Common Logo Design Mistakes - Things to avoid when designing new logos.

Design by Committee:
Perhaps the most difficult project for a designer, and the most frustrating for a client. A large group of people are responsible for selecting, approving and modifying the logo throughout the various design stages. Keep in mind that it usually the loudest (and dare we say – the committee staffer with the largest ego) who invariably makes their opinion heard – not the committee member who has a keen sense of design. Better to select a ‘voice’ for the committee who is keenly aware of your group’s goals.

Art directing the project:
As designers, we are trained in many aspects of design, graphics and technology. By the time you view preliminary designs, we have attempted every variation of that particular design, having moved swooshes, right, left, up and down. Micro-tweaks will not improve the design if it is not to your liking. Best to tell your designer that you’re not happy with the design, and work from fresh proposals. It’s highly unlikely a design that does not have the 'ah-ha' factor can be forced into a design that you love by moving its elements around. Upon getting hired by TLF, Every staff designer is told 2 things - 'don't get married to any artwork' and 'it's never personal'. Our designers can take direction, criticism and frank opinions.

Purse Shopping:
(a close relative of art-directing the job) – when you view your new logo and your reaction is instant. “There it is! It’s perfect! Just what I want”. At this point, the purse-shopping phenomenon can kick in - “Now, why don’t we try moving the text down, the globe to the right?” If you have developed a killer logo, your reaction will be similar to the people you’re trying to reach. Fumbling around for a ‘better’ version of a ‘perfect’ logo will only weaken its design, or worse, lose the original appeal completely. It would appear that most purse shopping is brought on by client’s desire to get their ‘money’s worth’, and exhausting what they perceive is the time paid for in the design charges. Remember, you’re not paying for someone to put X number of hours into your design. You’re looking for that designer to utilize their skill, talents and knowledge of software into creating the icon that will represent your company for years. Milking a design for a few dollars can only hurt its integrity.

Cliches or trends:
Logo trends come and go every couple of years. In the latter half of the 90's the trend was the swoosh (or was it the swish?). A combo homage to Nike and an attempt by every company on the planet to illustrate that they were all high-tech and stuff, the swoosh became the most overdone graphic element in recent memory. Then came shadows. Then 'gel' blends and reflections (like many graphic trends, thanks to Apple). Now, it's the so-called Web 2.0 'look' and feel. How to tell of a logo trend is just that? Simple. Is everybody doing it? Then it's a trend. It will be very passe in a few months or years and you'll be stuck with tens of thousands of business items plastered with a logo that causes you to shudder every time you look at it. Stick to the classic types of logos - longevity, adaptability and impact will be the pay-off.

Copying someone else:
As strange as it might seem, we sometimes get asked to 'copy' other people's logos. While this is a bad idea for a variety of reasons, including copyright and trademark problems down the road, and something we refuse to do (see our copycats section for other design firms who take a less arbitrary stance on this) the bottom line is that it defeats the purpose of developing a great logo in the first place. That logo that you like may be a great logo - for the company that's using it. It won't work for you. While it's very helpful for our designers to view types of logos that you 'like' in order to assess the direction that your project will take, it's best to keep the influence of other people's brands to a minimum. When your company becomes successful, it's always better to have a logo that's completely yours, rather than a mark that can be traced to someone else.