Mistake 1: Too many typefaces
Most brands need two typefaces — maybe three. A display face for headlines. A utility face for body and UI. That's it. When brands use four, five, or six different fonts across touchpoints, the result feels inconsistent and unintentional — even when each individual choice is defensible. Pick the fonts. Lock them in. Use nothing else.
Mistake 2: Colors that don't mean anything
Color is one of the most powerful brand signals — and one of the most mismanaged. Brands pick colors they like, or colors that "feel right," without asking: what will this communicate to our audience? Does it work on dark backgrounds? On packaging? At small sizes? A primary brand color should be chosen strategically, not aesthetically.
Mistake 3: Logos that don't scale
A logo that looks great on a mockup poster often falls apart at 32×32 pixels in a browser tab. Great logo systems include at least a primary mark, a secondary lockup, and a simplified icon version. Test every logo at small sizes before you finalize anything.
Mistake 4: Inconsistent photography style
Mixing lifestyle photography, stock photos, product shots on different backgrounds, and user-generated content without a unifying visual language creates noise. Define a photography brief — lighting style, subject distance, color temperature, editing approach — and apply it everywhere.
Mistake 5: Ignoring whitespace
Brands that fear empty space end up cluttered and unreadable. Whitespace isn't wasted space — it's breathing room that makes everything else more legible, more trustworthy, and more premium. If your designs look crowded, the answer is almost always less, not more.
“Amateurish branding isn't usually a design problem. It's a decision problem — the wrong choices made by well-meaning people without a system.”
Zack Shubkagel Rovella
Brand strategist and creative director. Founder of Brand Zhuzh.