Business logos designed in the correct way can do wonders for the image building of the business. But a bad business logo can be a disaster to the business as a whole. A logo design is the first image of a company which is viewed by the customers. It is the first impression and as the saying goes…The first impression is the last impression.

However, if a business logo is not able to communicate the desired message of the company to the customers, then it poses a downfall for the company. A bad business logo can confuse them and they might drift aware to another company as competition is fierce in the market. Hence, creating company logos with a purpose is critical for every business.

So What Makes a Bad Logo?

Inappropriate symbols and colors: 

Ever wondered why the London Olympic 2012 logo was a disaster? That is because when it comes to designing corporate logos, appropriate use of colors and symbols is imperative in generating the right response from the target audience. The symbols used in the London 2012 logo designed by Wolff Olins were unsuitable and not according to the needs of the London 2012 brand name.

Too many details and confusion:  

A logo design crowded with too many elements spells trouble for a brand. Small business owners and other businesses cannot afford to create confusion among the minds of their customers as to who they are and what they do. Hence, logo designers must be careful of the risk of using elements imperfectly in corporate logos.

Inconsistent with the company purpose:

Sending irrelevant messages to your customers is the last thing that small business owners can afford to do. Hence a bad business logo includes a logo design with an inconsistent message that is not parallel to the vision and purpose of the company. This is one of the reasons why small business owners fail. It’s because they cannot express their company purpose to their clients.

Unappealing to the customers:

Company logos are useless if they do not have the power and charisma of appealing to the target audience. The major purpose of a logo design is to compel customers to retain your company name and recall at the time of purchase decision. If your business logo is not relevant to your target audience, it will not be appealing to them.

Corporate logos are meant to exhibit the company’s identity and the purpose of its existence in the business arena. In order to achieve that motive, corporate logos must be designed with functionality and technicality. This is equally essential for small business owners as their business needs a firm identity that is reliable, trustworthy and respectable in the marketplace.

But many corporate logos have the simplest of designs. They are backed by a solitary letter that accurately portrays its image and is reminiscent in the minds of their customers for decades. Many corporate brands prefer minimal logo designs because of their simplicity and clarity of the message. A case in point is the Famous McDonalds logo design “M” or more popularly known as “Golden Arches”.

Following are some brilliant examples of how a single letter can do the trick in designing memorable corporate logos. Witness and learn from these 26 evocative one-letter logos that demonstrate a wonderful concept of designing.

Things to consider before designing company logos:

There are certain points that every small business owners must keep in mind before starting the branding process and logo designing.

• What’s the organization’s purpose of existence – what are going to offer to the market?
• Who are your target customers – what is your audience’s demography?
• What is your Universal Selling Proposition (USP) – what makes you different from competitors?
• How should the logo look and feel when being presented in front of customers, employees.

What creates purposeful company logos?

A company logo isn’t just a name, symbol or mark of the organization. It represents the true representation of a brand identity. A brand is backed by a strong logo that accurately depicts what the company’s mission is. But creating logos is not everyone’s ballgame. There are risks of using elements imperfectly in corporate logos. The best of logo designers have succeeded in establishing famous brands by incorporating a purposeful corporate logo in the branding process.
In order to avoid logo designing mistakes, following points are useful in making a purposeful and effective logo:

• Meaningful; Your business logo must convey the company’s message to its target market.
• Recognizable; Your clients should be able to identify your logo anywhere and anytime.
• Simple; The design in your company logo should be straightforward and easily comprehendible.
• Memorable; It should be made unforgettable and long-lasting for at least the next decade.
• Appealing; your business logo should be designed to target your desired audience.

There has been a persistent tendency of small business owners designing their company logos themselves. The prime reason they give is that it saves them money. Let alone the argument that business without a corporate logo is saving or losing, what is a few dollars saved compared to thousands lost? This is because a corporate identity has the strength to decide the future of a business. But designing corporate logos is not as simple as a house paint job. Heaps of future dollars are at stake when a corporate identity is created.

Nowadays, many designers are unable to come up with a creative and innovative logo design because of lack of logo design ideas. A little inspiration always instigates the creative flare inside a person. It gives you new and innovative ideas to build your company logo on.

Here are 24 fresh and inspiring logos that are sure to provide novel ideas for corporate logos.

In the present age of branding, corporate logos are swarming like bees in the corporate world. But of all the countless logos in the world, why would anyone remember yours? This is a question that every business and corporate firm has to answer before contemplating on a logo design. The best answer to this predicament is innovation and creativity. In order to make a corporate logo stand out from the crowd, innovative measures are required.

One of the latest techniques employed in the logo design field in the use of “ambigram typographical design”, a style of text that may be read from various positions or directions.” In simple words, an ambigram in a logo font is a formation of words that can be read even if inverted or flipped. Ambigrams have several types like rotational, chain style, mirror-image and Symbiotogram. But the most widely applied type is the rotational ambigram, where the words remain unchanged when inverted or rotated 180 degrees.

Have a look at 25 inspirational and fascinating ambigram logo designs as it’s always fun to see different type of typographic logos. If you have seen any interesting ambigram logo lately, do add to this compilation.

Let us suppose, McDonalds’ decides to radically change its corporate logos. Now imagine travelling on the highway, you are searching for the big “M” to spot a McDonalds’ outlet but you don’t see any. Since the logo design, which you have been so used to, has been changed, you won’t be able to recognize the franchise from far away… would you?

The above assumption is meant to explain the possible impact of changing your company logos. Like every human being, an organization has an identity of its own. A corporate identity includes a name and a representative logo. The name of the company is complemented by its logo as the face of a company. Making alterations or even the slightest of modifications to the company logo can have dual effects on the corporate identity and its brand equity.

Let us have a look at the possible impacts of modifying company logos, both positive and negative.

Positive Impacts of changing your company logo:

• A change in company logo revitalizes you business appearance and gives a fresh look.
• When an organization gets stuck in a controversy, a change in company logo can help pacify matters.
• A modification in your company logo can help accommodate your growing business portfolio.
• Alterations in company logo can assist in repositioning of the brand identity in the mind of customers.

Negative Impacts of changing your company logo:

• Customers may not recognize the newly changed identity or simply may not like the new company logo.
• Too many modifications can spoil your company logo.
• Due to stationary items (business cards, letterheads, corporate brochures etc) carrying the previous logo, a redesign incurs great replacement costs.
• The customers who are bonded with the existing company logo may not readily adopt the changes.

Any modification in your company identity should be based on an extensive research of the potential repercussions of the redesign. In a nut shell, changes in your business logos should be reasonable and in alignment with your previous corporate identity.

The term “company logo” has no identity of its own, but if it is used in a particular country, it adopts the colors of the nation. Evidently, company logos vary from one country to another because designers’ creative styles are divergent in every nation. Although, creative minds think alike but not all logo designers think in the same manner. Each logo designer possesses a unique style of his own. That is why the logo designs within the same industry are diverse across nations.

To analyze this premise, I have compared the company logos of two distinct countries…US and French company logos. Below are 20 counterpart logos of the two nations from 10 different industries.

Airline Logos

Automobile Logos

Bank Logos

Footwear Logos

Beer Logos

Cosmetic Logos

Confectionary Logos

Insurance Logos

Software Developer Logos

Real Estate Logos