Where should you place your logo for maximum impact? You’ve likely spent a lot of time figuring out how to brand your image and make an impression on users. We want to ensure your logo is on the spot where it’s noticed, but not distracted from the actual product. In this article we discuss The Common Pitfalls With Logo Placement.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, there were approximately 20,000 food and beverage products introduced in 2020 and 22,000 new non-food items. While the number varies slightly from year to year, new items hit store shelves almost non-stop. If you want to stand out, you need to brand your items, and your logo is the best place to start.
Logo placement can be tricky. If you put it at the top, people might think you are claiming to be a big player in the market. On the other hand, if it isn’t visible, people may not remember you. Here are the most common pitfalls with logo placement and our best tips to overcome them.
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Pitfall #1: Centering Your Website Logo
The Nielsen Norman Group conducted some basic research on logo placement on websites a few years back and discovered centred logos didn’t perform as well as left-aligned ones. In fact, people were a bit turned off by an emblem moved away from the upper-left corner.
Users tend to have certain expectations for websites. They assume the navigation bar will be near the top and easy to navigate. They look to the top left for the logo and think if they click on it they will go back to the home page. Moving outside that norm can give users a negative impression of your brand.
Pitfall # 2: Ignoring Your Strengths
You can increase sales significantly by placing your logo in the right location to emphasize your strengths. Think about how your product looks on the shelf next to all the other displays. Will it be on a shelf? Where should your logo reside so it grabs attention without detracting from the product?
You should also consider the other brands surrounding yours. What do your competitor logos look like? Where are they placed? Should you go with the standard or do something different to stand out?
The answer to these questions often lies in how trendy your product is. A more traditional item needs to have a conservative look, while something new and fresh can be hip and different.
Pitfall #3: Hiding the Logo
Some brands tuck their logos into an inconspicuous spot, but doing so is often a mistake. Your logo is the face of your brand. You want people to think of your company when they see it. Corporations such as Nike, Apple and McDonald’s put their logo front and centre in all they do. When you see their emblems, you know what they represent.
Some experts argue that if you aren’t a household name, your logo shouldn’t be as prominent. However, making it attention-grabbing might just take you from small fry to big time corporation. Be proud of your logo and use it on all products.
Pitfall #4: Placing a Logo Over a Movable Part
You’ve likely seen photos of a logo placed over a zipper or on the side of a sliding door for a van. When the pieces move, the logo becomes either illegible or obscene. Instead of Starbucks, the vinyl wrap says “Sucks” or something along those lines.
Avoid placing your logo over any moving parts. If you add it to a hoodie, move the logo to the back or to one of the breast pockets. When displaying on a vehicle, make sure the vinyl wrap doesn’t shift to something that looks weird when doors open.
Look at the logo placement and size from all angles and revamp anything that isn’t working. You want the logo to be noticeable and memorable, but not in a negative way.
Pitfall #5: Using the Wrong Size
Logo placement is about more than just where to locate the image. You must also consider the perfect size in relation to other objects. For example, if you take out a billboard and make your logo gigantic, people might feel you are almost shouting your brand name at them.
On the other hand, if your logo is too small, it might fade into obscurity. Try different sizes and think about the scale of the other items in the logo design. Take a step back from the computer and view the entire project to see how well the logo shows up.
Where do you want people’s attention drawn first? If you want them to look at the logo first, place it at an angle, make it larger or do some other little thing that draws the eye.
Pitfall #6: Weird Placements
Think about how an ad might be used and if anything about it is unusual. There are examples of ads that are a bit obscene when placed on a bus or vehicle. Others just make you wonder what the company was thinking, such as sewer steam coming up out of an image of a cup of Folgers coffee.
Everyone wants to be creative and come up with a logo placement or ad that is cutting edge. Unfortunately, innovation sometimes backfires. Always run your ideas through several people to make sure you’re outside-of-the-box doesn’t damage your image.
Double Check
Once you’ve decided on placement, take a step back and check your logo from different angles. Can people see it from a distance? Is there anything weird about the location? Does the logo pop or does it fade away? Double-check everything and you’ll be much less likely to make a mortifying mistake.
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Author Bio
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a prominent digital marketing agency prior to becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philadelphia with her husband and pup, Bear.