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Cover the name. Is there still a logo left? ðŸ§
That's not a design question.
I'm not touching kerning or color, that's not my lane, and I'd never pretend otherwise.
It's the first thing I bring to a client before they approve a mark, because most rejections aren't about bad design. They're a client who can't tell the difference between a shape that's borrowed and one that's actually theirs.
1. THE SILHOUETTE TEST
Strip the color, hide the name. If a stranger can still tell whose it is, that's not decoration. That's the designer doing their job right.
2. THE LINEUP TEST
Put it next to ten competitors, names covered. If the whole set could get shuffled and nobody would notice, the problem was never the color the client didn't like.
3. THE VALUE OF STANDING STILL
A borrowed shape gets "redesigned" every two years, the moment the trend it copied goes stale. A mark that passes both tests only gets more valuable the longer you keep it.
A good designer already knows this. My job is making sure the client does too, before they ask for "something safer."
Next time a client says "I just don't love it," ask them to cover the name first.
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