There Are So Many Ways for a Bad Logo to Leave the Wrong Impression
Every now and again I amuse myself by typing in “bad logo” into Google search. I alway find a bunch of bad designs that add no value to the companies that use them. What’s worse is that quite often, the logo actually leaves a negative impression on the potential marketplace, meaning that the first impression of a business drives away potential customers. I was surprised to see that these missteps can be categorized into general groups. The same mistakes happen over and over again. Here are some of the categories as I see them:
Unusually Suggestive or Questionable- Trying To Be Too Many Things At Once
- Nothing Unique or Memorable
- Completely Unrecognizable
- Not Useful
- Poorly Assembled or Inelegant
Have a look here:
Bad Logo Google Search
Let’s run through my list.
Click the examples to make them larger.
Unusually Suggestive or Questionable – Many times clients or designers become hyper-focused when trying to solve visual problems, but never take a step back to review it. You never want your logo giving the wrong impression.
Trying To Be Too Many Things at Once – A logo’s responsibility is to represent a set of values that can be remembered quickly within a single symbol. That’s it! It isn’t there to tell people all about what you do. It is there to help them remember and recognize you. If it is applied consistently everywhere you communicate visually, you build trust with customers because you look like you have your act together. It is then up to you to make sure that your consistent brand promise remains intact across your products, services and employees.
Nothing Unique or Memorable – It is one thing to be inspired by something. It is another thing completely to construct a new logo with only slight variations from something someone is already using – especially within the same industry. The task of logo creation is best left to a professional, because it walks a fine line between being familiar and unique at the same moment.
Completely Unrecognizable – What exactly is it supposed to be? Does it relate to your business or service at all? Is the text just plain illegible? With so much competition for attention, it is important to remember that people do not have time to decipher busy business logos.
Not Useful – A logo needs to be versatile to use in many situations. Will it work as effectively on an embroidered hat as it will on a website? What about on a vehicle sticker? Can you make it large enough to put on the side of a truck if you need to? The most common failure of a poorly constructed logo comes when it is designed for a website, but then needs to be used on printed materials. The screen resolution on your computer is much lower than what is needed for a quality print piece.
Poorly Assembled or Inelegant – It takes skill to construct an attractive, useful logo. Assembling multiple elements gracefully into one memorable form is worth the investment, especially if you plan on being in business for a while. Make sure people get the desirable first impression of your company that you are hoping for. A bad logo will hurt your business.
There are many lists that share succinct perspectives on Bad Logos. Here is one I recommend:
www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/10-common-mistakes-in-logo-design/
As always, we are right here when you are ready for your marketing to take shape. Thanks for reading!