You’ve decided to finally start your own line of products or you’ve started your own business and you now have to decide on how the world will recognize your brand. That’s where the logo comes in.
Designing a logo starts with a clean artboard and it can go in any direction from there. But often many get stuck there and can’t find the right vision. That’s also fine as finding inspiration is not always easy. You want something that resonates with your brand that’s also memorable and grabs attention.
On screen, most logos look good. But once they end up on the product, that’s when you can easily see if the logo really works or not. Not every logo will look well on a certain type of material.
When designing a logo, you need to think about where the product will end up and have that in consideration during the creative process.
Also, the colors you choose for your logo might not work well against every background so have that in mind as well. Think about where your logo will end up. Test it against different backgrounds before opting for the final design.
Below, we’ll list some of the most common mistakes in design that people make when creating a logo for their brand.
The importance of logo designs
But why should you put all that effort into a small logo? Well, if you think that logos are not relevant, just imagine what KFC would be without their famous logo. Or McDonald’s without its bright red and yellow colors.
Logo is what resonates with customers and it’s basically a visual shortcut that communicates your brand’s identity.
More than 88% of customers will always choose a familiar brand rather than a new brand that’s unfamiliar. Customers remember colors and as soon as you have the logo nailed, people will recognize your brand immediately by the logo itself.
Most logo design processes follow a similar path. Research comes first, including brand values, audience, competitors, and industry context. From there, designers sketch ideas, refine shapes, explore typography, and test color palettes.
But where the process often falls short is application testing. Logos are frequently approved based on how they look in presentations instead of on the physical product itself.
Common logo mistakes when applied to accessories
Let’s take a look at some of the most common mistakes that happen when it comes to applying logo designs on different types of accessories.
Accessories are often the first place brands put their logos. Most accessories are easy to get and don’t require a lot of money to customize.
That’s why you’ll often see brands handing out hats or scarfs as promotional items. You can easily get cheap custom hats or caps or something similar and put your logo on them to hand out to your customers as loyalty items or have your employees wear them.
But we always suggest doing a smaller batch to test out and see how the logo works.
One of the most common mistakes is excessive detail. Logos with thin lines or intricate illustrations may look impressive on screen, but embroidery might not look so good in real life. Stitching cannot replicate fine detail cleanly, especially at small sizes.
Color contrast is another overlooked problem. Fabric absorbs light differently than when on a screen.
The same logo can look differently on cotton than it does on wool. Designers who do not test logos on actual fabric colors often discover too late that their logo blends into the background instead of standing out.
Curvature also matters. Hats are not flat surfaces. Logos placed on curved panels can stretch or visually warp if the design is not simplified. Circular logos, for example, often appear oval once applied to a curved hat front.
So, make sure to remember to double check your logo and how it actually looks on the fabric before opting for a final design.
Logo design mistakes on electronics and tech products
Apart from clothing pieces, you can also see logos on electronic devices and different gadgets.
Electronics introduce a completely different set of challenges for the logo designers. Here, logos are often applied to hard materials unlike soft plastic. Precision is super important here and the smallest flaw can look ten times magnified.
A frequent mistake is ignoring size constraints. On devices like earbuds, chargers, or smart accessories, logos are often reduced to just a few millimeters. Text-heavy logos become illegible, and complex symbols lose their meaning. Designers who rely on wordmarks alone often struggle here.
Another issue is compatibility. Logos can be printed, engraved, embossed, or laser-etched, and each method affects how the logo appears.
A logo that looks great in full color may lose its impact when engraved into metal. Thin lines may disappear entirely and the spacing can be all blurry.
Reflective surfaces create additional problems. Logos placed on glossy materials can become hard to see under certain lighting conditions. If contrast and depth are not considered, the logo may only be visible from specific angles, which weakens brand recognition.
The most effective tech brands plan for these limitations early. They develop icon-based logo versions and test them in monochrome, small sizes, and different finishes before final approval.
It’s all about going through different testing phases.
The final word
When designing logos for real products you need to think beyond the screen. Many logo mistakes are not caused by the lack of creativity, but by incomplete testing and unrealistic assumptions about how logos behave on the end product.
The strongest logos are not the most complex ones. Just think about the logos of some of the most famous brands today. They actually aren’t that complex at all.
If a logo works on a hat, a device, and a box, it will almost certainly work anywhere else too.
