Your company’s logo is the center of your branding, the visual representation of your business, and oftentimes the first impression people have of you. You can’t rebrand on a regular basis or you’ll confuse your customers, so it’s important that you get your logo right the first time. These are the 7 deadly sins of logo design… avoid them at all costs!

1. Hiring an amateur or going D.I.Y

Leave the design up to the professionals. Hiring your cousin who just downloaded Photoshop won’t result in a high-quality logo design. Cutting costs by doing it yourself won’t do you any favors either. Remember, your logo is a big deal. It’s how your customers will identify and remember you forever, so it’s worth investing in professional design. Before you work with a designer, ask to see some examples of their past work.

2. Using clichés or riding trends

Every industry has clichés when it comes to logo design. While you don’t want to stray so far from the norm that prospects are confused by your logo, you don’t want to look like every other company in your industry. You can update traditional themes without looking cheesy. As for current design trends, they come and go. You don’t want your logo to look dated a few years down the road. A great logo is timeless and doesn’t remind you of any particular era of graphic design.

3. Using stock images

Do not use stock graphics in your logo. It is almost always illegal unless you buy exclusive rights from the artist. This is another reason to hire a professional logo designer, because you’ll get a graphic that is 100% unique to your company.

4. Including too much detail

Logos with too much fine detail in the design tend to translate poorly when printed in different sizes or when seen from far away. Simplicity makes for the most easily-identifiable and memorable logos.

5. Being too ambiguous

Large corporations that have tons of money to throw at marketing can make consumers relate any image to their company. For instance, the Nike “check” symbol doesn’t describe what kind of products Nike produces, but they have marketed it so much that we all associate the check with Nike. Small businesses do not have the same privilege. Your logo should give the viewer some idea of what kind of business you run. You only have a few seconds to catch their attention, so it should be immediately apparent what they are looking at.

6. Choosing the wrong font

Font choice is the most important choice in the logo design process. Different fonts can convey very different ideas. Using the wrong font could turn off the customers you want and even attract the audience you don’t want. The key is to make sure your font matches the graphic images in your logo. This can be difficult for someone who doesn’t understand design, but an experienced logo designer should be able to pick out several fonts that fit with the icon in your logo. Choose the font that best matches your brand identity- the attitudes and ideas that your company represents.

7. Being unoriginal

Ripping off another company’s logo or making a logo that looks like everyone else’s is a huge mistake. Your logo is meant to separate you from the competition. If your logo blends in with the crowd, it’s virtually useless. A unique and powerful logo can set a company up for success. An unoriginal logo sets a company up to be constantly overlooked.

If you’re interested in having your company’s logo professionally designed, check out https://plumdirectmarketing.com/services/branding-creative/