Logo Design is an art. It involves understanding the target audience (business) and translating business vision into an effective corporate identity. However, the path to logo design is littered with traps invisible. The designer should avoid some common pitfalls that might limit the longevity and legibility of a design.

1. 10 Pitfalls To
Avoid When
Designing A
LOGO

2. The Art Of Logo Design Is Plagued With Traps Invisible…
TREAD CAREFULLY IF YOU WISH TO LIFT-UP YOUR DESIGN TO LOGO GLORY
UNCOOL!!
LooksQuite Familiar
indeed …
Outdated

3. Designing A Logo Based On Trends Blindly
is likely to leave your logo looking trite, behind the times
and out-of-touch once the trend dies out …
1

4. Target introduced its iconic logo in 1968 i.e. almost half a century back, yet
it still looks fresh.
1. Designing A Logo Based On Trends Blindly
Whereas, Yahoo!’s recent logo redesign failed to impress despite its
modern ‘flat’ look and “scallops” font.

5. Poor Selection Of Colors
spoils the brand. Remember color psychology, use logical tones and blends, do
not use more than four colors and make sure the logo can be transferred into
monotone without much ado.
2

6. 2. Poor Selection Of Colors
Remember the Hot Pink Mess?
Some said the youthful hue was purposed to appeal millennial but it turned out
younglings have an eye for brand incongruity and the OLYMPIC’12 Logo failed
miserably.

7. Employing Raster Or Pixelated Images
can limit reproduction of the logo. Raster images are less compatible and
lose quality when scaled, making logo useless on different media. Whereas,
it is essential for branding to preserve visual consistency and make sure the
logo looks the same in all sizes and across all mediums.
3

8. 3. Employing Raster/Pixelated Images
Vector image, on the other hand, remains crisp when scaled or transferred to
other media.
VECTOR RASTER
I’ve SharpEdges! I’m Fuzzy!
Vs.

9. Adding Complexity Into Design
or highly detailed designs hinder communication. The more detailed a logo
is, the more information audience has to perceive and process. Make sure
your logo does not confuse or smudge your vision. Besides, a logo must be
memorable and the best way to make it memorable is to keep it simple.
4

10. 4. Adding Complexity into Design
Simple is better. Take a glance at the corporate identities of world’s most
popular brands. These logos strike a balance that is aimed to grab attention of
the target segment – and for the right reasons.

11. Ill Selection Of Font Or Typeface
can break a logo. Each typeface has its own personality and aura, if the selected font
does not compliment the vision or other graphic elements then the whole brand could
fall flat. Poor choice of font may leave your logo look weary and off-the-mark.
5

12. 5. Ill Selection Of Font or Typeface
A poor typeface negatively affects your message. However, there is a wide
accord about what constitutes direness in Type. So be wary of the Type you
choose. Below are some extreme examples of bad font choices.
Curlz MT
Old Script
Yellow Magician
Ben Pioneer
Comic Sans
Comic Sans?
Indeed. Fun?
Off course!
Softer Please!
NO.
I can see it now.
Entirely offensive and
unfortunate font choice.

13. Using Excessive Special Effects
tends to make design confusing and hard to grasp. Do check how your logo
translates to monotone or greyscale across different media and whether this
affects distinguished elements of the design.
6

14. 4. Using Excessive special effects
A logo must be quick to adapt and overdoing effects harms
adaptability of the logo. Do not let your logo rely on special effects
completely. For example, see how easy it is to transfer SONY
Ericsson’s logo in different tones – and sizes.

15. Overdoing Or Using Too Many Fonts
affects legibility of a logo. Restrict the number of Fonts or Font Styles to two
at max. Do not use multiple (more than two fonts) with different font weight
else the design might look too busy or distorted.
7

16. 7. Overdoing or Using too many fonts
A logo works best with minimum font variations and logical contrast.
S e c o n d a r y T a g
L i n e
S e c o n d a r y T a g
L i n e

17. Replicating Existing Logos
is not at all a good idea. It is easy to rip-off or copy a popular logo but the
chances are, it will devalue your brand. The purpose of the logo is to make
your brand recognizable and stand out among the crowd. But a ripped-off
logo will diminish your brand, making it forgetful.
8

18. If your logo reminds your audience of another brand, it has failed to serve the
purpose. So, it is worth striving for uniqueness and inimitable persona when it
comes to logo design.
8. Replicating existing logos

19. Imposing Design On Client
favors neither the designer nor the client. Understand the client’s requirement
and design according to the design brief. Do not impose your concept unless
it is for good, and that too, after client’s approval. This is where the success
lies.
9

20. 9. Imposing Design on Client
A cool new typeface you just discovered or a color you are enthusiastic
about; if it is irrelevant to the client’s business, do not use it. Design is a
continuous learning process and client reviews are essential.
DESIGN BRIEF
Here is where designer gets
specifications and design
requirements from the client.
DESIGN
SAMPLES/MOCKUPS
Here designer comes-up with ideas
and possible options relevant to
business and according to design brief.
DESIGN REVIEW
Here client reviews suggestions made
by the designer and decides whether
to use it or not.
DESIGN
CONFIRMATION
At this stage, design is finalized to the
point where both designer and client
are satisfied with the design.
If client is not happy with the design,
designer can go back and design an
alternative.

21. Putting Logo In A Box Or Outlining Font
is often needless and degrades the quality of design, particularly on low-
resolution devices. Besides, boxing a logo limits its use across platforms.
10

22. 10. Putting Logo In A Box Or Outlining Font
You should almost never outline a Font in a logo
and avoid boxed images unless it is necessary.

23. DID WE MISS ANYTHING?
LET US KNOW!