But I know that you don’t subscribe to the mediocre crop of designers and you are keen on designing logos that will stand out from the crowd and brand the business effectively. To help in your quest for becoming an epic logo designer, here are certain tips and ideas you can use to ensure that you don’t create logos that suck.

Create readable logos

The first annoying thing you will see with most logos today is that they are never readable or at least you have to strain in order to mark out what is written or drawn in them. The primary reason for this is poor choice of fonts. Most of the current designers are eager to try out the latest fonts, some of which have never been tested in various mediums. In as much as you are allowed to take advantage of your creative freedom to try different components in design, your choice of font should be spot on so that your designs are readable. Remember, an effective logo should grab attention and the moment it can’t be read, it losses this important aspect.

The logo must be scalable

Many are the times when you see a beautiful logo on the company website, but when they send to you a printed mail, the logo looks so boring and different because it has been printed in a small size. The problem here is that the logo was not designed to be scalable. An effective logo must be scalable enough so that it doesn’t lose its properties irrespective of the display size. Ideally, the logo should retain all its design components when printed in small marketing materials such as pens or business cards or when displayed on large prints such as posters or billboards.

Get the colors right

Color choice is another area where most logo designers get it all wrong. Apart from making the logo visually appealing, the choice of color should also be aimed at evoking the right emotional responses from the target audience. Colors should thus be used effectively to communicate ideas as well as convey trust to the target audience. This calls for having a good understanding of the color psychology in design so that you know when to use which colors during the logo design process. Additionally, a beautiful logo is not the one with all the colors of the rainbow. Remember, the world is edging towards minimalism in design and it is not the number of colors used, but rather the effectiveness of the colors in the design.

Be careful about adopting trends

It may be tempting to base your design ideas on a certain fad in the industry that almost everyone has adapted to. But this is very dangerous since trends come and go. If you design the logo to adapt to a certain trend, the logo will cease to have its appeal once the trend is over. A great logo is one with the ability to withstand the test of time and remain effective for many more years to come. You should therefore aim at coming up with timeless designs that don’t follow fads or trends. This is why corporate giants like coca cola, Apple, Google, Nike, McDonalds and many have managed to create strong brands because their logos are timeless and not based on any given trend.

Use Negative Space

The use of negative space in design is a nice trick for creating beautiful and timeless logos laden with hidden meaning or symbols. The industry standard for logos with negative space is the FedEx logo. It conveys a powerful hidden message about the company’s desire to move forward and also make fast and quick deliveries.

Be yourself

Another despicable thing being witnessed in the logo design industry is plagiarism of logo ideas. Designers are in a hurry to make a quick buck and so the best they can do is to browse logos and copy the designs at the expense of utilizing their skills to come up with original designs. The only way to become a proficient logo designer is to always strive to create original designs. There are so many places and so many things which can be used for inspirations and it is just sad that designers refuse to think and resort to copying.

Check out these logos in just one color!

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The creation of this visual representation of a brand goes beyond just possessing graphic design skills. Presented below are certain essential rules which should be applied in the design of logo meant for the web or print. If followed correctly, the result will be a stunning logo with the ability to spearhead the success of the company’s branding efforts.

You must do preliminary work

The first step towards designing an effective logo is to do a thorough preliminary work. It is out of the preliminary sketches where you will get the initial design sketches and move forward with the rest of the process. For the preliminary work, you can simply use paper and pen drawings or you can make drafts using a vector program such as Adobe Illustrator.

It is recommended you create between twenty and thirty sketches or ideas to give you variations to use for the final logo. This process may sound a bit difficult, but it is a very fundamental one and skipping it might end up compromising your final results. Remember, that the more time a graphics designer spends on the preliminary sketches, the higher the chances of coming up with a great design.

Always create balance

The next essential rule in designing a logo for both web and print is to ensure balance in the design. The importance of having balance in the design is because the human mind has a way of equation balance to nice visual appeal. It implies that without a good balance in the design, the logo won’t appear as beautiful as it would have appeared with the right balance.

In this regard, therefore, you should keep the weight of the fonts, colors, sizes and graphics equal on each side. In certain occasions, you may be allowed to break the rule on balance, but just have in mind that the logo will be seen by multitudes, and not just those who have a keen eye for design, therefore, you will be safer by creating a balanced logo.

Never ignore the sizes

The next important rule for creating logos for web and print is the rule on size. This matters so much because all the components must look good and readable in all sizes. A logo ceases to be effective if it loses its definition when scaled down to fit into letterheads or small promotional items. It is important for the logo to appear the same whether displayed on a billboard, a television ad, and email signature or on the website. The best way to test if the logo is of the right size it test manually to see its behaviour on different mediums.

Wise use of colors

The color theory may sound complex, but to a designer keen on creating killer logos for web and print, there is no other way but to understand the theory and be proficient in its application. The basic rule when it comes to using color in logo design is as follows-:

• Use colors that are near each other on the color wheel
• Avoid very bright colors which may make the eyes strain while looking at them
• The logo must also look good in black and white or grayscale or in just two colors
• You are free to break the rules, but you must have a good reason for that.

It also pays to understand how different colors evoke various emotions or feelings. For instance, the color red might evoke feelings of love, passion, aggression, and strength while white on the other hand might evoke feelings of cleanliness, purity or simplicity.

Adopt a design style that suits the company

There are various design styles at the disposal of every graphics designer. When working on other graphics, any other style which suits the needs of the designer can be preferred. However, when working on logos, whether for the web or for print, the style adopted must be in tandem with the needs of the company. To get the style right, it is recommended to do a background check about the company so that you have a good understanding their operation and the nature of the businesses they do. You should also do a research about the target audience of the company then identify the best style that will give greater results. Preferably, you should identify the right style when working on the preliminary sketches.

Learn how to create a consultancy logo here!

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Apple, McDonalds, Google, IBM, Nike and many others wouldn’t have attained the staggering levels of success they are currently enjoying if they never invented their time and resources in having great logos. Therefore, note very strongly that it is possible for your logo to cause your business to fail and that can happen in one or a combination of the following ways.

Alienating new clients or prospects

One of the primary reasons of having a logo for you business is to stand out from the crowd and attract new prospect clients. With a poorly designed logo, you lose the competitive edge to be conspicuous amongst the competition and you will be effectively alienating the prospective clients whom would have been interested in doing business with you. Additionally, a poorly designed logo may attract the wrong crowd which is not suitable for your business and this will do nothing but stunt your growth potential. Therefore, be sure that you are not locking out potential customers by having an ill-designed logo.

Sending out the wrong message

When it comes to using business logos for branding, the logo must have the ability to send out the right message to your potential and current clients. The logo should essentially portray what the business firmly believes in and it should tell the potential clients the business has what it takes to meet their specific needs. People will be more confident in engaging your business if they feel they will get value out of doing so.

And since your logo is the first point of contact between you and your clients, if it delivers the wrong message, then this is likely to make your business fail. Therefore, if you don’t want your logo to fail your entire business, it is imperative to ensure to get the messaging right.

A poor logo may suggest poor quality standards

It goes without saying that success in any business is greatly pegged on the ability to deliver quality products or services. It is a must for the clients or customers to believe they are getting their money’s worth by working with you. A poorly designed logo may create an impression that the business does not take quality seriously. If they can’t design a high quality logo, why should a potential client think that they will get quality products or services from the business? This is another way through which a logo can make a business to fail.

Lack of a great first impression

A successful logo must have the ability to standout from the crowd and make a lasting impression when a potential client sees it for the very first time. This ability to be noticed from amongst the competition is what will be responsible for continuous flow of potential clients to the business. In this manner, it will not be possible for the business to win and to retain prospects if the logo can’t make a good and lasting first impression.

Not only this, but the lack of a good  first impression will have other implications on the business like making the prospects doubt your values and every other thing you claim to stand for. As a matter of fact, it will be an indication that you never took much time and effort to create the logo. Thus, it will not be possible for your business to realize its ultimate growth potential with such a logo.

Affecting talent acquisition

It is important to have in mind that business logos are not just for attracting new clients, but also attracting the right employees to the business. A bad logo may not only drive away talented and experienced employees, but also it can prevent the business from attracting talented professionals from applying for open positions.

A poorly designed logo will send a message to the potential employees that the business is not keen on connecting with their employees, leave alone the customers. A potential employee will thus be left wondering if the business will have any interests in investing in them. If your business is unable to attract the right talent in the industry, then moving forward will be very difficult and the business may as well fail.

These are some of the ways through which a logo can make a business fail. It is imperative to consider each keenly so that you avoid curtailing the growth of your business due to poor logo design.

Learn more about design education here!

The post Can Your Logo Cause Your Business to Fail? appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

An example of a logo that has been criticized and considered not to be a culturally best logo is the Blackhawk’s hockey team logo. The logo depicts American Indian tribal leader – Blackhawk. It is an Indian head wearing face paint and feathers. Many people believe that the team’s logo is no better than the Redskins. It has been criticized for a number of times for caricaturing the Native Americans. Due to all the criticisms, it is clear that the logo is not culturally appropriate as some cultures finds in a bit offensive. But how could this have been avoided so that the team can have a culturally appropriate logo that will be accepted by all cultures?

Consider the following tips to design a culturally best logo.

Wise Choice of Symbols

A bigger part of the controversy that usually mar logos considered not to be culturally appropriate usually lies in the symbols used. A culturally appropriate logo should not use or have symbols that other cultures might consider to be offensive. The Blackhawk logo that is considered culturally inappropriate. That’s because it features a head wearing feathers and face paint just like the American Indian tribal leader Blackhawk.

The choice of symbol for the logo, in this case, is very specific. It can be construed to have targeted the native Indian communities, even if it had pure and sincere intentions of doing so. It would be a good idea to use a more neutral symbol that might not appear offensive to other people. This is because the logo has been considered not to be culturally appropriate.

The Color Choice for the Best Logo

The color is always an integral part of every culture. Different countries and regions have colors to which they cherish and upon which they draw their inspirations from. To create a culturally appropriate logo, it would be prudent to choose the right colors that will be in tandem with the cultures of the target audience. Additionally, colors that might create controversy or which hold bad memories as far as the concerned culture should always be avoided at all costs.

Make use of Prominent Features

Using prominent features or landscapes in the logo design will make it appear more culturally appropriate. This contributes the proper choice of symbols in designing a culturally appropriate logo. This might include the use of geographical features such as lakes, mountains, rivers as well as native animals such as Bear, Kangaroo, etc.

When such features are used, it will be easy for the people to recognize easily. Also, it will be easy for people accept the logo because it contains features that they consider as part of their culture. An example of a logo that uses both a native animal and a natural feature is the Toblerone logo. Toblerone is a region in Switzerland, near Bern City and it is believed that this is the place where chocolate originated from.

The logo features the prominent Mount Matterhorn as well as a white bear. This is culturally appropriate since the mountain is native to the residents and nobody will ever find it to be culturally inappropriate.

Choice of Words

The choice of words is another important factor to consider when designing a culturally appropriate logo. The wording in the logo is especially important if you intend to have a tagline or name in one of the local dialects. The world is comprised of different ethnicities and dialects. Its important for you not to use wording which might be considered by another community as culturally inappropriate.

One word may make sense in one dialect but be totally offensive when seen by another community. Though such cases are rare, you should always be cautious, especially when you have to use the various dialects in the native languages in your designs.

Most logo designs in the present times will be considered culturally appropriate. But it still pays to be cautious and take the necessary precautions. This is to ensure that you don’t end up with a logo which will upset some people due to your choice of symbols, patterns, colors and wording. This is why you should take note of these four tips so that you culturally appropriate logos. This way you can also avoid being attacked for targeting a particular culture with your designs.

Learn how to build a brand from scratch here!

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Since logos are designed to be seen by lots of people, the habit of using stock images can be pretty limiting. Therefore, as a professional designer, you should avoid using them in your design as much as possible. Here is why-:

Stock images are other people’s visions

Uniqueness is one aspect in logo design that is greatly admired. Everyone desires to have a logo that is unique to them and will never be found in any other place. Stock photos will always be another person’s idea or inspiration and using them in your logo will deny you the chance to be creative. It will also deny our clients the chance to have a unique logo. Besides, you may never manage to capture or stimulate the right emotions when you rely on another person’s image in your logo design.

There is no originality in using stock photo

The other danger of using stock images in logo design is the fact they lack in originality. Stock Photos offer free resources accessible to millions of people in the world. It is important to realize that millions of designers rely on such photos and download a lot of them on a daily basis. If you decide to use one in your logo design, you risk downloading a photo that has been downloaded and used for several times.

By this virtue alone, your logo design will lack originality, and you should not be surprised if you came across similar logo just like yours on the internet. You will lose the “wow” element of the logo. Those who see it may fail to see any inspiration in the design process. If you are a designer who loves originality, you will not want to use the stock photos.

Stock Photos are costly in the long run

Stock photos may be appealing if you need a quick fix for the design because you can get them quite cheaply and easily. However, you should not forget that cheap is always expensive in the long run. There are some direct costs involved in using stock photos in your logo other than the licensing fees, which in some cases may be very high, depending on the quality of the photo.

Again, it will take you a lot of time to scour through hundreds or even thousands of photos before you find the final one to use in your logo design. Besides, there are no guarantees that the stock photo will meet all your design purposes. Hence, using stock photos might just be a costly waste of time and resource compared to coming up with a design from scratch or using custom photos for the logo design.

Perfect logo or good enough logo

Before you decide on the image to use in your logo, you need to consider the goals and the vision of the logo. This should essentially come from the goals and objectives of the design as well as the kind of emotions you need to be evoked on those who will be seeing the image. Finding a stock photo that will meet such a specific is not easy.

In most of the times, you will use imagery close to what you wanted but not actually what will manage to meet all your design requirements. Essentially, stock photos will be “just good enough” but won’t let you have the perfect logo that will drive the brand of your business.

Stock photos are generic and boring in logo design

The other reason stock photos should never be used in logo design is because they are generic and very boring. It is very difficult to establish an immediate connection with the logo using a stock photo compared to a logo designed with a custom image.

By simply looking at logo with a stock photo, the audience will easily decipher that the image is not real or does not belong to the company hence you lose a chance to create an authentic connection with the audience. It implies that you have failed in creating credibility and trust with the potential audience, and this might cost the business regarding branding.

There are certain occasions when you might bump into very good quality stock images but as a professional designer, you should rely on your skills, expertise and intuition to use original images that will bring out the unique components of the logo.

Learn if it is possible to create a logo that transcends time here. 

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Big brands and companies have flexible and varied ways of using promotional products to increase their brand awareness, besides attracting new customers and clients. With this versatility, marketers have more choices to move the products of the company, but unfortunately, they are also prone to a number of mistakes along the way which might make the method less effective. If you intend to use promotional products for marketing or advertising your business, here are some of the most common mistakes you need to have in mind so that you can get the best out of using such products for marketing:

Lack of objectivity

Most brands splash out promotional products without defining the specific objectives they intend to achieve with the drive. It is not clear to them whether they want to increase the traffic to their website, increase brand awareness, give emphasis to a particular product, increase email sign-ups, etc. Each of these various objectives may need a different promotional product for more effectiveness.

When you define clearly what you attend to achieve with your promotional products, you will know the best distribution channels to use so that you increase your effectiveness in reaching the target audience without wasting products on those who don’t even care about what you give to them. Always have in mind that however great your promotional products are, lack of a clear goal, or a desired outcome will spell doom for the promotion from the word go.

No clear distribution plan

It is saddening to note that there are a good number of companies who go ahead and buy promotional products without knowing what to do with them. Imagine a situation where you have received five hundred promotional key chains, yet you don’t have a single idea on how to get them out to your target audience. It is imperative that you have a clear distribution plan before you get the promotional products.

Such a plan should be guided by your desired result. For instance, if you intend to increase the number of your repeat clients, then you may decide to include the promotional product for every purchase of the product. If you need to attract new clients, on the other hand, you can give out the promotional product as a gift during the trade shows that you attend.

Remember, giving away your promotional products to anybody that comes on sight is never a good idea since there is no targeting if you do that way. If you have to go down this route, however, you can increase the chances of getting the right clients by first asking them to sign up for your mailing list or complete a customer survey on one of your products before they get the item for free.

Products not tailored for your target audience

One common mistake that most brands and business are fond of making is giving out promotional products that they like and which may not be necessarily what their target audience need or like. Effective results are achieved with promotional products if they are items that will add value or solve one of the needs of your target clients.

Remember, they never asked for the products neither were they desperate for them. Hence, you should not insult their intelligence and loyalty to your brand by throwing just anything their way. They might take it negatively, and you may end up driving them away instead of bringing them closer to you.

Using generic designs on the products

Most companies giving away promotional products will have nothing on them but the business logos. This is quite generic and might not yield great results if a lot of branding considerations were taken in the design of the products. Remember, promotional products are also meant to increase brand awareness and make your brand known to certain people who might have never heard about you. Therefore, playing it safe with the branding is missing out on a big opportunity to improve the penetration of your brand.

Distributing the products on the last minute

Many companies are very comfortable with handling rush orders and will have no problem in dealing with the customer issues and ensuring that all of them are satisfied. However, dealing with promotional materials at the very last minute can prove to be elusive. If you wait for long, you are likely to have less time to facilitate effective distribution plan.

If for instances you needed the promotional products for an event, you need to allow enough lead time so that you get all the products in good time and before the actual date of the event. This will also allow you ample time to inspect and request for adjustments should there be any particular concerns with the materials you received.

Be very keen when using promotional products to advertise and market your business or brand. Avoid these mistakes for increased chances of having great results with the drive.

Learn about the purpose of a logo here!

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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!

The post How to Make a Flat Design That Rocks appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

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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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!

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