It’s Okay if You Have an Ugly Logo

Good Branding is About More than Good Looks

As the Art Director (and principal designer) at Muse, I think it’s fair to say that I value a well designed logo. We’ve created many brands for clients, and a goal of each one is always to create a core element of the brand (the logo) that is well crafted, aesthetically interesting and serves to represent the core values and ideas of our clients in a meaningful way.

I also just like logos. Logos and branding can be incredibly visually appealing and also creatively compelling. Some logos I love might be for companies that I have absolutely no interest in, while others may even be for companies that don’t actually exist. But logos that I appreciate as a designer are one thing. Logos that serve their purpose for the brand they represent are another thing entirely.

Some brands are completely successful at building an identity and a strong visual foundation for a business with a logo that would be savagely mocked on design forums. Especially in small businesses, branding is often developed quickly, cheaply and, frequently, unintentionally. Logos, colours and fonts may be chosen at random, driven by a practical need for a sign or a business card more than a desire to define a brand’s style. The fun thing is, that can actually end up contributing to the charm of a brand, and become core to how we identify with it.

The point is that while logos can have good or bad design, that isn’t the whole story for how they do the work of representing the identity behind them. Whether you’re a small, grassroots organization with charmingly amateur branding that speaks to your own enthusiasm for your mission, or a large, long-standing business with a brand that has a legacy attached to it (warts and all), there’s no reason that a logo designers might sneer at can’t represent you well. If you use it consistently and it truly represents something core to who you are, then it’s doing its job just fine.

The problem is that this often isn’t the case.

What an Ugly Logo Might Say About You

A “bad” brand isn’t simply caused by an ugly logo, because a brand (good or bad) is more than just a logo. Branding is everything about how your company, business or organization looks and speaks. It’s meant to give you tools for representing all the big ideas behind what you do and (more importantly) why you do it. Branding gives you a way of taking those loose, lofty ideas and embedding them into something tangible. That isn’t because these visuals and words objectively mean anything, but because your consistent use of them creates the meaning in your audience’s mind over time.

So a “bad” brand isn’t just about having an ugly logo. A “bad” brand is failing to effectively (and consistently) represent the most important parts of what you do and why you do it. And while it’s true that we can’t lay all the blame on an ugly logo, an ugly logo can be a symptom hinting at the fact that the brand may be bad, too.

The difference between a charmingly naive logo and a truly bad brand is all about how much you value the identity you’re creating. When you own who you are and are authentic to that, a logo that might not be polished or refined to a designer’s eye can still be a great visual supporting the things that you value. But an ugly logo that looks that way because you don’t care is where the true problem lies.

When someone undervalues their brand, it shows. It’s not unlike someone who doesn’t care about their hygiene. While they may run one of the best restaurants in town, if people look at them and second-guess their cleanliness, they may struggle to get customers. In a less medically concerning way, having an ugly brand can indicate that you don’t value how you show up in the world. When we remember that branding is supposed to represent everything that matters to you (your most core values) then it’s easy to see how a bad brand could make people think you run your business badly too.

Rebranding Fixes More than Your Logo

When we collaborate on a rebranding project with a client, it can be satisfying for the artistically inclined part of my brain to “clean up” a design that has technical issues. But that’s just a side-benefit of the actual work we do with a rebrand. The point isn’t to make things look better for their own sake, but to more accurately align how a client appears and speaks with their values and goals. A rebrand is about making sure you aren’t getting in your own way, leaving creative decisions up to chance, and allowing people to second guess if you’re worth talking to before they even get in touch.

A strong brand invites people in to help communicate to them why they might connect with who you are. Good brands are authentic, not because that’s a buzz word companies like to put in their mission statements (it is that, too) but because that’s what branding is all about: it should authentically and accurately represent you so people can really understand who you are, what you do and why.

So if you’re considering a rebrand (or maybe someone suggested it and you don’t think it’s that important), ask yourself these questions: does my logo, my brand, or the way I show up in the world really represent what matters most to me (or my business)? Have I put as much care and thought into how I present my brand as I do into the work that I do? Do I think people might get the wrong impression about my business or organization because of the way it looks?

If you honestly have put the thought in and think your logo represents you well, then you probably already have everything you need. But if you feel like your brand might be holding you back or letting you down, a rebrand can help you figure out how to show up more authentically, and more honestly represent the way you want people to see you. The process of a rebrand can even help reveal your core values to you, and ensure they’re central to everything you do and say.

It’s just a bonus that a rebrand is also a great opportunity to make your logo look really good, too!