The rebrand temporary lands in your desk. Typeface? Examine. Color palette? Sorted. Brand variations? Carried out. Job full, proper? Truly… not even shut. If Frontify’s newest report tells us something, it is that this guidelines method to model id is dangerously outdated.
Titled ‘Rebranding Redefined’ and primarily based on insights from a six-part webinar sequence that includes heavyweights corresponding to Jones Knowles Ritchie, Buck, DIA, Pantone and Mozilla, the report argues that branding is not about perfecting static belongings anymore. It is about constructing dwelling, respiratory techniques that really evolve with tradition and know-how.
For inventive professionals, this is not simply concept. It is a sensible playbook for holding your work related past the preliminary launch buzz.
1. Use sort with persona
Phil Garnham, ECD at Monotype, and Katie Rominger, affiliate inventive director at Studio Mega, need designers to suppose deeper. Their query is not “What seems to be good?” however “Why make it in any respect?” Rominger’s take a look at is brilliantly easy: might this typeface belong to anybody else? The very best ones could not presumably work for a competitor.
Take Burger King’s 2021 rebrand. JKR did not simply decide a retro font and name it heritage. They labored with Colophon Foundry to create Flame, a customized household of rounded shapes impressed by the model’s precise meals. Juicy typography for juicy burgers.
Then there’s Walmart, which traces its sort again to founder Sam Walton’s Eighties trucker hat, reworking that Vintage Olive font into one thing bolder for immediately’s omnichannel world.
The message? Typography’s emotional vary is exploding. AI helps pair typefaces to marketing campaign moods and viewers contexts. However accessibility stays non-negotiable, and your sort must reside in movement; not simply sit fairly in model tips that no one reads.
2. Make color imply one thing
Millennial Pink had its second. Gen Z Purple adopted. However actual color technique goes method deeper than trend-chasing. It is about discovering real synergy between a model, its providing, and its individuals… then having the heart to do one thing totally different.
Benjamin Watkinson, inventive director of GF Smith, is refreshingly blunt about this. “There are a great deal of manufacturers that ought to take extra dangers. Each model is totally different, but we’re funnelled into this world the place every little thing has to look the identical.”
His firm’s personal rebrand with Templo proves the purpose. Nearing 150 years in enterprise, the paper producer ditched heritage clichés for vibrant, “gently radical” branding aimed toward youthful, environmentally aware audiences. It is a masterclass in utilizing color to sign evolution with out shedding your soul.
The lesson? Context is every little thing. What communicated sustainability or trustworthiness 5 years in the past may really feel drained now. Shifting cultural conversations demand recent options. And generally being genuinely courageous with color—not simply choosing what feels protected—is the one strategy to stand out in a sea of sameness.
3. Give sound extra respect
From Netflix’s “Tu-Dum” to Apple’s startup chime, sonic branding is lastly getting critical consideration. But most manufacturers nonetheless deal with sound as an afterthought.
Ilā Kamalagharan, co-founder of Maison Mercury Jones, places it completely: “Music sits with us at a posh, deep, primal stage. Tapping into it lets manufacturers attain individuals in a very new method.”
However this is the factor: merely licensing fashionable tracks will not minimize it. It is about understanding how your model really sounds, not simply borrowing what’s trending. Bomo Piri, founding father of Studio Hamida, insists visible and sonic manufacturers should develop collectively: “The sooner you get these two working in tandem, the higher.”
The very best work proves it. Maison Mercury Jones constructed a complete sonic universe for luxurious vogue model ARK/8 round membership tradition and deep-house manufacturing; authentic tracks, artist collabs, reside occasions, the works. For the Copenhagen Metro, Sonic Minds created a modular sonic setting that is minimal and clear, however heat sufficient to make journey really feel genuinely human.
The takeaway? Sound ought to amplify your model values, not simply hop on no matter’s scorching. Construct modular blocks that adapt throughout touchpoints and guarantee your model sounds as distinctive because it seems to be.
4. Perceive that flexibility is now not non-obligatory
With new applied sciences, tendencies and consumer patterns continually rising, designing model parts that may change and adapt is not good to have; it is important. The problem is realizing what stays mounted and what wants room to breathe. Mozilla’s 2024 rebrand with JKR nails this completely. They launched a framework that each inventive group ought to steal: mounted, flex and free.
Mounted belongings construct recognition. Flex parts adapt to totally different channels and audiences. Free parts let the model evolve. Easy, proper? But it surely works as a result of it is purposeful.
For Mozilla, each determination stemmed from one core worth: accessibility. That focus lets them shift belongings like iconography and pictures as their viewers matures, with out shedding what makes them recognisably Mozilla. As Amy Bebbington, international head of name at Mozilla, reviews: “We’re already seeing enhancements in model fairness, purely as a result of we use our distinctive belongings extra confidently throughout the portfolio.”
This acknowledges an apparent reality: every channel has its personal language. Should you’re too inflexible, you merely will not join with the individuals you must attain.
5. Embody movement from day one
Maybe the report’s most pressing message? Cease treating movement as ornament. As Simon Chong, inventive director at Buck, says: “Movement has traditionally been tacked on on the finish, as soon as the system is already set.” That should flip. Movement must be as elementary as color and kind. Mitch Paone, inventive director at DIA, agrees. “Each model exists in movement by default immediately,” he causes. “So the dialog is not ‘Do we’d like movement?’ It is ‘What sort of movement defines us?'”
DIA’s work for Lyon’s Nuits Sonores music competition exhibits what’s potential: particle-based typography that vibrates, scatters, and recombines like Music itself. Buck’s Nosy character for Notion’s AI assistant makes use of real-time interactive behaviours that reply to what customers really do.
The shift requires treating your tips like behavioural blueprints, not static manuals. And it means designing movement into techniques from day one, not bolting it on later.
6. Hear and construct cultural forex
Good manufacturers reply to tendencies rapidly. Nice manufacturers set them. However as Ana Andjelic, writer of Hitmakers, explains, cultural relevance is not luck; it is about listening to and constructing real ties along with your group. As Barr Balamuth, founding father of Parallel Play, explains: “Cultural forex tends to point out up the place there’s pressure.” Discover the place you possibly can problem class norms, then flip that pressure into repeatable strikes.
Take a look at A24 increasing past indie movies into proudly owning NYC’s Cherry Lane Theater and launching A24 Music. Or The Row banning telephones at vogue exhibits and proving exclusivity generates critical buzz. These aren’t one-off stunts; they’re dedicated cultural programmes.
Scale would not matter, Andjelic insists. Nothing stops any enterprise from curating rigorously, collaborating meaningfully or constructing actual group.
What this implies for you
So what is the large takeaway from this report? I might say it is this. Profitable model techniques immediately operate meaningfully, embody accessibility, flex naturally as tendencies shift, and supply construction that helps groups create with correct intent.
For creatives, meaning rethinking your whole course of. Begin with movement, not static comps. Construct flexibility from day one. Give sound the respect it deserves. Use color to disrupt, not simply embellish. Make typography work tougher emotionally.
Most significantly? Recognise that your function is not simply crafting stunning belongings. It is constructing dwelling techniques that breathe, adapt and genuinely thrive. The manufacturers courageous sufficient to decide to this method—listening to communities long-term and main with values—will nonetheless be related in 2030. Will yours be amongst them?
