Assessing Brand Image Before Repositioning
How to assess current brand perception and audit your existing vector logo files, fonts and rights before a logo redesign for brand repositioning.
Contents
Before you reposition a brand, you need to know two things. The first is how people currently see the brand. The second is which visible assets, the logo above all, carry that perception. The assessment therefore has two parts. One looks at perception: what audiences associate with the brand today. The other looks at the artwork: what the current logo files actually contain, and what you are permitted to do with them. Together they tell you what a redesigned logo should keep, evolve or drop.
Brand image versus brand identity
Brand image is the perception held by customers, prospects, staff and the wider market. Brand identity is the set of elements a company designs and controls, such as the logo, color palette, typography and tone. Repositioning tries to shift the image. A logo redesign is one identity tool for doing that. Assessing brand image means comparing the perception people hold today with the position you want to occupy, and finding where the current identity helps or gets in the way.
Why the assessment comes first
Without a baseline, a redesign team has to guess which logo elements carry recognition and which tie the brand to the position it is leaving. Two risks follow. You might discard a shape, color or wordmark that audiences rely on to identify the brand. Or you might keep an element that keeps signalling the old positioning. This is an editorial judgment about process, not a measured outcome. It is still the main reason the assessment precedes design work.
Assessing perception
- Customer feedback, reviews and support conversations: which words people use to describe the brand
- Sales conversations: objections or assumptions that relate to the brand's current position
- Staff views: how employees describe the brand, and where they think outside perception is wrong
- Competitor presentation: how nearby brands look and position themselves, so the redesign does not drift toward them
- Recognition of specific elements: whether people remember the symbol, the wordmark, the color or none of these
- Gaps: where current perception conflicts with the intended new position
No survey results or benchmark figures were supplied for this article, so it cites none. Your findings should come from your own research. Treat any single channel, such as one review platform or one customer segment, as partial evidence rather than a representative picture.
Auditing the current logo artwork
Collect every version of the logo in circulation. That includes the primary lockup, stacked and horizontal variants, the standalone symbol, monochrome and reversed versions, and any legacy versions still in use. For each one, record where it lives, who supplied it and what the file actually contains. This inventory shows whether you have reliable master artwork to evolve or whether the mark has to be rebuilt first.
Vector paths, embedded raster and raster previews
A file extension associated with vector formats does not prove the file contains editable vector paths. A vector-format file can hold a placed pixel image, or a preview image with little usable artwork behind it. Open each file in a vector editor and switch to an outline or wireframe view. Check that the logo shapes appear as paths. Then check whether the text is live type or has been converted to outlines.
| What the file contains | How to recognize it | Implication for a redesign |
| Editable vector paths | Shapes appear as paths with anchor points in outline view | Can be refined, simplified or used as the base for an evolved mark |
| Embedded raster image | Outline view shows a box or placed image rather than shapes | Not editable as artwork; needs redrawing as vector before refinement |
| Raster preview only | File opens as a flat image, or the artwork is missing behind a preview | Treat as reference only; the master artwork must be located or rebuilt |
| Live text | Text is selectable and editable with a type tool | Requires the font to be installed and licensed for the intended use |
| Outlined text | Letters are paths, not editable type | Editable as shapes; the original typeface and its license still need identifying |
Also record the color definitions stored in the files, such as spot, process, RGB or hex values. Note any differences between versions. If no documented color specification exists, list that as a gap rather than inferring values from a screen preview.
Rights, fonts and trademarks
Being able to locate or download a logo file is not the same as having permission to modify it. Three separate questions apply. First, who owns the artwork, which may depend on the original designer's contract or a rights assignment? Second, are the typefaces licensed for logo use and modification? Third, how do existing trademark registrations cover the current mark, and does a changed design need new protection? No rights or registration details were supplied here. Confirm these points with the relevant documents and qualified legal advice before redesign work builds on existing artwork.
Turning findings into a redesign brief
| Finding | Direction to consider |
| Element is widely recognized and fits the new position | Retain or refine |
| Element is recognized but signals the old position | Evolve it, or replace it with care for continuity |
| Element is not recognized or is inconsistently used | Strong candidate for change |
| Master files are raster-only or incomplete | Rebuild clean vector artwork before design exploration |
| Font or artwork rights are unclear | Resolve before modifying or reusing those elements |
The output of the assessment should be a short set of documents. It should include a perception summary, an asset inventory showing the true file status of each logo version, the rights status of the artwork and fonts, and a list of elements to keep, evolve or drop. That set becomes the factual basis for the redesign brief.
Evidence limits of this overview
This overview is based on general design and brand-management principles. No specific brand, research data, logo files, prices or timelines were provided. For that reason it gives no figures, case results or cost estimates. Any such details for your own repositioning should come from your research, your file audit and your legal review.