Very many people in the design industry think that flat design is like a fad that will be present today and gone by tomorrow. Whether or not this assumption is correct, it is imperative for every designer to keep up to date and always be ahead of every trend.

As a professional designer, it is not your duty to refuse or accept trends that you don’t necessarily agree to. Instead, you should have an open mind and consider anything that can make you add more value to you clients and improve your skills as a designer and presently, flat design is one of such things.

When you get to the internet, you will get a plethora of articles and web pages giving versions of illustration on various flat design projects. Whereas they are right, and most of the designs they show are breathtaking, they fail miserably at telling you how to come up with such designs on your own.

They leave you high and dry because they offer you with nothing at all to enhance or improve your skills towards becoming a good flat designer. We, however, break this norm and show you how you can create flat design projects that rock. For the best results, consider the following when working on flat design projects-:

Consider bold color choices

Bright and bold colors are the secret sauce in most flat design projects you will ever encounter. But this is not to say that they are the only colors you can use when working with flat designs. In fact, several flat designs don’t use bold colors, yet they give stellar end products.

Therefore, feel free to use bold color palettes. However, you can use not solid color hues, with different amount of lightness, slightly more than normal saturation levels and you will still end up with successful flat design projects. You can also use solid colors and have great success just as seen in the case of Windows 8.

Typography and Flat Design

The typography used is a great factor of concern when thinking about flat design projects. Typography, as usual, is an enormous subject with endless details and options. But with regards to getting it right with your flat designs, there are fundamental aspects of typography you have to give close attention.

For instance, the use of the traditional serif fonts has proven not to give the very best results with flat designs. You have the option of using Slab-Serif faces like Sanchez or Rockwell. But if you want the most authentic looks for your flat design, then you should consider using clean, modern Sans-serif fonts.

Choose icons that reflect the design theme

Using icons in designing is always important irrespective of what you are working on, whether they are symbols, large logos, or glyphs, icons will always fit. But with flat design projects, when you use icons, then they must create coherence with the overall design theme. You are free to use small sized icons or oversized icons so long as they don’t have any sharp or strong rounded edges and also they don’t have any gradient.

The use of images in flat design

If you have to use images in your flat design, then it is a good idea to have them filtered or stylized. You will realize that most of such designs feature full-width images that stretch across the entire layout. Again for great results, the images you use must never have any borders, so be sure to cut your images directly without creating any borders.

Flat Design and Spaces

Learning how to use spaces correctly is something that many designers still struggle with, and it’s not when doing flat design projects alone. Too much space will leave the design bare while too little space will make it look cluttered.

As a good design practice, you should always add spaces rather than subtract, and this also applies when you are working on flat design projects. For instance, start by including all the elements you need in the design before you start taking away the ones you don’t need so that you remain only with the essential ones.

Avoid the following

Proficiency in flat designing will come with a lot of practice. Besides, it is still considered a fad. Hence, there are no strong industry guidelines on what should or should not be done. Most of it involves trial and error and so far, observing the above factors has always led to great designs.

Even though the concept is still evolving, there are a few things that will certainly ruin your flat design projects. These include using gradients, unless they are subtle, using drop shadows, application of borders on design elements and using traditional serif fonts. Stay away from them and you will fare well with any flat design projects you make.

Check out some other new trends in design from 2015!

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The decision by a company to redesign their logo is usually a serious one that requires a lot of consideration. The established brands considering rebranding run the risk of alienating some of their loyal customers while the less established ones may be moving too fast to rebrand before they have a chance to evaluate the effects of their current logo. But such an uncertainty on the possible outcomes of a redesign should never discourage a company from doing a logo makeover. Most of the big companies usually hire marketing professionals to oversee the entire redesign process. Whereas some have managed to get impressive results with the new redesigns, some redesigns became disasters thus a regrettable branding move by the businesses. Below are the top ten worst logo redesigns conducted by various companies in the recent years-:

Bacardi

Bacardi is a world’s famous rum brand. The company decided to redesign its logo to feature a design that was used way back in the 1930s as a way of dramatizing the Cuban history. The result of this logo redesign was a disaster since it ended up showing a roughly polished bat and the font used to in the company name were also less rosy than the previous ones.

Black Decker

Black Decker is a popular appliance and tool manufacturer. It’s attempts to rebrand itself, including redesigning their logo’s went south by all standards. The new design is just plain and boring, and many people have voiced their concerns with regards to this, but seemingly, Black Decker is adamant to do something about it.

YMCA England

YMCA England is a charitable organization and whereas we are trying to focus on the failed logo redesign attempts by businesses and other corporate organizations, the terrible failure of the redesign by YMCA England is screaming too much to be ignored. The organization tried to modernize its logo only to end with an ugly logo that was far much worse than the initial one. The current logo looks more of an AC/DC logo, entirely unsuitable for an organization of its caliber.

The Hershey Company

Logos in the present times no longer have photo-realistic images of one of their products. The Hershey Company had such a type of a logo hence it was necessary to redesign to reflect the current trends in the design as well in the marketing world. In the process of modifying the logo, they decided to do away with the last S, which was present in the first logo and this ruined everything. It appeared flat and displayed apparent lack of maturity in the new logo redesign.

Cole Haan

Cole Haan is a men’s footwear brand, but it is currently making steady inroads into the fashion industry by introducing a variety of clothes, shoes, and accessories for both men and women. In its rebranding process, it redesigned its original logo that was a simple logotype of Cole Haan with a piece of a needle and thread in between. The current logo redesign is just a simple logotype of “Cole Haan” with the year of the establishment on a blue backdrop. Many people think that they have relaxed their artsy charm in the new logo, and they are trying to ape the likes of Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.

Olive Garden

Following a terrible marketing spell that led to the Italian restaurant raking in huge losses, they decided on a major redesign aimed at attracting a younger and enthusiastic crowd. However, their logo redesign ended up being flat with the faux-handwriting font appearing to be unappealing to the intended target audience. The rebranding did not help them tap the new client base they were hoping to get.

Brut

Brut is a men’s grooming line, and it attempted a logo redesign to have something appealing to the younger men. The result ended up being a very simplistic design that might not even appeal to the adolescent boys.

Nationwide

Nationwide is an insurance agency, and it decided to redesign its logo to something similar to what they used to have before 1998 but with a few modern updates. Initially, the logo used to feature a blue frame, but the new one became one of the worst logo redesigns and has a blue eagle that the company claims to be easily recognizable to many people. The new design, however, looks like a terrible college logo lacking coherence with a renowned insurance company like Nationwide.

Monster Worldwide

With over 200 million registered users, Monster Worldwide thought that it was a great time to rebrand. The resulting one of the worst logo redesigns was in the form of a new flag with 3D effects. This is something completely different from what they had in the past, and it ended up being entirely off the mark. Many users felt lost, as it was as if they were dealing with a totally new company.

Airbnb

Airbnb, one of the worst logo redesigns is another great display of lack of maturity and creativity in the design world – according to the sentiments of some professional graphics designers. The new logo is visibly awkward, with similarities to some body parts that a majority of people don’t appreciate as part of a marketing tool for any company. However, the company seems to be in love with their logo, and they don’t mind the dirty jokes people are making about it. I guess if you don’t like it then you will just get used to it.

Check out these iconic logos to gain inspiration from brands that have stood the test of time. 

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. AppMaven LLC or LogoMaven is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned on this post. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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It is always the expectation of the client that the graphic designer will be detail oriented. Designers are usually expected to wear more than one hat at the same time. This frequently leads to simple mistakes that can end up ruining the overall aesthetic appeal of the final piece. If you are a budding designer, below are some of the common graphic design mistakes that even some pros find themselves making. Watch out for them to reduce your chances of becoming a victim:

Failing to understand the project brief

At the onset of every design project, the designer will be presented with a project brief by the client. This brief contains all the client requirements, and it should be used by the designer to envision the kind of work that a client wants. Many designers, however, are never patient to go through the brief and ensure that they understand every detail. If you are unable to get a clear mental picture of what the client wants, then you will not be in a position to meet their demands. As a solution, therefore, take the time to go through the brief in detail, make notes, brainstorm ideas and try to keep in touch with the client in case you need to seek for clarification or approval on modification.

Always working within the box

As a designer, you have the liberty to explore as much as you want so long as you keep the quality stellar and within the requirements of the clients. Many designers, however, are afraid of breaking out of the box. They are timid of using their intuition to try and come up with unique designs. This not only curtails your development as a graphic designer but also make you create flat, generic and boring designs. The solution to stop working in the box is to get creative and allow yourself the freedom to explore various design concepts for varied results. The client is paying for your creativity because they want unique designs. Hence, you should not let yourself get trapped in the box.

Overloading fonts on the same design

It is imperative that every work features clearly formatted designs to avoid cramming and distorting the intended image of conception. This is also the only way to create consistency and avoid many layers of fonts on the same piece. As a general rule, it is advisable to stick to two different fonts and vary the font weight if you need to create highlights on the same piece of work. The overloading of fonts is surprisingly one of the common graphic design mistakes that even professionals who have been in the industry for decades still make. Watch out for it lest you become a victim.

Failure to spell check for errors

As a graphic designer, there is nothing that replaces the need to be as detailed as possible, especially when working on a project dealing with printed work. Failure to spell check for errors is some of the notorious and very costly graphic design mistakes that befall many people. Can you imagine the consequences of printing the wrong phone number on a company’s billboard or on a nationwide print ad? These are the kinds of graphic design mistakes that can attract potential lawsuits if you are a freelance designer. To avoid such, all you have to do is to develop a detail oriented attitude and always double check before you submit the final design.

Overusing Stock Images

Stock images are immensely useful for designers who cannot hire professional photographers. But while you use stock images, be warned that there are quite a number of them that are very frequent in the design circuit. Since they have been used by other designers on many projects, using them will make your design be overly familiar. Simply reduce the temptation to use stock imagery as the focus of your design if you don’t want to have common designs. Just remember that if you think that the image is great, then other several designers might be holding the same opinion, hence, might have used the same photo on their work. As a designer, the last thing you need is to use something that might make people question your originality and proficiency in design.

Not showing your clients work in progress

Effective communication with clients is one of the most cited graphic design mistakes. It is especially prevalent with the new designers who have not gained adequate experience and confidence to show their work. It is crucial for every designer to follow up with the client and keep them updated on the progress of their assignments. The client will thus have a chance to critic the work and suggest corrections in good time before you go deep into the design. In addition to this, proper communication with the client is the difference between them coming back to you with more projects or going out to look for other designers.

Even though you may not be proficient in design yet, don’t allow yourself to be entangled with these graphic design mistakes. Always be conscious of them and try as much as possible to avoid making them.

Learn more about choosing the right typography for your graphic design projects, here!

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