Sometimes we need a refresh and sometimes we need a rebrand. Our businesses grow and change over time. Our design aesthetic might change. Whatever your path, there may be one or more reasons to consider an update to your pattern layouts.
Once you have made that decision, the task itself can be daunting. Have no worries! Team gosadi has your back and can help you get organized to efficiently tackle updating to a new layout. Efficiency is what we are about!
first, decide what you should keep and what you should change
Start by taking a close look at your pattern with an objective eye to decide what is working and what is not. Take a good look and list all the things you see: negative space, photo layout, font, etc. This is also a good time to ask for some feedback from crafters who have made your patterns, or another design colleague.
Separate what you want to change from what you don’t. It might help to make a list of updates that you feel are necessary. Highlight the things you like so that you can build off of them. They can be your foundation. If it’s time for a full overhaul, that is ok too. Make a list of what you want to achieve with a new layout that you weren’t able to with your previous one. This will give you a clear direction in choosing what to keep or get rid of.
make changes while maintaining or improving the integrity of your pattern
Let’s start with what you should keep. Don’t get rid of any important information. The solution is to rework it, not delete it. Remember the basic elements of layout (placement & proximity, alignment, contrast & scale, and repetition) and how they all work together to create a successful layout.
The greatest thing about the elements of layout is that there are so many different ways they can work together in harmony. This gives you an opportunity to customize and make your layout unique. At this stage, be sure to really play with it. Try several different layouts by moving things around and getting a big-picture view of how they look together. You can even draw them out with boxes on plain paper (or blank screen).
make changes while maintaining or improving the consistency of your brand
While going through this process, you will soon realize what you are looking for is related to your brand rather than the spatial relationship of elements on your page. This is a good time to revisit the consistency of your brand.
Brand consistency is always important, so make sure updates to your pattern layout are aligned with your brand. If you don’t have a style guide, we highly recommend reading our blog on Creating a Style Guide for Brand Consistency.
NOTE: regardless of how much you change your layout, there are key things to remember and it all starts with clear communication to your makers
Whether changing your layout involves a complete overhaul, some minor changes, or something in between, you want to always focus on clearly relaying the content of the pattern to your customers.
Last but far from least, yes, you should update your entire pattern library. This is a must to maintain brand consistency. It sounds like a lot of work, but use a consistent template based on your Style Guide, and you’ll find that it can actually be a very smooth process.
And just like that, you’ve got a new and improved layout!
