List every place the old logo appears, from the browser tab icon to invoice templates and old PDFs, replace the digital copies in one planned sweep, and keep one folder of approved files.

The new logo and the old one

The new logo went up on the sign, the website header and the business cards. Six months later, the old one is still turning up.

It is the tiny icon in the browser tab. It is in two staff members' email signatures, on the Facebook profile picture, at the top of every invoice and on the PDF price list customers download.

Each copy suggests a business that is not quite sure what it looks like. Customers who meet both versions may wonder whether they have found the same company.

Where old logos hide

The second is the one that survives longest unnoticed. Booking confirmations, order receipts and reminder emails come from systems set up years ago, often by someone who has since left, and nobody at the business ever receives one.

The small icons that stick

The browser tab icon, called a favicon, is a tiny file most owners forget exists. It also appears in bookmarks and browser history.

Browsers hold on to their copy, so regular visitors may see the old icon for weeks after the file is replaced. A new file name, updated in the site's code, prompts browsers to fetch the new one.

Phones use their own icon when someone saves the site to the home screen. Pages shared on Facebook show a preview image that Facebook stores, and may keep showing until it is asked to read the page again.

Email signatures and templates

Signatures are set up separately in each person's email program and on each phone, which is why they are the last place a new logo arrives.

A signature image is often a file loaded from the old website. When the site is rebuilt, some signatures show a broken image and others keep displaying the old logo indefinitely.

Replace them all at once with one approved signature, sent to everyone, with its image stored at an address that will not change.

Then the automatic emails: order confirmations, booking reminders, invoices from the accounting software, the newsletter header. Each has its own template in its own system.

Invoices, forms and old PDFs

Documents carry a logo into places the business never sees: a customer's filing cabinet, a supplier's accounts department, a PDF forwarded three times.

The templates matter more than the old copies. Invoices and quotes already sent will always carry the old logo, and that is fine. New ones should not.

PDFs on the website are different, because people keep downloading them. Search engines list PDFs too, so an old price list can keep appearing in results long after the page that linked to it has gone.

A worked example

A boarding kennel on an acreage at the edge of a suburb replaced a logo it had used for fifteen years, a cartoon dog drawn by the founder, with a simpler mark for a new sign at the road.

The sign, the website header and the business cards changed in the same week. A month later the owner was surprised to see the cartoon dog on a customer's phone.

It was in the booking confirmation email, sent automatically and never read by staff. It was also the tab icon, the Facebook profile picture, the vaccination requirements PDF, and a nearby veterinary clinic's referral page.

The manager made a spreadsheet listing every place the logo appeared, who controlled it, and the date it was replaced. The digital copies changed in two afternoons, and the clinic was emailed the new file.

The old staff shirts were kept for kennel cleaning days. The cartoon dog now lives in an archive folder labelled with the year it retired.

Replace in a planned order

Not everything can change on the same day, and it does not have to. What matters is that the order is decided rather than accidental.

Digital items first, in one sweep: website, favicon, social profiles, listings, email signatures and templates. They cost little to change and are seen most.

Documents next, by replacing the templates and the files on the website. Physical items last, on a schedule: vehicles at the next repaint, uniforms at the next order, signs when they are due.

One folder of approved files

Most stray copies start with someone who needs the logo, cannot find the new file, and uses whatever is on their computer.

Keep one shared folder holding the approved versions: full colour, one colour, white for dark backgrounds, a square version for profile pictures, and the small icon. Include vector files for printers and PNG files for screens.

Name the files plainly, add a short note on colours and spacing, and move every old version to an archive folder nobody works from.

When a supplier, sponsor or newspaper asks for the logo, the answer is a link to that folder.

Other people's copies

Some copies sit on websites you do not control: suppliers' dealer lists, a chamber of commerce directory, sponsorship pages, local news stories, a partner's referral page.

Send the new file with a polite request. Most will update when asked. A few will not, and an old logo on a page from 2014 is rarely worth a third email.

The counter-case

Some overlap is normal and harmless. A sign that costs thousands to replace can wait for its scheduled replacement, and a van can keep its old graphics until the next repaint, as long as the date is planned.

Old documents already in customers' hands will never change, and they do not need to.

A business that only adjusted a colour or tidied a typeface may reasonably let older items wear out on their own.

For a real change of logo, though, list every copy, replace the digital ones in one sweep, and keep one approved folder.

The order to do it in

  1. List every place the old logo appears.
  2. Note who controls each copy.
  3. Build the approved folder first.
  4. Replace every digital copy in one sweep.
  5. Update every document template you use.
  6. Schedule the physical items by cost.
  7. Archive the old files out of everyday reach.

Step three comes before any replacing for a reason. Without one folder of approved files, each person fixing a copy finds their own version of the new logo, and the business ends up with three logos instead of two.

Images that undercut a business's look in a different way are covered in stock photos that are obviously not Canadian.

Frequently asked questions

Where does an old logo usually survive?

In the browser tab icon, email signatures, automatic booking or order emails, social profile pictures, listings, invoice templates and PDFs on the website.

Why does the old favicon still show?

Browsers keep their stored copy for a long time. Giving the new icon file a new name and updating the site code prompts browsers to fetch the new one.

What should I replace first?

The digital copies: website, tab icon, social profiles, listings, email signatures and templates. They are cheap to change and seen most often.

Do I need to replace all printed items?

Not at once. Replace templates straight away, then schedule signs, vehicles and uniforms by cost. Documents already sent can keep the old logo.

What goes in the approved logo folder?

Full colour, one colour and white versions, a square version, the small icon, vector and PNG formats, and a short note on colours.

What about copies on other websites?

Send the new file with a short request to suppliers, directories and partners. Most update when asked, and the few that do not are rarely worth chasing.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

New logo, old one still everywhere?

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