23 ways your logo can hurt your brand

ways your logo is hurting your business23

For better or worse branding is a com-petitive game. Even if a player chose not to compete, most of the others would keep playing hardball. To get a competitive advantage, it is impor-tant to learn and understand the rules of that game.

Your logo is your front line of defence or offence, depending on your strategy.

And if first impressions are so impor-tant as they say, your logo is one of the first brand elements that your audience will come across.

But how can your logo hurt your busi-ness? Here are 23 ways!

01Too old looking

You created your logo when the US president was a movie actor. You have been used to it and having trouble with the idea of changing it.

example logo

You have to let go! You may ask for a face lift or a complete redesign, but you and your brand have to move on. Logos live in dog years, so that would make your logo 247 years old!

The problem The solution

02 Too complex

You believe that bigger is better and you made sure this was the case when you had your logo created. Many people can’t read it but it still looks impressive!

example logo

It is a proven fact that most of the time, less is more. Try to impress people with your value proposition to them, not the complexity of your logo.


03 Too loud

You want to stand out. With so much compe-tition out there, you have to get people’s attention, and what better way than having 8 colors in your logo? If you run a circus, you are on the right path!

example logo

Be honest. Nobody really likes that loud guy sitting in the next table in the coffee shop, demanding everybody’s attention . Your logo should project your values, not your agony to stand out.


04 Too all overthe place

You made it yourself or gave it to your favorite nephew who just got a new computer. With no disrespect to anyone’s creativity, design and synthesis have rules that you have to know before you break them.

example logo

Have a professional cre-ate your logo. The best your money can buy. This is your logo we are talking about. It will stay with your brand for years and it will project how serious you are about your brand.


05 Too threedimensional

3D is cool, right? All those shadows and lights and perspec-tive. But logo design is a bit like fashion de-sign. Trends come and go, and 3D logos have stepped out, at least for a while.

Try to keep your brand-ing up to date. Not because it will look bet-ter, but because people perceive brands that look fresh, to be healthy and worthy of their at-tention.


example logo

06 Too colorful

Who doesn’t like color? The more color the bet-ter! This is not really true when it comes to brand logos. Think of it as wear-ing clothing of 5 differ-ent colors for a business meeting. Not a good idea in most cases!

example logo

Keep your colorful at-titude for the way you communicate with your audience and choose 2-3 colors for your brand identity, prefer-ably with the help of a professional.


07 Too ordinary

Play it safe, they said. Don’t be loud they said. So you ended up with a boring logo that no one thinks is ugly but no one notices that you have a logo either.

example logo

Well, being loud is one thing and being bor-ing is another. Your logo has to draw some kind of attention and project your brand personality. Ordinary logo design equals an ordinary brand.


08 Too fashionable

You wanted to be up-to-date, to be in the groove. So you ended up with a groovy logo. It looked like a good idea then but you are not so sure now...

example logo

Although design and fashion share some of the same rules, a logo must be able to stand the test of time. After all, you don’t want your logo to look outdated, nor to have it redesigned every couple of years.


09 Too derivative

You saw this logo on that other brand and it looked so good! So you had yours made just like theirs! In the end, why not? It’s a big world, isn’t it?

example logo

Apart from the legal issues that might arise, it is always a good idea to have your own per-sonality, as an individual and as a brand. Make sure your logo projects how special you are!


10 Too simple

Minimal is such a cool word, and Apple has made a ton of money using that concept in their products. So you went for “less is more” with emphasis on the less...

example logo

Sometimes when you want to show people that you are not trying too hard to get their attention, you don’t get their attention at all. Balance is the key word in this case.


11 Too boring

You found this logo in a stock collection, or had it made for $5. You even asked for it to have vi-brant colors so it won’t look ordinary.

example logo

A logo doesn’t have to be ordinary to be bor-ing. As long as it doesn’t provide some kind of personal statement, it will be just another logo. Boring...


12 Too illustrative

You wanted that logo to look alive, so that everyone could feel that cheese on that burger. Your burger is the best and people should see that!

example logo

Although there are exceptions to the rule, your logo should pro-ject an idea and not a picture. There will be other opportunities to show the world how great your burger is!


13 Too misleading

You had this fine logo designed and everyone was telling you how nice it looked, until that guy noticed that it looks like someone’s genitals. It hasn’t looked like any-thing else since then...

example logo

Working with an experi-enced professional will help avoid unpleasant surprises. Accidents happen to the best, but are less likely to happen when someone knows what they are doing.


14 Too computermade

Since you can design a logo in Word, why not do it? So, you did it! And now you have a logo whose elements are shared with some mil-lions of other people that use Word...

example logo

You are unique, your brand is unique, or at least it should be, and so should your logo. The computer is only a tool and it can only produce what we instruct it to.


15 Too cliparty

There are so many pretty drawings of flow-ers out there, so why pay someone to create a new one? Just google and pick. And one day, surfing around the net, you come across a logo exactly like yours...

example logo

You - are - unique! Project that, show it to your brand’s audi-ence. You know it, but they don’t, yet. Don’t look like some brand that doesn’t really care enough to have it’s own logo designed.


16 Too posh

You love luxury, and why not? It shows a wealthy and healthy business. But if you make the wrong turn, you end up at Kitsch Str. And once there, you see that is a crowded space...

Luxury is one thing and aesthetics is another. The two don’t always go together and for some reason many brands seem to put the first in priority. It should be the other way around.


example logo

17 Too designed

You wanted a great logo and you did the right thing and had it made by a designer. They wanted to please and they put all their artful drive into it. It should have looked nice, but it just looks too much...

Once again, and it seems to come up too often, balance is the key word. Design is good, too much design not so.Greatness is hidden somewhere between being simple, driven and truthful.


example logo

18 Too did itmyself

Since you were young, you had this artistic flare and you would have been a famous artist if life hadn’t other plans...But what better chance to exercise that creativ-ity, by making your logo by yourself?

It is beautiful when people feel creative and try new things. But this is your brand logo, not an artwork that will go over the fireplace. Other peo-ple may not share your enthusiasm and that may hurt your business.


example logo

19 Too generic

You didn’t want to be ordinary or boring, but you wanted to be safe. It seems though that all these attributes come from the same family so you ended up with their 2nd cousin. Old Cuz Generic...

Did we mention that you are unique? If it keeps coming up it is because it’s true! Being safe feels nice, but be-ing yourself and letting people know, will al-ways feel better.


example logo

20 Too real

You thought it would be a good idea to have a photo in your logo. And why not. Everyone likes photos! Only you ended up with a logo that looks like an ad from the yellow pages.

You will have many opportunities to show to the world the great-ness of your products or services, don’t try to fit it in your logo. Keep it simple and direct and put that photo in an advertisement.


example logo

21 Tooparody prone

For some reason, people are making fun of your logo. And you would probably share their humor if it wasn’t YOUR logo!

Try to look at your logo not only from your per-spective as the brand owner, but as your audi-ence would. Show it to a couple of people you trust before you settle down with it.


example logo

22 Tooused myinitials

Donna Karan is doing it, Dolce e Gabbana are doing it, so you went and put your initials in your logo as well. Only now you have an un-remarkable logo and none of the glamour of those brands.

Putting your initials in your logo is old prac-tice, branding even originates from putting some kind of initial on animals - but it is not al-ways the best choice for a contemporary brand.


example logo

23 Toomanyfonts

Isn’t it a shame to have so many fonts in your computer and not use them? Let’s put three in that logo, the more the merrier! Something doesn’t feel right, but those fonts are looking great!

Each font has its style and when you mix too many styles you create a mess. One font should be enough for most logos, so leave those other fonts in the peace of their folder!


example logo

There are a lot of things that can go wrong with your logo. This list was made to be a map for the minefield that the logo de-sign process can be.

Try too little and you can be unremark-able. Try too hard and you become that loud guy from the coffee shop.

If we can sum it all up, having a logo cre-ated by a professional, projecting your unique personality and value proposi-tion, seems to be the best advice.

Just don’t let that logo hurt all those you worked so much to build!

We respect every kind of creative force and process and it is not our intention to make fun of other people’s work. Everybody can be a critic and we know how nasty it is to have someone beating on your work.

Still, unsuccessful design is a fact and it is all around us. There is no doubt that businesses are getting hurt by it and they don’t get to their full potential because of it.

The reviews of the logos presented are not a matter of per-sonal aesthetic preference. They are meant to provide an ob-jective view on ineffective logo design and its dangers busi-nesses everywhere.

Disclaimer

Design is a way to make our lives better by interpreting aesthetics and making them part of our lives. It should not be a luxury, but more times than not we consider it so because of its cost. We have worked for, managed and created design agencies for years and the more successful they got the more expensive their services became. We wanted to change that and present the opportunity for small and me-dium business owners to play the visual communication game like the big guys do.

That is why we created Symvo. To provide.design for the people.

We believe design

should beavailable

to the people

www.symvo.com

http://www.symvo.com

