Bad logo Design 101, Simple tricks to Solve it

Bad logo Design 101, Simple tricks to Solve it

There is good design and there is bad design. Yes, designing is a creative art form but there are specific ways to recognise bad design. A bad logo design is a curse for any brand. Logos are meant to introduce the brand to a new audience and represent your brand. While bad logos do exactly the opposite of that. They are forgetful, confusing or simply ugly. Let us take a look at some common logo design problems that you can face.

Signs its a bad logo design

1) No Logitivety

When a company decides on a logo, it is assumed that they will stick to it for a long, long time. It is a part of the company’s branding, image and the way they’ll be remembered. For such an important piece of design, minute trends shouldn’t be focused on. While several design trends come and go, the logo must remain evergreen. Those trends either die out, making your logo look outdated or become the norm, making your logo look too common.

https://www.logolounge.com/articles/2010-logo-trends

Solution

Don’t focus on trends to build the logo. Focus on unique perspectives and the brand that you’re working on. While it isn’t entirely bad to have a common element to it, you should give it a unique twist to stand out.

2) Too Detailed

https://in.pinterest.com/pin/581105158163847019/

While detailed logos look beautiful and truly show the skills of a designer, they are often too complicated to give a message in the digital age. In a busy and noisy world, a logo should be able to convey the brand’s message with a few visual elements.

The more detailed it is, the more difficult it is to actually understand what it is about. In a digital age, it is even more inappropriate to have a detailed logo as adapting it to social media and websites will be difficult and very cluttered.

Solution

A simple solution to this is that you simply adapt your logo to different styles. Make a version of it which isn’t detailed. This adapted version will help solve the problem.

3) Wrong Typography

Choosing the right font for your logo is more important than you think. Different fonts convey different messages, we read them in different ways. Which is why if you choose the wrong typography, your message will be muddled whether your visual element is good or bad. Another mistake that people make with typography is that they choose one that is very complicated. This makes it more difficult to read. Which isn’t good/

Furthermore, the typography on your logo is also used in branding the entire brand. This leads to a domino effect of it becoming your communication tone.

 For example, if you have a feminine brand you should have a light and curvy typography.

https://in.pinterest.com/pin/297096906675302648/

https://in.pinterest.com/pin/94716398402808592/

If you have a brand for kids your typography should be fun and bold. For example –

https://in.pinterest.com/pin/217087644527305198/

4) Irrelevant Imagery

We’ve often seen that the images and the visual elements of a logo don’t match the brand or the industry at all.

For example

https://in.pinterest.com/pin/19984792070931349/

In this logo by HorribleLogos.com, the message is clear. While this logo is intentionally wrong, let us understand what is wrong with it. It’s supposed to be a brand for kids and should appeal to them. By making the mascot ugly-looking and uncomfortable to look at any brand using this will be driving the children away from the brand.

Solution

Make sure the logo makes sense with the brand and the product. Stick with elements that are related to the brand or the product. You can be creative with the elements that are already similar or close to your brand and company.

The image used with the logo should be relevant to the brand and the message that is being conveyed.

5)  Vague Logo

There isn’t a lack of logo generators, free logo templates and logo designing software online. Then why should you invest in a designer and a logo?

Simply because those logos will be extremely vague and common. If anyone with a minute designing sense can make your logo, you will have several different types of it online. The point of a logo is to be memorable and convey your brand. If you use a simple logo that doesn’t convey anything then what is the point of it? It’ll simply be a random image with some text.

Solution

A simple way to solve this is to add a tagline or a simple description of the brand to the logo. That can simply explain your brand and what you do while keeping the minimalistic look constant.

Conclusion

Now that you understand what a bad logo design means and are able to recognise it, you can turn over a new leaf and start making better logos. These are simple problems that many of us face when we are first starting out.

However, the simple solutions mentioned it can be easily solved. Did you recognise a bad logo design? Comment below and tell us more about it!

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