The Internet is full of questionable and sometimes hilarious marketing designs that went viral for all the wrong reasons. Whether due to unfortunately placed words, nonsensical acronyms or bizarre juxtapositions of images, it’s all too easy for your new design to become the meme of the day and to possibly alienate customers.
In order to keep your customers from running to the hills, avoid the following bad design choices when creating your next logo or marketing campaign.
4 Bad Design Choices for Your Print Marketing
Here are five of the most common design mistakes with print marketing:
1. Information Overload (Clutter)
It may be tempting to share all you possibly can about your business on a printed product such as a business card or brochure. However, you should include only the most relevant information about your company. Blank space is not wasted space and is an essential tool for focusing attention on the most important information you have to share. By exercising discipline in the information you share, you can make that information more memorable to potential customers.
Related: 5 Simple Tenets of Memorable Business Card Design
2. Using All Available Design Features for One Product
When it comes to effective marketing, simplicity is key. You are more likely to confuse rather than dazzle potential customers if you include many different features on your marketing products. Using a wide range of colors, fonts, textures, holographic images can seem gimmicky and can simply lead to a mess rather than a cohesive whole.
Related: 6 Business Card Printing Methods to Inspire Your Branding Strategy
3. Non-Existent Theme
It’s not enough to create eye-catching designs or attractive layouts. Without a coherent theme, your marketing efforts will fail to create a memorable impression on potential customers. Even worse, conflicting, mismatched or simply unconnected marketing designs can cause your brand to suffer.
All of your business marketing efforts should follow brand guidelines in order to provide them with a theme from the start. It is vital that your designs be congruent and flow with one another to create a recognizable and unitary experience for potential customers.
4. Bad Fonts Choices & Poor Layout
Poor font choice can also adversely impact your designs. Some can cause different letters to look the same at a distance, which can lead to some being mistaken for their unfortunate, comedic or even offensive lookalikes.
Another problem can arise from the layout, or kerning, of your type. The spacing between letters can be too close or too far apart, making it difficult to read or easily misinterpreted. Many a design fail can be traced back to this, so it’s important to be aware of this problem before taking your designs to print.
Related: What Size Font for a Business Card? Avoid the Small and Faint
How to Avoid Bad Design
Good design is an essential component of any successful marketing campaign and is vital to the success of your business. It can be used to create a recognizable brand while bringing clarity and cohesion to marketing efforts.
The best way to avoid bad design choices is by working with experts from the beginning. SILKCARDS can help your business stand out from the crowd in a good way to attract customers rather than scare them off.
