Using Clip Art in Logo Design Is Not a Good Idea

Stock arts are freely available online and sometimes used by content editors to explain a complicated point in an article, but when it comes to logo design, artists stay away from stock arts. You may say that if stock images and arts can be used in websites, why not in logo design? After all, a website is also a part of a company’s brand identity.

The problem with stock arts is that they are everywhere and a logo must not contain something that can be found anywhere. Explaining a point to the readers and defining the brand image of a company are two different things.  If you are not much aware of the unique characteristics of an emblem, read the following points.

Memorable– People should be able to remember your logo after seeing it a couple of times. If they don’t remember your brand name or insignia for a long time, your business is in trouble.

Unique– If it matches even slightly with another emblem, your brand value can get affected. The design must not encourage people to say, “Hey, I have seen something like this before!”

Scalable– A logo can be placed in business cards, brochures, billboards, company website and in many other places. Therefore, it has to be flexible and retain its appeal all the time.

Relevant– It must be appropriate for your industry. The elements used in the logo such as, symbol, colors and fonts should help people identify your business segment.

As you can see, stock arts don’t work well within these disciplines. That is why professionals working a reputed logo design company never use clip art in their designs. If you are still not convinced, here are some reasons why you should not use clip art in emblem design.

• Hampers the Creative Process– If you use a stock art as the main reference, it will slow down your creative process. Instead of searching for inspirations, you should take a pencil and paper, think calmly about your client’s business, target market, competitors etc. and draw an insignia that defines his brand personality, without imitating any other company’s logo.

• It Will Look Generic– As I have mentioned earlier, a brand emblem must stand out and help people remember the company. Adding a clip art is always a bad idea because then people will think that you must have copied the design and there is nothing unique about the business it represents.

• Lowers Your Credibility– If people start thinking that you take shortcuts to design brand emblems, they will think twice before hiring you. Remember, it takes a long time to develop goodwill in any industry, but only one poor design can damage your career.

Logo design is not just about creativity and designing expertise. You have to understand the client’s goal and philosophy, and think out of the box to create an emblem that will help his company reach new heights. Therefore, stop using clip art for inspiration or designing purpose and create something on your own.