Avoid these common logo design mistakes

If you are interested in creating a professional logo for your brand, avoid these common logo design mistakes.  There are a number of top considerations when it comes to producing something iconic that will have a mass resonance with your potential audience. There are however a number of common logo design mistakes that many companies make. Avoiding these common logo design mistakes can help you to avoid producing a nonprofessional logo, an offensive logo or a new brand identity that won’t take you as far as a professional logo design would.

Here are some of the top logo design mistakes that you can avoid when you are getting a professional logo design or creating your very own logo design for the first time or for rebranding.

Having an amateur design your logo:

The most recognizable logos in the world are designed eye professionals for a reason. Business professionals today are investing more money than ever into their facilities and into building their brand but it can be tough to get a company off the ground if it has a nonprofessional logo. Treating your logo as a small thing in the formation of your business is a big mistake and saving money up front could cost you in the long run. Be sure to get the right designers on the job early on and create a strong logo for your branding that you can carry with you for decades to come.

Following the trend:

Copying another successful logo isn’t always the quickest path to success. Following today’s design trends often leads to a logo that is more of a cliché than a trend itself. A well-designed logo creates its own trend and a timeless unique look that doesn’t rely on various trends or gimmicks to get ahead. Go against the design trend and get something that reflects your corporate culture rather than emulates another successful company.

Designing something you like that doesn’t target your clients:

Getting a cool design that imposes your corporate personality or your own personal preferences can sometimes lead to some conflicts when it comes to reaching out to your target market. Just because you like a modern font it doesn’t mean that you should use it in your logo if you are running an antique store. Stay focused on what would capture the eye of your clients and your target market and not something that you would want to wear on a hat.

Terrible fonts:

A focus on typography is a big issue with logo design. Finding the perfect font that complements your logo design can take a lot of experimentation. A logo can fail based off of the font selection so it’s extremely important to place thought into whether or not your font design matches the logo design that has been created. It is important to note that you can use a few different font designs for your logo but you should never use more than two different weights or fonts in the same logo design because this can make brand recognition very difficult.

Not using Vectors:

Getting a vector image of your logo is one of the smartest things that you can request from your designer. A vector image would easily scale to almost any size. If you only receive a bitmap version of your logo in graphic format it’s very difficult to resize and reproduce your logo for signage, print materials or even merchandise. Always request a vector graphic because it can be consistently replicated in multiple sizes.

Using Highly detailed elements:

Simplicity is the key to a successful logo. Some other world’s most successful brands feature minimalist designs. The problem with highly detailed designs is that they are difficult to print and they don’t scale very well when you have to place them on smaller objects. A complex design like a silhouette picture or a highly detailed animation can be a nightmare for spreading brand awareness. When we think of corporations like Nike and apple we see extremely simple logo designs that can be re-created, drawn and shared with ease. It is this type of simplicity that you should eventually strive for with your logo and your brand.

Stock art:

While using stock images can be a great shortcut to shorten the length of time that it takes to get a logo made it certainly doesn’t make your logo original. Most of these template designs are made by amateur designers and utilized in hundreds of different projects around the world. If your goal is brand recognition and a logo that synonymous with your brand, using stock art will achieve the opposite effect. Remember that with template logos and stock art, somewhere in the world the same logo with a different name probably exists.

Keep these common mistakes in mind as you approach logo design for the future.

Learn about some common questions you should ask during any logo design process by following this link!