Which Logo Type Do You Have? Using It to Decide Between a Logo Refresh and a Full Rebrand
The seven common logo design types are the wordmark, lettermark, pictorial mark, abstract mark, mascot, combination mark and emblem, and the type you have now is one useful signal, alongside any changes in the business, for deciding whether you need a refresh or a full rebrand. We help trades across the Gold Coast and South East QLD make decisions like this through our business consulting for trades and small businesses.
This post skips the full design tour and focuses on the decision. We cover the types briefly, a five-question check, where to get trade mark and business name advice, and the order to roll changes out. Where a figure has no source, we leave it out.
Key Points
- Published counts of logo types vary, with our own guide using six, Embark Agency listing seven, and Wix promising ten in its title while its intro says nine.
- We recommend a combination mark, which pairs the business name with a symbol, as the safest type for a local trade business people don't know yet.
- Malbar Design frames a refresh as keeping the mark's core idea while fixing execution, and a rebrand as replacing the strategy, and offers a five-question decision test.
- IP Australia does not allow the trade mark representation in an application to be amended unless the examiner requests it, so a changed logo needs a new application.
- IP Australia describes changes to a registered trade mark as subject to strict rules and suggests considering a registered trade marks attorney.
- A new logo should roll out from the cheapest changes to the dearest, starting with master files and the website and finishing with ute signage.
Which logo type do you have?
Designers sort logos into types, but the count depends on who is doing the sorting. Our own guide to the six types of logos groups them into six, Embark Agency's guide to logo types lists seven, and Wix promises ten in its title while its intro says nine.
The table uses Embark's seven labels because they split out each option a trade business is likely to have. The last column is our recommendation for when each type suits a trade.
Wix's list of ten logo types adds dynamic marks and animated logos. For a trade, these mostly suit the website and social media, and rarely belong on a ute or a shirt.
A responsive logo system is a set of versions for different sizes rather than a separate type. Every trade benefits from one, and we cover it in the rollout section below.
Seven common logo types, read for a local trade business
| Type | What it is | When it suits a trade |
|---|---|---|
| Wordmark | The full business name in a set typeface | When the name is short and says what you do |
| Lettermark | Initials only | When you're already well known by your initials |
| Pictorial mark | A recognisable symbol, such as a tap or a bolt | When it sits beside the name until the symbol is known |
| Abstract mark | A shape that doesn't depict anything | Rarely, because a new business struggles to make it memorable |
| Mascot | An illustrated character | When it works on vehicles and has a simple version for small sizes |
| Combination mark | Name plus symbol | For most new or unknown trades, as our default recommendation |
| Emblem | Name set inside a badge or crest | For shirts and signage, with a simpler version for profile photos |
What's the difference between a refresh, a redesign and a full rebrand?
A logo is the mark itself, while a brand is everything customers connect with your business, from the name and colours to how you answer the phone. That's why a logo change and a rebrand are different-sized jobs.
Malbar Design's take on logo refresh versus rebrand frames a refresh as keeping the mark's core idea and fixing the execution, and a rebrand as replacing the strategy. For trades, we add a redesign in between, where the strategy stays but the structure of the mark changes.
You'll see claims online that a refresh costs a set fraction of a rebrand. We haven't found a source for figures like that, so we won't quote one.
Three levels of logo change
| Level | What changes | Typical trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Refresh | Typeface, spacing, colour and detail | The logo looks dated or prints badly, but the business is the same |
| Redesign | The structure of the mark, such as adding the name to a symbol | The logo type doesn't suit how well known the business is |
| Full rebrand | Name, positioning, look and voice | A new name, merger, new owner, new service or new market |
What does your current logo type tell you?
Your logo type shows whether the mark is doing its job, and you read it alongside what has changed in the business. These are the patterns we look for with trade and service businesses.
- A symbol-only logo for a business people don't know yet usually needs a redesign, because adding the name turns it into a combination mark customers can actually read.
- An unrecognised lettermark usually needs a redesign too, because spelling out the full name helps customers search for you and remember you.
- A dated but sound combination mark usually needs only a refresh, because the structure works and the fix sits in the typeface, colour and detail.
- An emblem whose small text disappears in a profile picture needs a refresh with a simplified badge version for small spaces.
- Any type of logo points to a full rebrand when the name, owner, core service or target market changes, or after a merger, because the old logo then describes a business that no longer exists.
Malbar Design's five questions, adapted for trades
| Question | Points to a refresh | Points to a redesign or rebrand |
|---|---|---|
| Recognition: do customers already know your logo on sight? | Yes, they recognise it on the ute and online | No, so a redesign that adds or spells out the name may help |
| Positioning: has what you sell, or who you sell to, changed? | No, the work and the customers are the same | Yes, which points to a full rebrand |
| What embarrasses you: is it the look, or what the logo says? | The look is dated or prints badly | The logo says the wrong thing about the business |
| Trigger: is there a real event behind the change? | No, it just feels tired | A new name, owner, merger, service or market |
| Funding: can you budget to change every sign, shirt and vehicle? | Not yet, so refresh first and phase it in | Yes, so a rebrand is realistic |
What happens to your trade mark and business name?
Check your trade mark position before anything is printed, because a new logo can mean a new filing. IP Australia's guidance on amending a trade mark application says the representation in an application cannot be amended unless the examiner has requested it, and making that change requires lodging a new application.
If your logo is already registered, IP Australia describes changes to a registered trade mark as subject to strict rules and suggests considering a registered trade marks attorney. We'll always point you to one for that advice rather than guess.
Before you commit to a new name or logo, check with IP Australia or a trade marks attorney whether anything similar is already registered.
A logo change on its own is separate from your business name. If the name is changing too, check with ASIC and the Australian Business Register about your registrations, and update the licences and insurance paperwork that name the business.
Sorting this out first means you won't be reprinting signs because of a clash you could have caught.
Can you use an AI or marketplace logo, and who owns the files?
You can use an AI logo maker or a cheap marketplace design, but read the licence terms before you build signage around it. Some tools and sellers keep rights you might assume are yours.
Whoever designs your logo, get a written assignment of the final files and rights. Ask for the full, simplified and icon versions in vector format at the same time.
With the rights and files in hand, you can reprint, re-embroider or switch designers without asking anyone's permission.
What order should the rollout go in?
Start with a responsive logo system, which means a full version, a simplified version and an icon version for different sizes. The full version suits the website header and ute door, the simplified version suits embroidery and one-colour printing, and the icon suits a favicon or profile picture.
Then roll the new logo out from the cheapest, fastest changes to the dearest, so you catch problems before they're on a ute. When we moved Trigahex from Wix to Shopify, we built its design system from the game's existing brand, which is the same idea of keeping what customers already know.
If the name is changing, check Google's Business Profile Help on business names before you edit your listing. Our guide to optimising your Google Business Profile walks through the rest of the listing, and our guide to getting recommended by ChatGPT explains why a matching name, address and phone number everywhere matters for AI answers.
Doing it in this order means you pay for the expensive changes once and keep the reputation you've built.
- Get the master files first, including vector versions of all three sizes, a one-colour version and a favicon for the browser tab.
- Update the website next, because it's the hub every listing points back to, and our post on when to redesign your website covers when it needs more than a logo swap.
- Change your Google Business Profile, Facebook page, directory listings and email signature in the same week, so customers see one consistent look.
- Reprint invoices, quote templates and stationery once the digital versions have settled.
- Order uniforms after that, using the simplified version for embroidery.
- Leave ute signage and site signs until last, because they cost the most to redo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose customers if I change my logo? A refresh is the gentler option if people already recognise your logo. Malbar Design frames a refresh as keeping the mark's core idea and fixing the execution, so customers still know your logo on the ute and your Google profile.
Can I update my registered trade mark with my new logo? Probably not as a simple update, so get advice before you print. IP Australia describes changes to a registered trade mark as subject to strict rules and suggests considering a registered trade marks attorney, and a logo in an application can't be swapped unless the examiner requests it, which means lodging a new application.
How much does a logo refresh or rebrand cost? It depends on whether you need a refresh, a redesign or a full rebrand, and on how much signage, uniform and vehicle work follows. Because the scope varies so much, the quickest way to a real number is to talk to us about what your business needs.
Can I use an AI logo maker for my trade business? You can, but read the licence terms first. Whoever makes your logo, you need full, simplified and icon versions for a ute, a shirt and a browser tab, plus a written assignment of the final files and rights.
What is the difference between a wordmark and a lettermark? A wordmark spells out the full business name, and a lettermark uses only the initials. For a local trade business still building recognition, the full name usually works harder because customers need it to search for you and remember you.
Find Out Whether Your Logo Needs a Refresh or a Rebrand
Send us your current logo and tell us what's changed in the business. We'll tell you whether it needs a refresh, a redesign or a full rebrand, and map the rollout from your website to your ute.
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