Your logo is your identity. Which makes it easy to understand that many companies don’t want to mess with their logo to get clever over the holidays. Even so, many companies with famous logos do modify them to celebrate the holiday season. Google is one that constantly messes with its logo, with a lot of success. The company is noted for goes beyond the basics and building a clever story in each image.
Understandably, most places don’t have that kind of horsepower to be able to design something new in their logo on a regular basis. But there are still many tasteful ways to modify your logo to reflect a special event that won’t cost you a trip to the bank, whether it’s adding snowflakes, a bow, a seasonal design, or even festive colors. And a well designed seasonal/holiday logo can maintain brand recognition while reflecting your business’s connection to the season. There is nothing wrong with keeping it simple, you just don’t want to be cliche, like plopping a Santa hat on top of your logo.
Some things to consider if you want to change things up a bit for the holidays:
- Don’t stray too far from your brand’s essence. Logos can lose their effectiveness if you get too far from the brand aesthetics. Using holidays and special occasions to add flavor to your logo doesn’t mean it’s an opportunity to create a new look. Your design elements should still reflect and reinforce your current brand’s look and message while adding elements that convey the spirit of the holiday or occasion.
- Keep it simple. This holiday look has to work across channels, so you don’t want to add elements that get lost when you try to resize your logo.
- Remember that seasonal holidays are not celebrated or embraced by everyone, so take your customers’ thoughts into consideration. Changing your logo may feel like an insensitive or unprofessional move to people who do not celebrate the same holiday or those who have different religious beliefs. While your feelings about the season are relevant, be real about how your customers might feel also.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure it works for your company and your brand. It is a great way to connect with customers, but if you feel like you are trying too hard to make a point, it might be best to keep the status quo. Your customers will appreciate that also!
