When the Work Outgrows the Brand

I shared a brand refresh for Peachy Keen this today, and I wanted to use this first note to explain why. Not from a design perspective, but from the work itself.

When I started this business, it was something extra. I built quickly and made decisions fast. At the time, it was created to fill an unexpected gap. I had left my role at Sea Foam International to open a boutique, and a change in location delayed the opening by several months. In that season, the brand did exactly what it needed to do.

But businesses don’t stay in the same season forever. And mine certainly didn't.

One of the most common misconceptions I see about rebrands is that it's all about aesthetics. A new logo, new colors, a fresh look. In reality, the strongest rebrands happen for a much more practical reason: the work has changed.

Rebrands make sense when:

• the scope of work has expanded

• short-term projects have become long-term partnerships

• execution has turned into leadership and ownership

• the business now carries more responsibility than it used to

In those moments, the original brand isn’t wrong, it’s just no longer accurate.

That’s what happened here.

Over time, my work shifted from filling gaps to leading decisions. From executing tasks to bringing structure to complexity. From supporting marketing to helping guide it. The partnerships deepened, the conversations changed, and the responsibility grew. Eventually, it became clear that the brand hadn’t caught up yet.

A rebrand like this isn’t about becoming something new. It’s about alignment. It’s about making sure the way you show up reflects the level of work you’re actually doing.

This applies far beyond my own business.

If your brand feels inconsistent or slightly behind where your business is headed, it’s often a signal that the work has evolved and the brand hasn’t been given time to catch up. When that gap grows, marketing feels harder than it needs to be, not because you’re doing too little, but because things aren’t clearly anchored.

Strong brands don’t try to keep up with trends. They tell the truth about the work.

That’s what this refresh represents for me, and it’s the lens I bring to brand work with clients as well: clarity over chaos, alignment over aesthetics, and building something that can support what’s next. Not just what worked before.

More soon,

Kari