10 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Designing Your Logo

When designing your logo, it may be common to run into some mistakes, but the truth is that you shouldn’t worry about it too much. Every person alive makes mistakes, especially in logo design, but one important thing to take into consideration is to avoid making big mistakes during the process. 

Your logo represents your company and it’s one of the first visuals that clients see when they encounter your company, and let’s not forget that making a good first impression is increasingly important. 

In this article, we’ll dive deeper into learning more about the common mistakes most people make when designing a logo and how you can avoid them. 

1. Making the design complicated 

It’s quite a common mistake many designers make. This includes trying to include too many details in your logo. Always remember that the more elements you try to cramp in, the harder it’ll be to maintain your logo’s quality across different mediums. 

Cluttered designs can confuse viewers and may not translate too well across different mediums, especially when the logo size starts to get smaller. Complex logos are also heavy on the eyes and might be much harder to remember. 

Some of the most successful logos in the world are the simplest ones and if you pay close attention to these logos, you’ll see that most of them have less than three design components.

2. Trying to keep up with trends 

Always trying to keep up with logo design trends might be useful when you are looking for some idea that will inspire you to create your own logo design, but this isn't good practice. Why so? 

The reason is because you don’t want to create a logo design that will soon become outdated. Look at popular logos like Coca-Cola, Nike, and others, they’ve been around for ages, but when you look at them, you instantly know what they represent. 

Therefore, the lesson here is to make sure you stick to your logo design and not make any major redesigns. Following trends is never a good idea and it can easily destroy your brand’s uniqueness in the long-term. 

3. Choosing the wrong colors 

Color psychology plays a huge role in how people perceive your logo and brand’s personality. By understanding what colors represent and by applying them to your logo design, you are helping your brand increase its recognition. In fact, statistics show that colors can increase brand recognition by 80%. 

There are two groups of colors, which are warm and cool. Warm colors are red, orange, and yellow; and they represent warm vibes and happiness. If you are using warm colors, this means that your brand is energetic and generates warm feelings. A good example is McDonalds. 

Cool colors, on the other hand, are blue, green, and purple. They represent calm feelings and a good example that uses them in their logo design is Starbucks. 

Knowing the two color groups, you must communicate your brand’s message based on the vibes your colors offer. If your brand is energetic and generates warm feelings, don’t use cool colors and vice versa. 

A bonus tip is to always remember to avoid using too many colors in your logo design. Limiting your color palette makes it possible for your logo to easily get recognized and clear. Naturally, the human brain will remember logos that have fewer colors compared to one that has more than 10 different colors. 

4. Not using memorable typography 

Typography plays a huge role when it comes to creating your ideal logo design. Many logo designers fall into the same trap when it comes to typography because they don’t know which type of fonts exist. 

Four different types of fonts exist which you should know of when designing your logo: 

1. Display fonts: Bold and dynamic fonts; 
2. Serif fonts: Traditional fonts; 
3. Script fonts: Considered as elegant and informal (professional) fonts;
4. Sans Serif fonts: Modern and clear. 

Choosing the proper typography for your logo is only possible when you know about your brand’s identity. Your typography communicates your brand’s personality, improves memorability, and makes it easier for people to remember your logo.

The same practice you use for logo colors should be used for fonts. Avoid using too many fonts and only use one or two. Reducing the number of fonts you use improves your logo design legibility and improves your brand recognition. 

5. Avoiding to pay attention to versatility 

When you are designing logos, if you create them in a form where they heavily rely on gradients or details, they can easily lose their appeal. This means that a logo that might look great on a website might not be as good on a printed T-shirt. 

Creating a versatile logo design is important for adapting to different contexts and mediums. This means that your logo should be able to scale on different sizes, color variations, and backgrounds without compromising your brand’s identity. 

Always test your logos and how they’ll appear on print and digital media, even in grayscale back-and-white formats. Designing versatile logos is important for making sure your logo maintains its recognition and impact across different mediums. 

A general rule of thumb includes making sure your logo looks both good in print and digital formats. You can start by creating your logo in black and white and go from there. 

6. Avoiding logo design feedback 

One of the most common mistakes made by logo designers is avoiding feedback. Without gathering the right feedback, you are missing out on important insights into what changes you can make to your logo design. 

Feedback can be collected through various methods, such as surveys, emails, social media, etc. You can mix things up by asking for feedback from customers, colleagues, and focus groups. After you receive feedback, you should take immediate action on your logo design. 

As a final tip, you can start testing your logo and see what kind of reactions you get based on the updates you make. This will give you a better idea if you are on the right path or not. 

7. Not aligning your logo design with your brand’s identity 

A logo is the extension of your brand’s identity, but if you don’t align them together, customers will easily lose interest. For example, if you are a company that is energetic and passionate like McDonalds, it wouldn’t be the best idea to have a logo that doesn’t communicate these feelings. 

Be simple and clarify your brand’s message before you start to design your logo. Logo designs that reflect your brand’s identity will create a deeper and stronger connection with your target audience. 

8. Copying from others 

A big mistake you should avoid when it comes to effectively creating your logo is copying others. There’s nothing wrong with getting ideas and inspiration from other logos, but the whole idea is to design your own and avoid copying them. 

Copying another logo can easily hurt your brand’s reputation and show that you aren’t trying to be creative and professional. Also, don’t forget that this can also lead to much larger complications such as copyright infringement, and other legal issues. 

9. Creating illustrations 

While some logo designers might think they are heading down the right path, we’re sorry to say that this is a trap you shouldn’t fall for. During the logo design process, designers might be focused on the main purpose. However, it’s important to avoid illustrations altogether. 

The purpose of a logo is to identify and not illustrate your business. Don’t get us wrong, illustrative styles should be encouraged, but once it starts promoting something, you’ll easily lose your logo’s authority. 

10. Failing to expose your logo 

Statistics show that someone needs to view your logo from 5 to 7 times before they remember your brand. This means that if you want someone to remember your logo, they’ll need to view it a couple of times. 

Include your logo everywhere, on social media channels, your business cards, brochures, your website, and any other area you see fit. 

When you create your logo, people might not have too many feelings about it even if the first impression is good. However, as they get exposed to it much more, they will start to connect with it on a deeper level. 

Exposing your logo is even more important for startups that are trying to gain exposure and build brand recognition. 

Avoid pitfalls when designing your logo

Your logo is the face of your brand and managing to avoid common mistakes is important if you want to build a good and lasting first impression. By avoiding poor font choices, complex designs, and neglecting scalability, you are making sure that your logo is functional across all mediums. 

Always remember that your logo should be unique, stand out from competitors and improve your brand’s credibility and recognition. Therefore, when during the design process, take your time and think it through.