Identifying elements of a confusing Logo

At times, the rebranding efforts of most companies haven’t received the responses they are supposed to. Jaguar’s recent rebranding turned the company’s marketing efforts and essence upside down. Many of its loyal customers are angry that the luxury automaker has turned itself into a circus of tarts.

When General Motors and Nissan rebranded their logos, the responses weren’t what they should have been. They were making remarks as if the logos went greyscale or kindergarten kids had them made. Minimalistic logos are different from what General Motors and Nissan made.

This is where confusing logos become prominent. We will now examine them in brief detail.

How confusing are bad and confusing logos? Can they cause a riot?

Logo designers know what logos are. They are allowed to have their opinions and views. They know what they are doing. When a company goes on a rebranding drive, logo designers give their feedback as brand strategists, marketers, and other top-level professionals work together with them. They too understand rebranding a logo and redesigning it may not be feasible most of the time.

Rebranding and amendments can backfire. Not all are worth the change and investment. Let us now have a look at the anatomy of confusing logos. We also see the process of revisions too.

Rebranding and confusing logos - how bad can they be?

There are times when bad logos often end up as confusing logos. Each business, brand, and company should carefully allot their efforts in logo design and development. They should ensure they don’t make a confusing logo. Then again, it doesn’t indicate that designers add a myriad of elements into it to make it confusing.

Logos are supposed to be a uniting factor. Whatever brands do, logos unite them and their customers. Whether it is about:

• Products/Services.

• Community Involvement.

• Advertising.

• Marketing/promotion.

Logos should be recognizable, scalable, and of course, sizable. They should be identifiable in all kinds of situations.

The first sign of a bad logo

A bad logo’s first sign is that it suffers a lack of clarity once it has been scaled down. If they are difficult to read or understand then that is a problem. Whether sized up or down, logos should be recognizable. Professionals of logo design in Dubai argue in favor of logos being recognizable at all costs.

Elements such as fonts, gradients, and shadows can play their role in making logos hard to resize if they were designed earlier keeping a certain size in mind. If a logo looks good on things like pencils, pens, and mugs, and on truck containers, then it is scalable.

Apple had a complicated first logo

Apple’s first logo is an example of a logo lacking scalability and it did not stick around for much long. Thankfully Steve Jobs realized that and had his work studied by reliable agencies. They knew a vintage style logo would not be easy to replicate and reproduce in a smaller size.

Apple made a vintage-style illustrative logo that had a good amount of detail. It was great on billboards, posters, letterheads, and trucks plus other printed material. However, it did not look that good on smaller things like mugs and pens. When it was scaled down, it lost illustration and text instantly.

A confusing logo is heavily complicated and that is not feasible at all

Successful logos are identifiable, recognizable, and understandable. They are simple and are recognized in an instant. A complicated logo overwhelms people and they lose interest. Simple logos and proper minimalist logos are easy to recognize. 

Among them are Shell’s logo, Tesla’s Logo, Ford, GM, and Nissan’s old logos, the Coca-Cola logo, and the like.

Let us think about it. Can people understand a logo on a billboard if they are driving quite fast? Can they recognize it anywhere at a mall or a store with other logos present? If they can then it is very good.

This is why a simple logo can be successful. The key is one or two colors at max, easily recognizable shapes and less than three words. Each design element is limited to keep logos clean, recognizable, and simple of course.

Confusing logos are outdated and often are scrapped

Successful logos are timely updated. They are not left in the dark. A properly dated logo communicates that the business/brand/company is also in line with the latest trends. It is not ignoring anything.

The logo design cost can be a deciding factor. This is why logo designers must research design trends properly. Fashion and Interior design firms often need logo revamps because some staples of their logos change with the pace of time.

The logo is not the only thing keeping a business entity up to date. It is the concept and style of the design that make it right. This is why logo designers and other associated professionals must keep a look out for the trends happening every year.