Start with your website or most visible channel. Once that’s working, update the rest. Refera took this approach. They refreshed their landing page first, then extended the new style to the product UI and marketing materials. Each step built on the last without straining their resources.
At some point, DIY can only take you so far. You might need to hire a graphic designer or : freelance graphic designer for brand assets, or bring in help for development, motion design, or a full rollout.
If you're past the point of DIY but not ready to commit to a full agency, TodayMade gives you another option. With one flexible subscription, you get access to designers, developers, and motion pros who can work together to update your brand across all touchpoints. No coordination headaches. No inflated budgets.
Ready to refresh your brand the smart way? Let’s talk.
