8 Signs Your Company Logo Fails

Why Your Logo Might Need Serious Work

There are many potential pitfalls when one begins envisioning their company’s unique brand; whether it’s a questionable slogan, an abrasive online presence or a hideous logo, the opportunities that arise for lapses in brand judgment are a dime a dozen. We’ve seen our fair share of unfortunate branding choices, and one can only shake his head and hope that someone with a better insight speaks up at the next company meeting.

When it comes to your business logo, taste and attention to detail are everything. If you aren’t sure whether or not your company’s logo is terrible, take a look at our list of tell-tale signs.

The Font is Hard to Read

Your company’s logo is often the first exposure many of your potential customers will have to your brand; don’t make it a confusing experience for them by using a font that’s hard to read. You know that voice inside your head that tells you to choose the font with the whirly p’s and q’s? Silence it, and choose Helvetica. Or another font that is similarly legible.

A Failed Visual Double Entendre

One of the most clever design tricks is making your logo look like two things at once; it’s a fun a-ha for your customers once they catch the visual trick, and it associates your company with quick wit and ingenuity. Unfortunately, a bad attempt at a visual double entendre in your logo will likely just confuse your audience. Walking the fine line between delightfully clever and completely obscure can make the best of us stumble.

Bad Use of Colors

Many companies don’t realize the vital importance of color choice when it comes to their logos. As a result, they choose the loudest, most abrasive colors available to them, thinking only in terms of grabbing customers’ attention. As it turns out, people don’t like to look at a bunch of bright, aggressive colors mushed together in a small logo. Choose your color palette wisely.

Not Paying Attention to Symmetry

The human eye is trained to be attracted to symmetry, and incorporating symmetrical aspects into your design is important in maintaining visual balance. Using strategic symmetry in your design will help keep your logo visually appealing, balanced and optimally attractive to your audience.

Embracing the Overdone

The one thing that you want to accomplish with your company logo is setting yourself apart from the competition. Don’t rely on an overused trend to soften the experience of brainstorming or designing; put in the effort to formulate an original idea. Your brand deserves it.

Misusing (and Abusing) Negative Space

Attractively utilizing negative space is a universal plus for designs; your logo is no different. Many amateur designers feel the need to fill up all the negative space in a design because they see blankness as weakness; in fact, just the opposite is true. Utilizing the negative space in your logo design can mean a visual pop, a more attractive presentation and an overall more palatable design for your audience.

Complicating Things

An easy way to instantly improve your company’s potential logo is to simplify it. Most people nowadays are in a perpetual hurry; a quick glance at your logo should be enough to draw them in, and complicated, indulgent designs don’t usually do the trick.

Making a Logo That Doesn’t Reflect Your Industry

When you’re trying to create a logo that is both visually appealing and makes a splash within your industry, you need to have an aesthetic in mind that reflects the values or interests of your customer base. When you play to the interests of your customers, you have a better shot at attracting the type of engagement you’re looking for, rather than alienating them and forcing a necessary (and time-wasting)  return to the drawing board.

A logo is among the first things your potential customers will see of your brand; keeping a few key techniques in mind when it comes to appealing to them is vital to creating a logo that resonates, is memorable and will come to successfully signify your unique brand. Retooling your brand logo can have dramatic positive effects on your company’s engagement of potential customers and your company’s visibility in their industry. 

Image Credit: freedigitalphotos.net/Stuart Miles

8 Signs Your Company Logo Fails