10 Basic Logo Design Errors
A few basics to avoid when designing a company logo include;
1. Gradients within in the logo design typeface.
2. Excessive use of drop-shadows within the logo design. Care must taken especially when used in combination with gradients.
3. Rainbow gradients within the font or graphics of the logo design.
4. Marrying together bold primary colours such as bright red and primary blue.
5. Photos or Clipart as part of a logo design. Not even vector clipart (please refer to my article on limitations of stock art copyright)
6. Logos that are very tall in height….believe me, they may work fine when they are big, but they will inevitably cause problems when in use and required to be smaller. If the height needs to fit into a certain restricted height space…….it will render your company name then very tiny by comparison.
7. Use of cursive fonts for business to business services companies - it can be done well, but tread very carefully. Best avoided if you aren’t sure what you are doing.
8. Clutter; don’t try to send out too messages at once within one design. With all the clutter, none of your messages will reach it’s audience - yes have a brand ethos, but keep it to one or two ideologies only when it comes to the image representing the brand.
9. Designing for yourself and your ‘likes’. Design for the target market only. You may like bright red and black…but will this appeal to the customers? As well as considering graphical imagery, also think about colour and it’s effect on mood and emotions - read more >>
10. Designs in which the company name text cannot be easily read or is excessively disrupted by a graphical element that makes up part of the logo design.
Of course there are always exceptions to these loose rules as there are with all rules, and one should never actually have ‘design rules’ lest it destroy creativity… but these points should most definitely be strongly noted.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Great article, when I am developing a logo I always think how will this design look when it’s reduced the size of a stamp? I also start in black and white so I know the logo works in one colour.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I never start in black and white - colour is just too important in terms of marketing and sales (and also I have a great love for colours) I can’t make myself do this even though it seems a logical thing to do. In fact I often choose colours as an early priority before the design even.
One other reason is that even if you do start in colour, and are asked later on to produce at black and white version, I find that I’ve never struggled to convert any logo I’ve created to a black and white version. Most well designed logos will easily convert.
Thanks for your comments
Amanda
xx