Category: Blog

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In Part I of our “logo mistakes” series, we discussed a few mistakes related to how you approach a logo or branding project. In Part II, we are going to discuss technical mistakes. These are more likely to occur with inexperienced designers or company founders going into a branding project for the first time. This may also be review for many, but worth noting if you are planning on being involved in a branding project anytime soon.

Once again, let’s dive in.

Technical Mistake #1: Logo doesn’t scale

Almost everyone appreciates the artistic value of a fine illustration or an intricate wood carving. It’s the details that reflect the skill and craft of an individual. As humans, we appreciate that. However, in branding, fine details don’t necessarily translate into a well defined, memorable logo.

We live in a multi-screen, multi-device world where everyone is vying for pixel space. Our time and attention is constantly being diverted away—and marketers know this. This is why, over the last few years, we’ve seen a drastic simplification in logo design.

One good example of this is Starbucks. The ubiquitous siren has graced the coffee giant’s paper cups since 1971. This isn’t the same green logo we are familiar with today. In the 70s, she was much more detailed with a hand-drawn, illustrative-look. We’d call this ‘vintage’ today.

Over the years, the logo as evolved into a simpler, cleaner design. Why? One reason is this: Overtime, designs start to become dated and stale—it’s natural to want to freshen it up. Another reason, and this is a big one, is pixels.

Today, logos have to scale way down and still be legible. Oftentimes, your logo needs to fit into a small 32×32 pixel space like the tab at the top of your browser. Or 256×256 for an app icon. Clarity, at scale, becomes critical.

We employ what we call the “1 Inch Test”. It works like this: Whenever we are working on logo concepts for a client project, we print our initial ideas onto a single sheet of paper. Each concept is no larger than 1 inch (and black and white, which will get into next). This allows us to determine if the logo will be legible at scale and what, if any, adjustments we should make. Sometimes we realize the concept wont work and need to throw it out.

This is a great way to quickly scale down a number of your ideas, too. And don’t get me wrong, it isn’t only about pixels. We used this process way before app icons were a consideration. No matter the medium, simplicity still reigns king. As the famous French writer, poet, and aviator once said:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Technical Mistake #2: Doesn’t work in black & white

Before Adobe, designers used to design with paper and pencil! Ideas were sketched out in black and white without any consideration of color. At Studio 22, we still start every logo project like this. We sketch out dozens and dozens of rough thumbnail sketches on Strathmore drawing pads. I’d argue that there is no faster or more efficient way to problem solve than pencil and paper.

The advent of desktop publishing provided many benefits to the seasoned and aspiring designer alike. However, one unintended consequence was that the computer would replace the sketching process by creating more ideas, faster. The problem with this is twofold: First, the designer can now jump right into designing full color designs without going through the slower process of problem solving and sketching on paper. No more thumbnails, scribbles, or eraser dust. A sketchbook shows thinking, it’s a visual archive that can be used as a sort of breadcrumb trail showing where your ideas came from. The computer essentially eliminated this. The second problem is the use of full color in design concepts. Because sketching uses small imagery and crude lines, it inherently used the black and white test. A designer will know immediately if the concept will work in single color and scale.

Every well designed, professional logo should work in black & white. This means that proper care has to be considered to develop negative space and not rely on color or gradients to make the image work.

It’s no coincidence the NBC “Peacock”, the Target “Bullseye”, and, of course, the more detailed Starbucks logo, all work well in the solid or colored version. My hunch is that they were all designed in black and white first—maybe even sketched with paper and pencil.

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash

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Part I: The Approach

We’ve been creating logos for a while and have learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t. In this post, we’ve broken up the most common mistakes of logo design into two categories: Approach Mistakes and Technical Mistakes. Approach Mistakes are more organizational; they are related to how you plan and execute the overall project. Technical Mistakes are creative related; they are almost always avoidable with experience and training.

Let’s dive in.

Approach Mistake #1: Not beginning from a strategy stand-point

Strategy is the bedrock for any decent creative endeavor. It doesn’t ensure successful outcomes, but it does point you in the right direction and increases your chances of creating something great. We employ this thinking on every design project, including logos.

Developing a great brand strategy takes effort and often gets overlooked when young organizations want to move quickly. Before leaping right into design, we recommend putting the time into creating a 1-2 page ‘strategic brief’ that answer the following questions:

1. Who is our primary audience?
2. What do we know about them that will help us develop our messaging?
3. What specific problems do they have that we can help with?
4. What will our best customers say about us on our best day?
5. Distilled into 1-2 short sentences, what is the essence of our brand?
6. Finally, what’s the Big Idea? Why is your product or service different (or better) than your competitor? Why would someone choose your brand?

Spending just a couple days discussing and answering the above questions with your team—before you begin any creative work—will make a big difference in how you approach your brand. A good creative firm will enforce a process like this.

Approach Mistake #2: Needing to “love” your logo

We work with a lot of startups. Some have dynamic leadership teams who are engaging and thoughtful. Others have teams that are less interested in ‘getting it right’ and more interested in getting it done—and that’s okay. It’s our job to sell the process. Our best clients are those who want to be challenged and are fully aware that they don’t have all of the answers. That’s when great things happen.

If there is one thing we remind our clients, it’s this: The logo isn’t for you. The logo is for your customers. It’s an identity and symbol for an organization. A designers goal is to create an unique and memorable image that is emotionally effective, on message with the brand strategy, and technically functional across all mediums. That’s it. Bonus points are given if people love the logo, but as painful as it sounds, that’s not the goal.

Approach Mistake #3: Trying to be too clever

The great actor and comedian Jack Lemmon said on his deathbed: “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” A bit morbid, however this resonates with logo designers as well: Good logos are difficult. Clever logos are almost impossible! This includes, but is not limited to; witty puns, word play or, the créme de la créme, hidden images in white space!

Today’s most well known brands are not the slightest bit clever—they are simply and fundamentally good. And it’s easy to fall prey to the allure of having a brand image that is wickedly clever, but you need to resist this direction. It’s a huge time waster for both the design team and the client. Think about it this way: where in your strategic brief (you have one, right?) do your articulate why your logo needs to be clever?

Cleverness is a eureka moment during the design process that occurs organically. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, then strive for something great—which should be your goal in the first place.

Stay tuned for Part 2—Technical Mistakes…

Photo by claire jones on Unsplash

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[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]In a previous post, we discussed how good design sells. However, we need to dive a bit deeper and discuss how to ensure good design sells. Design, much like anything other than grain, doesn’t do well in a silo. Design needs to be challenged and tested in order to be effective—but it also needs purpose. One of my favorite phrases is this: “Art is design absent of strategy” or “Design is art with a purpose”. Either way, you get my point. Design needs the seeds of conflict and struggle in order to sprout and succeed. At Studio 22, we feel strongly about solving problems with design. In fact, that is our mantra: “Great design starts with smart strategy.” I can thank my most influential mentor and late Creative Director, James Welborn, for drubbing that into me. James had the deep agency experience working with clients like Microsoft, GM, Budweiser, HP, Proctor & Gamble, GE, Virgin and NBC. These brands always leaned heavily on research and strategy as their catalyst for creative. The agencies knew this and pitched this approach. Here in Silicon Valley, the startup mentality is to move quickly and adjust as you go. Business decisions are made in a snap and sometimes turn a company 90 degrees (or more). As you can imagine, these decisions affect everything downstream, from sales and marketing, to website information flow, user experience, product design, and more. Because of our strong belief in coupling design and strategy, it’s almost always a good idea to bring in your design team (internal or external) early on in your business discussions. Even if a final direction isn’t flushed out, there is a great deal of benefit and insight design teams can garner from being part of the conversation. We’ve been on both sides of this. One startup client of ours almost never included us in these discussions and interfaced only with a single marketing contact. It created a situation where it was very difficult for our team to have success. We were missing the nuance and details of their internal discussions and were being directed to perform with very little context. More often than not, we are part of a broader conversation with our clients and interface with Founders, CEOs, COOs, and marketing. This provides the ideal scenario to have real-time discussions about addressing business challenges and provides opportunity for the entire team to start from the same place. This is how we ensure successful outcomes for our clients. After all, isn’t design about solving problems? [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]