Design collection: Bad catering logo designs - what you should not do when making a catering logo

Due to the surge of catering logo searches on Baneneng's portfolio, I thought of doing our eager searchers and googlist a favor by bringing you my shortlist for the worst catering logo designs. (Don't worry, I'm coming up with the  top catering logo designs after this so watch out for it!)

Note that a good graphic design reflects the essence of the brand. Never mind if the name of the catering company is ordinary, the least a graphic designer, illustrator or art director can do is to transform the forgettable  brand name into an unforgettable logo by using and emphasizing the right elements.

Part 1: Bad catering logo designs

Try searching catering service online and if you share my aesthetics, the logos of the top search results fall short on creativity. Nothing stands out in the design elements used in the caterer's logo. AllSuburbs, Jay's Catering, Viviani's Catering and other companies must serve a heck of a feast, but for the sake of making a point, allow me to show their logos here:

YLS Catering Services (Singapore). The logo looks annoyingly too generic. The letters YLS, while in italics, are written in a too-common font that it simply doesn't stand out. It would have looked a bit better if the cursive font was used on YLS, and the sans serif font was used on "Catering Services". But if they did that, the logo would still look bad because these fonts do not possess character at all.

All Suburbs (USA). Looking at the drawing of the chef, could you tell that All Suburbs is a restaurant, catering service company or a bakery had the phrase "Catering Service" wasn't written on the logo? I didn't think so. Ideally, the logo should not look very generic or else the looker (or worse, a potential client) would be left guessing which service your company provides. And that is bad for business.

Alfonso Catering (USA). While it shows that thought and care went into developing a signature-style logo, I cannot ignore how the letter n looks like a u. The last thing a designer wants is to have people misread or mispronounce the brand name. This is why Alfonso Catering's logo falls under bad catering logo designs.

A1 Catering (Philippines). I'll keep this one short. Because of the font choice, the logo looks outdated and the drawing, confusing. Is that a toque trying to be a heart, or is it heart-shaped balloon which oddly reminds me of a fallopian tube (I don't know why, please don't ask). Here, white overpowers the green so the brand name is de-emphasized, and the odd drawing, highlighted. 

Mmmm Good Meals. Does this logo remind you of another brand? Notice that the font and the circle for each letter m is the same as the world-renowned M&M's brand. The design semblance too goes against the company's service -- a chocolate candy certainly isn't part of a health-conscious food service.


Please note that it is not my intention to offend the logo designers of or owners of the companies mentioned above. Kindly take this as a constructive criticism and professional advice so that you could further improve your branding.

Part 2: Best catering logo designs (Coming soon)

Now that we've discussed the don'ts, it only makes sense to discuss next the do's in designing a good catering or caterer's logo. Watch out because that will come next week. Until then!

The worst, the horrible and the tasteless: My top 7 worst logo designs

What were they thinking?

To better appreciate the best logo designs posted here earlier, I'm sharing with you my Top 7 Worst logo designs. Keep in mind though that while my intention here is not to ridicule the designers or companies or organizations that own the logos below, I am showing this to the world as a reminder of things to do avoid when making a logo.

The worst, the horrible and the tasteless: The Worst logo designs

Dick Clark Entertainment. Okay, yes, the company is very successful. The management is obviously have the ability to operate the business, but whatever foresight they have in the future of entertainment, they certainly lack that when it comes to design. Let me make a guess. Are the owners all men? Perhaps they thought it was a joke to make the logo be a visual pun of Dick (Clark). But how could you expect reputable business people to respect you when every time they see your company logo, all they remember is a wiener.

Same reason as above.

Anthony Byrne. This again. Seriously, what's up with this? Why is this a favorite? Is the designer or owner subconsciously so insecure of themselves or does this logo succinctly summarizes the owner's potential? Or is the owner a victim of bad design and bad advice?

Catholic Church’s Archdiocesan Youth Commission. The logo displays good use of negative space but bad choice of an image. When I first saw this logo, what first came to my mind was the growing child abuse complaints against some of the member of its ranks. Could you say then that the designer had a foresight? Hmm.

Here's another example of using negative image in a bad way. Or maybe the client pissed off the designer that he or she used the logo as a vendetta.

Locum Property Management. Supposedly read as "Locum", this logo represents a Sweden-based property management firm. Go here to view the original material for this logo.

A-Style is a clothing and lifestyle brand that operates in Europe, China and Japan. Believe it or not, the company is still using this logo! I wonder if the managers have seen blogs and design sites that have elevated A-Style's logo to the Worst Logo Design Ever Hall of Fame. See this badly designed logo in action at A-Style's website.