What makes a good logo? 8 mistakes small businesses make

A logo isn't your whole brand. But it's the part people see most often, and it shows up in more places than most business owners expect. A logo that looks great on a laptop screen can turn into a smudge on a Google Maps pin.

Here's what separates logos that work from ones that don't, starting with the mistakes we see most.

The 8 most common logo mistakes

1. Too much detail

Fine lines, gradients, tiny text and three overlapping symbols might look impressive at full size. Shrink it to a phone icon and it falls apart. The best logos are simple enough to sketch from memory.

2. Following a trend

Whatever style is everywhere this year will look dated in a few years. Aim for something that will still feel right in ten years, not something that looks like this month's feed.

3. Too many colours

Every extra colour makes printing more expensive and the logo harder to use consistently. One or two main colours is usually plenty.

4. It doesn't work small

Your logo will appear as a social media profile picture, a browser tab icon and a tiny mark on a receipt. If it's unreadable at those sizes, you need a simpler icon version.

5. The wrong typeface

Fonts carry personality. A playful script works for a cupcake shop and feels odd for a law firm. A heavy, rigid font can make a yoga studio feel cold. Pick a typeface that matches how you want customers to feel.

6. Looking like everyone else

A tooth for a dentist, a house with a roof for real estate, a lightbulb for "ideas". These are so common that they make you blend in. Free clip-art icons are even worse, because you can't trademark them and anyone else can use the same one.

7. Only one version

You'll need a few variations: a full logo, a horizontal version for website headers, a square icon for social media, and single-colour versions for stamps and dark backgrounds. Getting just one file means awkward stretching and cropping later.

8. No proper files

A blurry JPG from WhatsApp isn't a logo file. Make sure you receive vector files (such as SVG, AI, EPS or PDF) that scale to any size without losing quality, plus PNGs with transparent backgrounds for everyday use.

What a good logo has in common

• Simple: easy to recognise at a glance.
• Memorable: distinctive enough that people remember it.
• Versatile: works in colour and black and white, big and small, print and screen.
• Appropriate: fits your industry and the customers you want to attract.
• Lasting: not tied to a passing trend.

For what it's worth, our own logo is just a slash and a ring in one colour. It's not fancy, but it's readable as a tiny browser icon and on a large banner, and it's easy to remember.

Four quick tests for your logo

1. The size test: shrink it to the size of a thumbnail. Can you still tell what it is?
2. The black and white test: remove all colour. Does it still work?
3. The squint test: squint at it from across the room. Is the shape still clear?
4. The three-second test: show it to someone for three seconds, then ask them to describe it. If they can't, it's probably too complicated.