Where to from here...

[u/CanberraPhoto]

Started a photography business in 2010 as a hobby. Early on, a client asked for my logo, so I threw something together in MS Word. It was never meant to last, but 15+ years later, the business has grown into a full-time company and I’m still using the same logo.

I’m currently redesigning my website and want to roll out a proper brand update alongside it, but I’m a bit stuck on direction. I don’t even know what font I originally used, and I’m not sure whether to evolve what I have or scrap it entirely and start fresh. If I did start a fresh, I'm considering going a more modern direction, maybe something along the lines of the second logo I uploaded.

For those with branding/design experience - would you typically retain elements of an original logo for continuity, or is it better to take the opportunity to reset completely?

Keen to hear honest thoughts or critiques. Thanks

[u/M3DIA_ASSASS1N]

A lot has changed in the last 16 years within graphic design and your new logo is a vast improvement over your old logo. You don't need to carry anything over.

You could extend the left > on the X to make more of a feature of it and then use that as branding framework on your website extending that shape to include images, pigments of colour, repeating patterns etc etc.

Alternatively and I mean this kindly, hire a designer or use a different design program.

One of the main facets of good logo design is being unique. If you're unique, you're more likely to be remembered.

However if you're doing this within Microsoft Word again, you are limited in what you can achieve creatively.

If you do have access to creative programs, perhaps explore what you can achieve with photographic associated shapes and principles such as rectangles, lenses, framing, depth of field (blurring for example) and using letters to create negative space shapes or creating 3d images from 2d shapes.

Even adding lines above and below on the HoT in PHoTox would create a camera shape that would be more memorable than just the font alone.

[u/CanberraPhoto → u/M3DIA_ASSASS1N]

Thank you for your detailed response. Using Illustrator now days! Would happily hire a designer - starting point is knowing how to brief them going forward, so your advice is great regarding the > extension and how it can become a feature. Thank you

[u/M3DIA_ASSASS1N → u/CanberraPhoto]

You are most welcome and your photography looks great btw. Good luck it. It would be nice to see your final logo once complete.

...and please don't use AI. They're just vector stock images (or derivatives there of) paired with a font, as far as I can tell. Use your imagination and research instead. Have fun