Common Graphic Design Mistakes to Avoid

You can come up with the most brilliant, exquisite idea in the world, but your execution is going to get ruined with even one design error. It can be as small as the wrong font or a poor layout. Graphic design mistakes don’t just make your post, poster, or infographic look bad. They cost you the trust of your clients, even to the point of costing you sales. These graphic design mistakes are surprisingly easy to make, whether you’re a newbie marketer, small business owner, or experienced designer. In this blog, we’ll break down the most common graphic design fails so that you can avoid this pitfall once and for all.

Top 10 Common Graphic Design Mistakes

Here are common graphic design mistakes to avoid and pay attention to:

1. Using Too Many Fonts

Using fancy or simple fonts is not a problem in itself. These fonts give your design personality. The issue is when you use too many fonts at once. It gives your design a messy look, and your content is hard to follow. This happens because each font has its own style. When you mix them carelessly, it confuses your audience. Your poster with five different fonts is going to look disorganised, even if you put your best content in there. The best approach would be to use one font for headings and another for the text body. If you really feel like using another, you can use it for accents. To create variation without clutter, use bold, italics, uppercase, and size variety. This won’t create clutter.

Example mistake

Suppose you have a leaflet. It is using Comic Sans for the title, Times New Roman for the body, and Impact for emphasis. Now, this leaflet appears messy and amateurish. A good fix to this issue would be choosing two fonts that gel well with each other. For instance, Montserrat (modern and bold) for titles and Georgia (classic and readable) for text are a good combination. You have to ensure your font matches the tone of your message.

2. Poor Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is one of the graphic design mistakes to avoid. It means a clear depiction of what’s most important on the page. When everything seems the same, people are unsure where to begin reading. Your design looks confusing this way, and people may not be able to find important information. They may even miss a headline or a call to action. You can create a good hierarchy by using different sizes and colours. Another thing you can vary is spacing. Changing boldness and placement can also help you distinguish what is important to read on this page.

Example mistake

If your “Buy now” button is small and grey colored, and tucked under an image, the audience can easily miss it while scrolling or viewing. To fix this, make your headline bigger and bolder than your text body. Around your other important elements, add space. Make sure CTAs stand out with bright colour or a button shape. Your elements should guide the eye of the audience where you want it to go. It should flow like a story. Learn how Graphic Design Differs from UI UX Design.

3. Ignoring White Space

The empty space surrounding your content is known as white space or negative space. Ignoring it one of the major graphic design mistakes. Some designers think they have to fill all of this space with images and design. This creates visual stress for the eye. Nothing shines out, and everything feels crammed without white space. This usually happens due to a misconception. Designers may think of white space as wasted space. Though, this is not true. This space is something that gives breathing room to your design. Your content looks clean and polished thanks to it. It is easier to read as well.

Example Mistake

Suppose you have a crammed product flyer. There is no space between photographs, logos, and text. They are tightly packed. To fix this, give space in the headings. Similarly, add space in graphics and borders. This will make important things stand out. Research indicates that the addition of white space can increase user comprehension of text by as much as 20%.

4. Overusing Effects and Filters

Playing with effects like drop shadows, bevels, outlines, and filters can be fun. However, using them a lot can make your design appear outdated or even silly. This leads to a common graphic design mistake. They used to be a popular trend in the early 2000s. Now their use can make your design feel overdone. This does not imply that you cannot use them at all. Their use should have a clear purpose. Either you can add a subtle depth or enhance readability. What they should never do is decorate the design.

Example Mistake

Although it may appear dazzling, a business card with bright, rainbow-coloured writing and thick shadows is difficult to read and lacks professionalism. To fix this graphic design mistake, only use soft shadows to lift an element off the background subtly. You can also add a light filter to create a mood. Unless the brand explicitly requests a loud or vintage design, stick to a modern, clean approach.

5. Wrong Colour Choices

Colour has great power; it supports your message and creates the right atmosphere. But if you combine them incorrectly, your design may become hard to read. It will also give a wrong impression to users and become common graphic design mistakes. Some colours don’t provide enough contrast, while others form a contrast so sharp that there is strain on your eyes. The brand’s colours should be recognisable to all, including those with visual impairments. This is why accessibility and contrast are so important.

Example mistake

If you use a light yellow text on a white background, it would look soft, but it is impossible to read. To fix this graphic design mistake, use colour combinations that look good together. You can use blue with white or dark green with beige. Check contrast with free tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker. Observe the WCAG accessibility guidelines, which state that normal text should contrast with the background at least 4.5:1. Moreover, always remember that colours hold a meaning. Soft blues are calming and reliable, whereas bright red might convey danger or haste. Make your decision based on the feeling you wish to evoke.

6. Designing for the Wrong Medium

All designs do not exist in the same world. Each has distinct technical requirements. Some are designed for screens, while others are for printing. RGB colour mode is used in digital designs, which typically need 72 DPI resolution. In contrast, print requires a much higher resolution, 300 DPI or more, and uses CMYK colour mode. If you use the wrong mode, you are at risk of ruining the final output’s resolution. Printed colours may look dull or blurry as a result. This will lead to fatal graphic design mistakes. Therefore, you must check your design specs before working.

Example mistake

You design a 72 DPI, RGB business card. It appears crisp and colourful on screen, but the text appears pixelated and the colours change suddenly when printed. To fix this, always use CMYK before printing and set your resolution to at least 300DPI.

7. Inconsistent Branding

Whether someone sees your business card, website, or advertisement, they should be able to recognise your branding right away. Using multiple fonts, colours, or logos on different platforms disrupts consistency and leaves your audience perplexed. Building trust is another benefit of branding. Your brand style guide should, thus, be followed in every design you create to ensure that your images have a consistent, clear voice. Else, you will fall under this category of graphic design mistakes.

Example mistake

Here is an example of such graphic design mistakes. Your packaging uses modern serif font and a black-and-white logo, but your Instagram is all pink and bubbly. This inconsistency causes your identity to weaken. So, in all your text, use the same font styles, colour scheme, and logo version.

8. Neglecting Readability

Design must speak to you clearly. If your message makes the user struggle to read, they’ll leave immediately. The reasons can be plenty. Your font might be too small, or your contrast might be too poor. This is especially more visible in mobile screens, where space is already limited. These are all graphic design mistakes. Even from a distance, your design should be readable and comfortable for the reader to follow.

Example mistake

If you make your font grey and it is written over a white background, it looks great on the monitor screen. However, the same text becomes unreadable on the phone. To fix this, carry out your trials on multiple devices. This will help you make sure that your contrast meets eligibility standards.

9. Using Low-Quality or Pixelated Images

Images can elevate a design or ruin it altogether. If you use low-resolution images, they will look unprofessional and harm your credibility. The same is the case with warped images. You have to take extra care of this when printing. This is because every little detail is visible on print. This is among the graphic design mistakes that even veteran designers make. Using high-resolution files and vector files for logos and graphics can help you avoid this issue. You can scale images then without blurring.

Example mistake

You screenshot a tiny image from Google and then use it on a printed flyer/ You’ll get a grainy, pixelated image as a result. Your entire design will seem rushed when you do this. To avoid this, use royalty-free or original high-resolution images that are appropriate for your medium; for logos, use SVGs or PDFs.

10. Skipping Proofreading

Design is more than images. The text you add matters as well. If there are typos, misspellings or grammar errors, your reputation will be damaged immediately. People can spot the smallest of errors, and once they do, there is no going back. You must avoid these graphic design mistakes. You should review your text very carefully. Ask someone else to proofread for you as well before you print or publish your design.