Designing a logo may seem like an easy task until you give it a try. Creating a professional business logo design is an incredibly intricate process that requires you to tell the business’s story and display its brand identity to its many customers and prospects. A poor design offers a negative portrayal of a company and can even ruin its chances of doing business with some clients and companies. Whether you are an amateur or professional logo designer, these common mistakes should be avoided at all costs:

1. Using competing fonts

Using similar or closely related fonts makes it look like the different pieces of information on the logo are competing. Seasoned designers use a principle called hierarchy to choose fonts that highlight important aspects and words and downplay the peripheral features. Contrast is key when you want your logo to pass a message. Use a bold, attention-grabbing feature font for the keywords and simpler fonts for secondary information pieces.

2. Using the wrong logo design software

Raster software such as Photoshop may be easier to use, but professional business logos are all created in vector-based software. Choosing a professional builder is particularly crucial if you want to adhere to the recommended logo size guidelines. It will solve virtually all size-related issues and ensure how you see the logo is exactly how it will appear on a roll-up banner, a website landing page, or a billboard.

3. Being too literal

Your logo needs to be relevant to the brand and industry, but this doesn’t necessarily mean taking an overly literal approach. Don’t feel compelled to include a brush or palette in your logo if you are a painter or a camera if you are a photographer, as this sort of thing has become boring and amateurish. Instead, you can include a silhouette of someone posing for a photo or some other hint that automatically links your brand to your industry.

4. Being too detailed

A good logo should be striking, but simple and original. Designers often get carried away and include too much detail in their designs, forgetting that most people don’t spend their time looking at all those inclusions, save for fellow designers, perhaps. An overly detailed logo may create confusion by robbing the memorable component of attention and transferring it to other features.

5. Creating a design that isn’t clear in black and white

Since you won’t always dictate where and how your logo is printed, you want to ensure your design looks great and makes sense both in color and in black and white printouts. Many experienced designers will tell you that a clear and distinct logo is built black & white first, while color comes later.

Conclusion

The perfect logo doesn’t exist, but you can make yours competitive and memorable by using the right tools and paying attention to detail. Use these tips to avoid common mistakes and pull yourself closer to the top bracket of designers.