6 strategic mistakes in logo design and how to avoid them.

In this article i show you 6 strategic mistakes in logo design and how to avoid them. This post is part of the Logo Design Guide series.

1. Development in the quiet

Why is this important? In the design process, it often happens that we become operationally blind. Many modifications ensure that the core message of the logo is watered down and thus the symbolism no longer comes across clearly in the end. In the worst case, our target group sees something completely different than what we had in mind.

How can this mistake be avoided? The obvious thing to do is to simply ask the people around you to get a second opinion. That’s okay in the first step. However, what is much more important is what the target group thinks about our logo. After all, in the end it is the target group that should buy our products and services and not necessarily acquaintances and family members. The following points should therefore be asked of one or more people who belong to the potential target group.

• What can be seen on the logo?
• Does the logo look serious?
• Does the logo fit my company?
• Does the logo look appealing?
• Could embarrassing or unpleasant things be interpreted into the logo?

Note: Always get the opinion on the target group

2. Lack of trademark protection

Why is this important? Without trademark protection, competitors can copy the logo, use it themselves and, in the worst case, even prohibit further use of the logo they have designed themselves. 

How can you avoid this? Logos can be registered for Germany at the German Patent and Trademark Office (www.dpma.de). Internationally, there is the World Intellectual Property Organization (www.wipo.int). Both portals have databases in which trademarks and logos that have already been registered can be searched. The registration costs for Germany from approx. 300 EUR and is valid for 10 years (can be extended then by further 10 years). In particular, companies that sell products should have their own logo protected accordingly.

Note: Important logos should be protected

3. Logo exclusively from generic font

Why is this important? There are companies that do without image elements in the logo and rely only on a lettering. That’s okay, as long as the lettering is distinguished by special accents or a specially developed font by exclusivity. Text logos that consist only of generic fonts (e.g. Arial or Times), on the other hand, lose exclusivity and impact.

How can you avoid this? To make a text-based logo unique, it should either consist of its own exclusive font or feature another additional accent besides the font. For example, a modified i-dot if there is an “I” in the logo name or something similar.

Note: A lettering from a standard font is not yet a logo

4. Imitate logo design

Why is this important? In addition to the lack of originality, there can also be problems under trademark law if your own logo is an imitation of another logo.

How can you avoid this? If we have commissioned the design of the logo, we as the client usually do not know whether the designer has imitated another logo. However, we can easily check this. Search engines offer a reverse image search. That is, we upload our logo as an image file (jpg or png) and the search engine returns similar images. At Google this is possible under the category images. There is a camera icon in the search box where we can upload our logo and search for similar images.

5. Boring clichés

Why is this important? A good unique selling proposition is the basis for our business success. As with our company, we should clearly distinguish ourselves from other competitors with our logo design. Boring clichés in the symbolism get in the way of this.

How can you avoid this? It’s a fine line. On the one hand, we don’t want any boring clichés in the symbolism of our logo, but on the other hand, customers should immediately know what our company is all about. It is worthwhile to brainstorm briefly for the symbolism of your own logo and not to choose directly the first image that comes to mind.

Note: Clichés in logo design come at the expense of originality

6. No identification with your own logo

Why is this important? We should present our logo as proudly as our products or services. Therefore, it is important that the logo not only appeals to the target audience, but also pleases the entrepreneur himself.

How can you avoid this? In the design process, we should make sure to use colors, shapes and fonts that also appeal and please us personally.

Note: The logo must also appeal to us as entrepreneurs

More mistakes in logo design

In addition to strategic mistakes, there are also graphical mistakes. You can find everything about design mistakes in this article.