A company’s logo is one of the most prominent parts of its identity. When you see Nike’s ‘swoosh’ or McDonald’s golden arches, you instantly know who it is and what feeling you get from them. Being easily recognizable is a big goal for all businesses that the logo helps to achieve.
However, a logo gone wrong can lead you in the opposite direction of where you want your company to be. The best way to avoid this is to make sure you don’t commit some of the common design mistakes. Keep reading to check out 8 design elements that make a bad logo.
1. Excessive Elements
If you think about it, some of the most distinguishable logos are the really simple ones. They’re not overdone and don’t look like just a bunch of elements thrown into one place. You can avoid making a bad logo by keeping it simple.
Logos don’t need to be cluttered to make a point. Save some space by decreasing the number of additions and increase the focus and quality of some core elements of the logo. It will confuse people and be harder to convey the message if it becomes busy and unappealing.
2. Poor Color Choice
Have you ever seen someone walking down the street with an outfit that doesn’t quite match because they were wearing too many colors? This is the risk you take when you’re designing a logo without considering a cohesive color scheme.
The psychology of color is why most companies have chosen specific shades to represent their brand. Incorporating a smooth palette where the colors compliment and balance each other helps people to digest your brand more. It can also save you from creating a bad logo.
3. Word Overkill
Sometimes logos have words in them and that’s alright. But a logo is supposed to be a bit-sized symbol of your business. Cramming a bunch of words (or even too many letters if you’re using acronyms) can take away from the cleanness and professionalism of the logo.
Try shortening any phrases, names or acronyms that you feel are necessary to use. Always keep in mind that the whole goals is for people to be able to easily remember your company.
4. Unattractive or Confusing Typography
Here’s the thing — even if you did include some really cool, very savvy words, it won’t matter too much if no one understands them. Choosing the right typography for a logo is important so that people don’t misunderstand what your business is actually about.
Typography doesn’t just include picking a good font that works well with your brand identity. It also accounts for the sizing and spacing of letters too. Make sure your characters aren’t too close or far spread (otherwise it could look like a completely different word).
5. Plagiarizing Others
The only thing worse than a bad logo is an unoriginal one. As mentioned, your logo is a very distinctive piece of your overall brand. If you’ve decided to copy someone else’s logo, then that already takes you out of the running for being noticeable.
Besides the fact that plagiarism in marketing is morally tasteless and unacceptable, you could also put yourself in position for some legal concerns if the other party finds out that you’ve stolen their ideas. This isn’t to say that you can’t be inspired by other logos. However, there’s a thin line between using elements from something you really admire and making a close replica of it.
6. Poor Formatting
We live in a world where almost everything is running digitally. This means that your logo will probably be viewed by people on screens a large majority of the time. But all screen are not created equally and if you don’t take this into consideration it could come back to bit you in the long run.
Each time you place your logo a different place (website, social media, etc.) it’ll call for a specific format. If you haven’t formatted your logo for multiple placements, as well as devices (phones, computers, etc.), you could be losing out on quality big time.
Making sure your vectorized logos are able to scale correctly is an important step in avoiding a bad logo. You should also try to stay away from stock photos. If you want to know more about making a universal logo you can discover more here.
7. Disregarding Instructions
If you’re working with a client or on a team, it’s important to help to create the vision that was laid out. Trailing to far away from the original idea could turn the logo into something completely different and this might be a disaster. It may also upset the people that you’re working with.
Follow the directions that you’ve been given as much as possible. If you do want to add in some creative direction, be sure to run it past the person in charge of the project. This avoids making a bad logo and creating conflict.
8. Not Timeless
You might be tempted to follow trends when creating your logo. But you want your logo to last for a long time and trends don’t do this. So it’s best to go for a timeless design when creating your logo.
Think of your company logo through a longterm lens. This means focus on certain shapes, sizes and images that can stand the test of time and remain relevant to your audience. You can still be bold and edgy without using trends that could be easily forgotten within the next decade.
Got More Questions on Avoiding a Bad Logo For Your Company?
Creating the perfect logo for your company isn’t something that you should rush. You may have to go through a few rounds of logos to get to the right design. The most beneficial thing to do is to keep editing until it feels like the best representation for your business.
You can take these tips on how to avoid making a bad logo into consideration to put you on the right track. If you’re interested in starting the logo creation for your company, check out our blog for more tips and tricks.
