By Marc Oxborrow

You’ve decided a new website design is in order. Perhaps your current design is outdated, or you’ve realized the structure of your site doesn’t reflect the priorities of your organization. Whatever the reason, you’re taking the plunge into a website redesign project. Does that mean a brand update is also in order?

It’s a common question our clients ask when embarking on a website redesign. And while there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, there are many reasons why a branding refresh and a website redesign go hand-in-hand. Here’s why you should update your brand when you’re redoing your website.

You’ll Create the Visual Framework You Need for Your New Website …

Well-executed brand guidelines provide the framework for your brand identity. Your logo, color palette, fonts, patterns and image guidelines are critical elements that you’ll hammer out when you refresh your brand. These are also the building blocks of your new website. What typeface should you use for headlines versus body copy? How should you use color to create interest and add depth? What feelings should your website evoke when a visitor lands on the homepage? If your current branding isn’t up to snuff, is outdated or doesn’t provide a clear roadmap for the design of your new website, you risk creating a website that doesn’t accurately reflect your brand — and won’t have a long lifespan.

When we partnered with Herberger Theater Center to revamp its brand and redesign its website, there were several visual challenges we set out to resolve. As a dynamic performance arts center, Herberger is home to five resident companies and serves as a renowned hub for the arts in Arizona. Yet, its brand wasn’t effective at communicating the breadth of its scope, and its website fell short of presenting the dynamic nature of the organization and the space. By approaching branding and website redesign in tandem, we were able to create the tools we needed by revamping the core elements of the brand, enabling us to establish a visual direction that aligned with the priorities of the organization.

… Along With the Messaging Guidelines You Need to Shape Your Content

Updating your website is a chance to change the way you speak about your organization to your most important audiences. But if your current branding doesn’t reflect how you want your target demos to see your offerings, your new website will be built around a fatal flaw. By refining your brand voice before your tackle a website redesign, you seize the opportunity to create cohesive content that reflects your priorities.

Our work with Houston SPCA involved branding and website design, beginning with a brand refresh strategy that, in addition to refining the organization’s visual identity, outlined clear messaging guidelines for its key audiences. Armed with these new guidelines around voice and tone, the new website content was created to set the example for future brand messaging executions.

The Branding Rollout Becomes Simpler

Refreshing a brand independent of a website redesign means you’re tasked with rolling out the new brand in fits and starts, which comes with its own set of hurdles. When branding and website design are tackled together, your refreshed look and tone takes root in your biggest digital asset — your website. Immediately, the real-world applications of the new branding are executed via the website and can trickle outwards from there to your other assets.

You Can Capitalize on a Consensus for Change

Often, the hardest part of a major project — whether it’s a brand overhaul or a website redesign — is achieving consensus and buy-in from key stakeholders. But if you have consensus about changing the website, it leaves the door open to extend that sentiment to other critical elements, such as your branding.

Plus, once everyone is onboard with the refreshed branding, the website redesign process will go much more smoothly because you’ll have already established how you want your brand to be perceived.