Logos: The most commonly made mistake

The design of your logo should be treated as a set-up expense, it is worth investing in a good brand from day one if you are serious about your business.

If you are serious and you are professional your logo should reflect that.

A common mistake that people make when developing their logo is they design it themselves or use an amateur. This can be a very costly mistake.

So what is it that makes you look like an amateur?

• You designed it yourself (in Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe Photoshop. Neither are industry standard software for logo design).
• A friend or relative that claims to know a little about design did it for free or a low fee.
• Using your local printer – they know a lot about their trade and the application of logos and artwork, but they are most likely not an expert in logo design.
• Outsourced to an online design website for $99 – these websites are populated by amateur designers with little or no experience in graphic design.
• Taking advice from a friend or family member (who is not in the industry or isn’t your target market) on a design you have done. There is a big difference between encouragement from someone who cares for you and a critical opinion. If your brother is an electrician, his opinion on a logo really isn’t worth listening to.

Advantages of engaging a professional graphic designer:

• Saves you money: Getting the design right from the get go will save you money down the track. Once you grow to a point where you need further marketing collateral, your logo will withstand the test of being enlarged and stretched for different sizes with no issues. Files will be supplied to the printer in the correct format. No need for any adjustments resulting in additional fees.
• Saves you time: You are probably already busy working on your business and don’t need to have to worry about logo designs, colours, fonts etc. Leaving it to an expert will free you up to do what you do best.
• Stay Consistent: A graphic designer will help you remain consistent across all your marketing material. They know what font and colours to use so that you remain consistent. This will help your brand become a reputable, reliable business people want to work with.

And most importantly, you will look like the professional business that you are!

If you have made these mistakes, you will most likely need to redo your logo sooner rather than later.