Although many companies and entrepreneurs do not give it the importance it deserves, the logo is an important element in a business. The logo is the visual representation of what your company means, identifies it, and differentiates it from others. A good logo speaks of your professionalism and your values, which generates trust between the company and the client. Designing a logo, however, there are certain mistakes to avoid. Whether it’s the color, the design, the size, or the concept it represents, a bad logo won’t attract customers.
THE MAIN MISTAKES TO AVOID ARE THESE TWO:
1. LET YOUR LOGO BE DESIGNED BY A BEGINNER
And by beginner, I mean, for example, your neighbor, the shoemaker whose hobby is to retouch photos and make posters for the neighborhood meeting with his computer; Or your cousin, the engineer who took a 15-hour PhotoShop course while unemployed; even the neighborhood printing company, which is going to charge you to make the logo, but they don’t have a designer hired.
These are several examples, but we all have someone we know with basic knowledge of a design program which tries to work as a designer and offers to do this type of work for free or for a minimal price. The problem with these people is that they do not have knowledge of design theory, nor do they have the vision that a professional who is dedicated to this would have. No matter how good faith they put into designing a logo, you can tell from a distance that it is made by a beginner because they make most of the concept errors and in a way that I will explain to you below.
And what if your logo looks like it was made by a beginner? Well, you are not going to attract the customer your company needs. Your clients will be your neighbors, who know who made the logo, or your uncles and cousins, who are very proud of the work of their family members. You will not reach more public. Because? Because the image you give is that of a beginner, someone was looking for something cheap and unprofessional. And consequently, your business looks cheap and unprofessional.
2. COPY OTHER LOGOS
Unfortunately, this is something that has been done since the beginning of time, and it is quite damaging.
If your logo represents your values and your company, it must be unique, and it must differentiate you from other businesses. For this reason, copying another logo, whether for personal tastes or competition, does not favor the company or the designer in any way.
THE MOST COMMON FORM ERRORS THAT WILL INFLUENCE THE VISIBILITY OF YOUR LOGO:
3. THE INCORRECT USE OF TYPOGRAPHY, COLOR, AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
When you start designing a logo, it is very easy to be overwhelmed by the many possibilities offered by current design programs and all the free resources at your fingertips. Thousands of fonts, color effects, gradients, 3D effects, watercolor, glitter, etc. All this is very good, but you have to avoid using all these resources at the same time.
Here are some examples of the most common mistakes that make a logo difficult to read:
3.1. Use multiple fonts at the same time
3.2. Use the wrong typeface
3.3. Create the shape with color
3.4. Abuse special effects
4. NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE DIFFERENT USES THAT THE LOGO WILL HAVE
When designing a logo, it must be taken into account that it will not only be used to put it on your business cards but that it must be optimized for use in different media and formats.
For example, the same file will not be used to print an advertising brochure to create your website. In the first case, you should use your logo in a vector file or a file with a lot of resolution so that the image has enough quality and does not get corrupted (it looks pixelated). In the second, you have to use a lower-quality image so that it takes up little space and is much smaller in size.
This means that:
4.1. You need to have the logo in several file formats so that it can adapt to different formats without losing the quality of the image.
4.2. You need to take into account how your logo will look in different sizes to make sure it can be seen correctly. For this reason, it is advisable to avoid very complex shapes since they will not be seen correctly in very small sizes.
5. BE INSPIRED BY CURRENT TRENDS
An important detail when designing a logo is thinking ahead. It is about creating a unique image that is capable of lasting over time.
Fashions change faster every day. You just have to go around Pinterest to realize it. If you create your logo based on what is currently being worn, it probably won’t take long for it to go out of style.
THE MOST COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS THAT WILL INFLUENCE THE VISIBILITY OF YOUR LOGO:
6. THE USE OF PREDESIGNED LOGOS
Yes, there are predesigned logos. There are pages where for a small fee, you can buy an already created logo, add your company name, and voila! You already have a logo. This practice is strongly discouraged for several reasons:
6.1. Your logo will not be unique or original. The same logo that you bought may be used by hundreds of other businesses.
6.2. The concept of your logo has not been to think exclusively for your business, so it is to be imagined that it does not define you 100% but rather gives an approximate image of what you do.
7. NOT HAVING A CLEAR CONCEPT OF WHAT YOU WANT TO CONVEY
Before taking the pencil and starting to sketch, we must be clear about what we want the image we are going to create to convey. For this, there are two important steps that must be taken into account:
7.1. Investigate. This step is essential for ideas to emerge. From studying in a general way the sector in which the company is dedicated to looking for the logos of the competition, you have to know the terrain in which we operate.
7.2. Involve the customer. As important or more than knowing the competition is knowing what the business values are and if it offers any added value. This will give us the clues to create a unique and memorable image.
IN SHORT
Avoiding the previous errors, you will get a logo:
- that is unique and original
- that is legible and easily recognizable
- that withstands the passage of time
- that does not deform when reproduced on different media
- That is professional.
Also read about: 7 essential characteristics that make a logo design memorable
