c/branding-breakdowns

I finally stopped using famous logos as design references

Everyone copies Nike or Apple for their brand look. It's lazy. I saw three new startups last month all using that same minimal sans-serif look. Their logos don't stand out because they look like everything else. Real branding needs personality, not a template. Stop looking at the big guys and find something unique in your local market. Has anyone else dumped the big brand references for something smaller?

Walked into a local coffee shop and their rebrand made me eat my words

I used to think Old Mill Cafe in Portland had the WORST logo. It was this boring clipart coffee cup from 2008. But I stopped in last week and they redid everything. The new mark is a simple line drawing of their actual mill building. I took a photo of it for my branding inspo folder. Has anyone else had a change of heart about a local business logo after they updated it?

Showerthought: Is that logo really memorable or just annoying after the 50th time?

I was at a coffee shop in Portland last month staring at this brand that used a super loud neon pink and lime green combo. At first I thought it was brilliant and edgy, but after waiting 15 minutes for my pour-over, the colors started giving me a headache. It got me wondering, where's the line between a logo that sticks in your brain and one that actually pushes people away? Some brands like that weird pet store chain with the screaming parrot logo seem to rely on pure irritation to be remembered. On the other hand, I saw a bakery logo recently that used soft browns and a simple bread loaf shape, and I still recall it clearly a week later. What do you think, does a logo need to be a little annoying to be effective or should it just be clean and calm?

Unpopular opinion: Nike's new Air Max logo redesign works better than people give it credit for

Was talking to my buddy Dave last week at a bar in Portland, he's a graphic designer and he was ripping into the new Air Max branding saying it looks generic. But honestly, the way they simplified the type to match the shoe's silhouette actually makes sense for a 35 year old line that needs to stay fresh. I get why purists hate change, but has anyone else found that some logo updates only bother you for like a month before they click?

Noticed a local coffee shop rebrand and it's brutal

I walked into this place called Brew House in Austin last week, and they changed their logo from a solid clean mug with steam to some squiggly abstract blob that looks like a melted glove. Two years ago they had a sharp, simple design that stood out on the street, but I guess they hired a trendy agency that does minimal art. The new font is thin and hard to read on their chalkboard, and the color shifted from warm brown to this washed out beige that disappears against their brick wall. Has anyone else seen a rebrand that made you stop going somewhere?

Client told me my logo looked like a dog toy brand and she was right

I was working on a branding package for a small coffee roaster in Portland and felt pretty good about the logo. It had a round shape, bright colors, and a friendly font. The client looked at it for about 5 seconds and said "this looks like it belongs on a rubber chew toy." At first I was annoyed but then I really looked at it. She was totally right. The circle shape with thick outlines and primary colors screamed pet product not artisanal coffee. I went back and stripped out all the curves, swapped in muted earth tones, and used a sharper sans serif font. The final version looked way more professional and actually fit their vibe. Has anyone else gotten feedback that made you completely scrap a direction you were sure was working?

Noticed my local bakery's logo got simpler over 5 years and it actually works better now

I was grabbing a loaf from Bread Friend around the corner last week and realized their logo has changed three times since they opened in 2019. The first one had this detailed wheat stalk with a fancy serif font, then they simplified to just the bakery name in a clean sans serif, and now it's literally just a circle with the letter B in a friendly rounded typeface. Turns out they hired a branding person in 2022 who convinced them customers couldn't read the tiny wheat details on their delivery bags and stickers. Now the logo shows up way clearer on their social media squares and the takeout bags look super clean. Has anyone else noticed small businesses ditching the complicated vintage look for something way more minimal lately?

Can we talk about that Gap logo fail from 2010?

I still think about how Gap changed their logo to that boring Helvetica font and then switched back in a week after everyone hated it. How do huge brands still mess up something as basic as their own identity?

Redid a bakery logo with lower case letters and sales jumped 15%

Had a client who owned a small pie shop in Portland. I switched their all caps bold serif logo to a handwritten lower case style with a tiny fork icon. The owner said people kept telling her the new branding felt warmer. I checked her Square sales data 3 months later and she was up 15% compared to the same period last year. Could be coincidence but I think the friendly vibe made more people stop in. Has anyone else seen a big change from just tweaking letter case?

Just realized that "modern minimalism" branding killed my client's sales

I had a client last year who owned a small bakery in Austin. She wanted a super clean, sans-serif logo with just a single line icon. I pushed back hard, told her it looked too generic, but she insisted. After 6 months of using it, her sales dropped by 15% compared to the same period before. People at farmers markets kept saying they couldn't tell what she sold or what made her different. I finally convinced her to add a warm, hand-drawn pastry and script font. Sales went back up within 2 months. Has anyone else seen minimalism backfire like that with a specific kind of business?

Hit 50,000 followers and my logo was a hot mess the whole time

I hit 50k on Instagram last month and realized my logo doesn't scale down at all on mobile. It's got these tiny thin lines that turn into a blurry blob under 40 pixels. The old one I had before was blocky and ugly but at least you could read it. Anyone else deal with a logo that looked great on desktop but falls apart on a phone screen?

Saw a new coffee shop downtown with a logo that looks like a bootleg Starbucks

Either they're copying hard or it's a bold move for recognition. Does that actually work for new brands or just make people think you're fake?

Vent: That fast food rebrand that made everything worse

I stopped at a McDonald's in Tucson last week and their new logo is on everything now, but the worst part is the drive thru menu board. They changed the font to this thin, light gray type on a yellow background and I literally could not read half the items from my car. Had to pull forward and squint for like 2 minutes before ordering. Who actually tests this stuff before they roll it out to hundreds of stores? Has anyone else dealt with a rebrand that made their experience actively worse?

Paid a graphic designer $500 for a logo redo. Best money I ever wasted?

My old logo looked like clip art from 2004. The new one actually works on business cards and my website without looking like a mess. Anyone else shell out for professional branding and actually see a difference?

Covered my company truck logo in vinyl wrap for a month and got 3 calls total

I plastered a bright orange wrap with my painting company name and phone number on my Ford van to see if it drummed up business. After 30 days of driving all over Phoenix I only got three calls and two were wrong numbers. Has anybody else tested vehicle wraps and found they work better for certain neighborhoods or types of work?

I finally ditched that overly complex brand style guide template

Paid $150 for a 47 page guide from a popular designer last month and it was impossible for my client to actually USE. The typography section alone had 14 font variations. Ended up scrapping it and making a simple one page cheat sheet instead - has anyone else had a style guide that looked great but failed in real life?

Realized my logo uses 4 different shades of blue after a client pointed it out

I was looking at my brand board last night and counted 4 different blues across my logo, website, and business cards. Has anyone else found hidden color mismatches after you thought everything was matched up?

Spent $600 on a brand refresh and got nothing but gray boxes

I hired a freelance brand designer last year to redo my whole visual identity. Paid $600 upfront based on their portfolio which looked amazing. They sent me back a logo that was literally three gray rectangles stacked on top of each other. No color theory, no typography guide, just... gray boxes. When I asked about the reasoning, they said it represented 'foundational growth' or something. I had to pay another $300 to a different person to fix it into something people actually recognize. Has anyone else paid for branding work that felt like it skipped the entire strategy part?

That coffee shop on 3rd street with the tacky font made me leave

I popped into Brew Haus last Tuesday for a quick latte and their logo is this super thin script that's impossible to read from more than 5 feet away. Had to squint just to find the door. Has anyone else walked out of a place because their sign or branding was just that bad?

A client told me my logo looked "too busy" and I fought them on it for weeks... then I simplified and everything clicked

That $75 color swatch book I bought actually saved me from a branding disaster

I dropped $75 on a Pantone swatch book last month because I was sick of screen colors looking wrong on print materials. Turned out my client's 'forest green' was actually a muddy olive on paper and fixing it before the print run saved me at least $400 in reprints. Has anyone else had a cheap tool or reference book pay for itself quick like that?

Hit 50 logo revisions for one client and started questioning everything

Just wrapped a brand project where we went through 50 iterations of the same logo mark. Client kept asking for tweaks but never got happier. Do you set a hard limit on revisions before starting a project or just ride it out? I'm leaning toward a 3 round cap after this experience.

Saw a logo on a food truck that used 8 different fonts

I was grabbing tacos downtown last Tuesday and this truck had a logo with like 8 fonts crammed into one square. It was impossible to read from 10 feet away and the colors clashed so bad I almost walked past it. Has anyone else seen brands ruin their vibe by using too many random typefaces?

Saw a logo redesign that lost all its character last week

I was at a diner near my place in Chicago, and they just redid their whole brand. Old logo had this worn out 1950s script that felt real and honest, but the new one is just a generic circle with a fork in it. It looks like every other fast casual spot now. My buddy works in graphic design and he told me companies do this to look modern, but they end up looking empty. I feel like people get so caught up in making things clean that they forget what made them interesting in the first place. Have you ever seen a redesign that totally missed the point of the original?

My client's logo had 12 fonts and they wouldn't budge. I made a grayscale version and that finally convinced them.

So I have this client who runs a local bakery chain here in Denver. They hired me to clean up their brand identity but they were super attached to this logo they made themselves. It had like 12 different fonts, drop shadows, gradients, the whole mess. I tried explaining hierarchy and simplicity for 3 meetings, nothing worked. Then I just printed their logo in black and white on a piece of paper and showed them how nothing stood out. The text was all competing. I offered to try one clean font with just a shape and they said yes. That one trick actually got them to trust me. Has anyone else had luck using grayscale to sell minimalism to stubborn clients?