PSA: That diner logo I saw made me rethink my whole color scheme

Was grabbing coffee at a local joint last week and their sign had like 4 clashing neon colors plus a drop shadow that made it unreadable from 10 feet. It got me thinking about how I'm probably overcomplicating my own logo with too many effects. Has anyone else had a random sign or sticker make you go back and simplify your design?

2 comments

2 Comments

logan_schmidt6d ago

You said "4 clashing neon colors plus a drop shadow" and I gotta say, that's a good example but I think you're off on one thing. Drop shadows aren't always the enemy. The real problem there was probably that they stacked too many effects without thinking about contrast. A single, well-placed shadow can actually help readability, especially on a sign with bright colors. The issue is more about people not testing their logo at actual viewing distance. I bet that diner logo looked fine on a screen but was a mess when you had to squint from the parking lot. Simplify, sure, but don't strip out every bit of depth just because one sign did it wrong.

thompson.xena6d ago

That's fair, drop shadows get a bad rap but they can work if you actually understand why you're adding them. I've seen way too many designers just slap on a shadow because they think it makes things look "modern" or "edgy" without checking if it's actually helping. But here's what I wonder: how do you tell the difference between a shadow that's adding depth and one that's just covering up a bad color choice? Like, if the sign has 4 bright colors fighting each other, adding a shadow is just throwing another element into the mess. So do you think the real fix is to just pick 2 or 3 colors and let the shadow do its job, or is the sign itself the problem from the start?

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