What Are The Pros And Cons Of Logo Designs?

Last updated on October 26th, 2021

Logos are the first things that potential customers see on products or services before buying. But an impressive logo design can lure people toward a company’s business, while a badly created logo can build a wrong impression about an enterprise. So, ensure that your logo is a creative and memorable design.

A logo is one of the most seen visuals of a company. It appears on products or services, marketing campaigns, advertisements, stationery, photocopies, fax documents, and on many online and offline media. That is enough to show the strength of logos for a business.

However, a logo design must be unique, simple, and memorable if it has to draw the attention of potential customers. A cliched design fails to evoke the desired attention from target audience.

At the same time, popular colors, typefaces, symbols and even stock images sometimes are used by startups and small business. They do it to save money as they are running businesses on a tight budget. For time being, such popular use of elements has its own advantages for the upcoming entrepreneurs.

But when a business evolves and grows with time, it is important that it uses unique colors and typefaces etc. to build its own identity. Such logos are essential to be competitive in a market.

Now Lets See What Are The Pros And Cons Of Logo Designs

01. Using Popular Colors

Logos may have one, two, or even multiple colors. Being an eye-catching element, color draws the attention of target customers instantly. Once the viewer’s eyes are set on the logo, the design can signal the brand message. So, color plays a key role in catching the otherwise wavering attention of people in the modern world.

However, many designers abuse the use of colors. They pick any color randomly without giving a thought to its usefulness in the design. Even if a desirable single color can make a logo look unprofessional if it does not convey the intended message. Other designers unnecessarily incorporate multiple colors to catch the eye. That also is a waste of the property of colors.

Remember that professional graphic designers understand the value of colors in evoking our emotions. In fact, a modern logo designer knows how colors can play with us psychologically. So, each color today is known for its ability to recall some emotions to conscious mind.

For example, when seeing a red color in a logo or elsewhere, we are somewhat charged up with emotions of excitement, aggression, passions, etc, and then possible react with some feelings. Yellow is associated with the emotion of happiness and it generates a range of feelings. So, each color in your logo should be precisely evoking the desired emotions and feelings. These very emotions are related to your message for potential customers.

But the use of popular colors such a blue and yellow finds a place in many company logos. An advantage of such colors is their ready acceptability amongst people. Depending on the local taste and likings or disliking, the choice of popular colors varies from region to region.

So, when you use these colors that people like the most, you evoke the right emotions and feelings. This way, you can quickly establish a connection with the audience. You can then hope to convert many such viewers into your customers.

However, the use of such colors can result in a cliched design. This sometimes puts your design at disadvantage. People will see your logo but they may not react and even ignore due to lack of novelty in the colors.

02. Popular Typefaces

Pros

A typeface can add value to logo design by giving it a personality. You might have seen the logos of rock music bands. They have very big typefaces in larger fonts, which signify the loud and bold music. Take the example of the Coca-Cola logo. It has a classic and handwritten typeface, which defines the cold drink brand. It gives the company’s soft drink business a vintage and historical personality. So, a typeface lets your audience know your brand personality.

But some of the typefaces are overused. They are marvelous and catch our attention. Such popular typefaces include Helvetica, Times, Gotham, Bodoni, Futura, Franklin Gothic, Georgia, Garamond, and Myriad. Many designers have used them very often in a wide range of designs.

One of the advantages of using popular typefaces to create a logo is that people can relate to them easily. They can draw a set conclusion on seeing one such design. If the possible reaction of the audience is what your brand wants to evoke, the typeface is good for your logo and business.

So, draw a list of the typefaces that you often see around. Then, know if it is branding your business the way you want. If it does, then go ahead and use the typeface.

Cons

Popular colors carry some disadvantages too. With these colors, a logo may look like a routine design that you have seen many times before. Though colors solely are not responsible for making a logo look clichéd, still a unique use of colors can make them memorable.

All you need to do to make your use of colors stand out is to think of their shades. Colors come in a variety of shades. A professional graphic designer should avoid those colors and their hues that a client’s competitors are already having in their logos as their brand colors. This is the way to make your logo look different.

03. Cliched Symbols

Pros

Clichéd symbols are the ones that we all associate the same message with. For example, a man with the stethoscope is a doctor, a horse is the symbol of strength and speed, a roof is a symbol for home, and so on.

In every industry, there are plenty of logos carrying the symbols that represent it. If you use them in your logo, you will immediately tell the audience about your business. So, if there is a mountain peak in your logo, it means you are probably in the business of tourism or trekking.

Are these symbols useful? To some extent, they can express our company’s message. An advantage is that they are able to quickly tell what your business is all about. For example, a fast food item in your logo designs means you run a fast food business or wheel means you want to convey speedy service of your company. This message can also be delivered with the cliched symbol of an arrow.

For a business running on a tight budget, use of a cliched symbol is perhaps the right decision. With it, a company can let its customers know about the field of business. Then, the logo itself tells about your business and there is no need for additional spending on marketing. You don’t need to hire a freelance graphic designer to create a logo this way.

Cons

But when your business has evolved and you want to enhance your reach in a market, a popular symbol may actually be harming your business prospects. This is because a different set of customers may not react well to your logo or simply ignore it. Such a symbol may not be able to evoke any meaningful response from the viewers as it has lost its novelty value. That is a huge drawback for a company that wants to compete hard in a market.

So, make efforts to create a symbol of your own that is contemporary and unique. People may find it somewhat different but they will ultimately get used to it. Later on, they will relate with that symbol as they use your products or services. It is advisable, therefore, to get graphic design services of the experienced designers who can design your logo with the unique use of images.

04. Stock Images

Pros

Stock images are those often-used visuals that anyone can access from many online platforms mostly for free. Many designers have already used these images without any alterations or with some changes. People, therefore, can immediately know that this particular image is cliched as they have seen it before somewhere.

An advantage of incorporating one such image in a logo is the sense of belonging that it evokes. Since the pictures literally spell out its subject and make the things look obvious, viewers can instantly find out what the business is all about. This is the main reason for most new business using stock images. But make sure that the free images convey a message of business logos to some extent at least.

Another plus point is that your cost of designing is down to the bare minimum. Most stock photos are available for free or at a low price. This helps you in keeping the design cost well within your small budget.

Stock photos are also an option when you intend to use logo software to design it on your own. Just insert the image and your logo work is mostly finished. This is in contrast to the extra efforts that your designer puts in when creating an image especially for your logo.

Cons

The biggest disadvantage of the use of stock images is that they harm your business in many ways. Because they are cliched elements, people do not respond to them emotionally. This directly damages your prospect of competing hard in a market. In fact, the chances are that people may take your business as unprofessional and non-serious upon seeing those often-used images in your logos. If you’re intended to build a distinctive brand identity, you should avoid using such images.

Therefore, make sure that you create unique images for your logo if you have to use them. If you are looking for some inspiring examples of image-based logos, then visit the logos of global companies such as Apple, Nike, Disney, McDonald’s, Twitter, and Bacardi.

So, these are some of the pros and cons of using the cliched or popular elements in logo designs. Your efforts should be directed at creating unique logos that have the elements specially designed to suit your specific business and design needs.

If you are a small business or a startup and need logos at an affordable price, Designhill can help. This leading platform is excellent in crowdsourcing your logo work to many talented designers. They will submit their unique designs in response to the logo contest you launch on this site.

Conclusion

Logo designs should be unique in carrying their business message for a target audience. If you are on a tight budget, some stock images, clichéd symbols, popular colors, and typefaces can help in designing a low-cost logo. But when your business grows and evolves with time, it is better to use unique colors, typefaces, images etc elements.

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