10 mistakes are avoid in logo design..???
1: Copying
2: Having a Vague or Overly-Complex Design
3: Poor Colour Choices
4: Typographic Issues
5: Designing Logos That are not Suitable for All Mediums
6: Designing for Your Portfolio Instead of the Client’s
Needs
7: Using Clipart and Stock Imagery
8: Unnecessary Inclusions
9: Not Using the ‘Correct’ Logo Design Software
10: Lacking a Process for Designing Logos
All designers know and value the importance of a professional logo design to any business, large or small…
1: Copying……
Copyright and trademark infringement is rife on the
internet, not just for design, but for everything from media to ideas and
intellectual property.
One particular excuse we have heard is that with client’s
undervaluing logo design to such an extent, the designer cannot afford to
research and develop a unique design.
This was admittedly concerning crowdsourcing, where hundreds
of designers compete to ‘win’ the chosen logo, with the rest not receiving a
penny for their time.
Regardless, any serious and professional designer will know
it is unacceptable to copy or steal someone else’s work knowingly.
We have found some of our logos, created for clients, often
blatantly ripped off under the guise of another business.
One Russian company, for example, had used the logo from our
graphic design portfolio, changing nothing! (Their name was the same as my
client’s – not the smartest move)..
2: Having a Vague or Overly-Complex Design...
You have just started an exciting project and are working to
a tight deadline.
You have so many ideas in your head that they are bursting
out of the sketchpads and onto the floor.
In the excitement of the creative juices flowing, your
deadline is catching up to you, and you end up combining several of the
strongest approaches into one.
The problem is, the final logo you propose to the client is
a complicated design, sending various messages and ultimately lacking clarity.
If the logo is not clear, then how will an outside party, a
potential customer, for example, gain any understanding of the message
portrayed?
If the potential customer reacts neutrally or even
negatively to the brand image that you have created, then you as a designer has
failed in your job.
The key here is to keep things simple instead of
complicating it.
Sure, you had a lot of interesting ideas, which is great,
but you should have developed the strongest approaches rather than try to
infuse them with a kind of Frankenstein logo.
Keep things simple, clear and meaningful.
3: Poor Colour Choices…
Another common mistake many designers seem to make is when
making colour choices.
Of course, logos can be very colourful and vibrant as it is
one way to catch the eye and form a memorable brand image, but not every colour
goes with each other.
When it comes to the art of designing logos, I believe all
designers should work in black and white.
It does not matter if you are creating a logo for a company
that sells rainbows to Disney, working in the simplest form is essential for a
logo’s timelessness and adaptability.
Check out online colour tools such as Adobe’s Color, where
you can see the colour spectrum and use the sliders to create complimentary
colour palettes that work well together.
Start in black and white, only adding limited colours that
both complement and make sense if required for the design.
4: Typographic Issues...
Believe it or not, many designers make very fundamental, and
critical mistakes when it comes to typeface and lettering used in their logo
designs.
Typography is one of the most important aspects when it
comes to logos, and choosing appropriate fonts is part of the process.
Here are just a few of the most common typography issues
that designers commit:
Spacing – excessive spacing, or not enough spacing, can
destroy legibility and readability at both large and small scales.
Predictable or overused typefaces – We all know Times New
Roman and Arial, they are the default, go-to fonts installed on every computer
– be sure to experiment and check out other fonts on the market before taking
the easy route.
Ridiculous font choices – I have genuinely seen serious
companies (or what at least attempts to be serious) using ‘professional’ logos
attached to Papyrus and Curlz fonts.
Don’t get me started on Comic Sans, although I cannot say I
have ever seen a serious logo that uses it!
Fonts with the extremities of weight – Excessively thin
fonts can look glamorous.
Super-heavy fonts can be playful and bold…..
5: Designing Logos That are not Suitable for All Mediums....
After creating what they think is the perfect logo, many
logo designers call it a day and finalise the work with the client, without
double checking it will work in all mediums.
Most logos today will rarely appear solely in one format,
rather a large range.
Even if you are branding a wine company that only prints
their logo on the bottle labels – what happens in a year or two when they
decide to get it embroidered on a uniform for staff only to find it will not
work?
6: Designing for Your Portfolio Instead of the Client’s Needs..
he problem with some designers is that they focus on how the
logo will look in their portfolio, maybe they have done that style before and
will deliberately do something different, so their work appears to have
variation.
Designing a logo that puts yourself before the client is not
why they have hired you, they want your honest advice, strategy, and basically,
they want you to create for them the strongest and most suitable logo design
possible.
Similarly, if you have a ‘style’ of design, sometimes it may
not be appropriate for a particular project.
Instead of forcing it to fit your ‘look’, drop the arrogant
mentality and put them first.
7: Using Clipart and Stock Imagery...
As with designers using the Papyrus font for a , I have
seen more clip art and overused template logos than is desirable.
Clipart is no longer the silly illustrations that came
bundled with Windows 95 – clipart has taken on a new form in logo design,
through the abstract symbols sold on stock photo sites.
Not only do they lack meaning (most of which fall under
mistake #2 on this list) but reverse application of meaning only dilutes the
entire thing completely.
8: Unnecessary Inclusions..
Part of the logo design process is to simplify and reduce
superfluous elements within the design to get to the core forms – having these
additional, unnecessary items is only distracting from the logo itself.
In any project where I have been requested to include items
like the above, I have always been sure to ask, “does law require you to
include this in the logo?” with the usual answer being “well… no.”
9: Not Using the ‘Correct’ Logo Design Software..
If you want to be a professional, using the right logo
design software is essential.
I have been criticised by other designers for saying that
you ‘MUST use Adobe Illustrator’but I stand by my point.
That point, by the way, is about creating logos in vector
form instead of bitmap – I am in no way affiliated with or firmly attached to
Adobe by any means, quite simply, it is the best software out there currently
for designing logos professionally.
Some of you reading this may use another vector design
application (I believe CoralDraw is the next favourite?) and that is okay for
logo design…
10: Lacking a Process for Designing Logos...
As with everything, it is always a good idea to have a set
of stages that you need to adhere to when working.
Sometimes, and especially with young designers, they are
just too eager to finalise concepts, that they immediately start sketching only
to end up repeating the various stages over and over again.
When their knowledge of the message that needs to be
conveyed doesn’t exist.
When creating any design, the first step is to do your
research.
Read and understand the creative brief properly and if there
are things that are not clear to you, ask your client about it before you proceed.
If you have understood everything, then that is when you can
start exploring and sketching.
After sketching, the next step is to get it onto the
computer in digital, vector form.
The final stage is the presentation, and this is where you
decide the colours to use, font styles etc.
Take a look at our logo design process to see the various
steps I follow when creating logos for clients.
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