Whether you’re a brand-new designer looking to jump into your first order or you’re an old hand who’s looking for a refresher, these common graphic design mistakes can ambush any designer and potentially cause a lot of harm. Many designers have those painful memories where common sense temporarily eluded us.

Here are 10 of the most critical graphic design mistakes you need to keep an eye out for:

1- Doing professional work on amateur softwares

With numerous online resources available these days for designing logos, banners and other advertisements, it is not difficult to create an appealing design in relatively little time. Often though, these seemingly “professional” apps come with many drawbacks. That’s because most of the freebie programs use raster graphic imaging instead of the industry standard vector.

There is simply no substitute for professional design work. While it may seem smart to save a little bit of money with a do-it-yourself design, it often costs more in the long run between lost time and missed sales opportunities from amateur work. You will save money in the long run by hiring a professional that understands design and uses the latest software to complete your projects.

2- Over-designing to the point of chaos

Sometimes, a designer is asked to do too much within any given project. Whether it’s using an abundance of bold color choices, implementing too many graphics or making the design far too busy, these mistakes will usually hurt the overall concept more than it helps.

That’s not to say that over-designing a page can’t still look appealing to the end user; it’s simply an unnecessary distraction. Less is almost always more in the world of graphic design because it’s all about allowing consumers to make a connection with the brand in question.

3- Focusing too much on popular design trends

Keeping an eye on the latest advances in design is essential for any designer who wishes to remain at the top of their field. At the same time, however, it’s a bad idea to try and replicate another company’s success just because a certain style is popular. What works for one company may not work for your business and your customers. Not to mention, the design will feel quickly outdated once the trend passes.

One of the great joys of being a graphic designer is being able to use creativity and style to create designs that reverberate with consumers. It’s a good idea to look for inspiration, if it doesn’t derail the designer from finding the unique design solution your project requires.

4- Wrong design formats

While most design software allows users to save in tagged image file format (tiff), joint photographic experts group (jpg) and several other extensions, how do you decide which is the right one for your project? The answer depends on how you will use the finalized graphic and what features are required for the design.

When choosing a file format for a photograph or design image, think about whether the image needs to be in vector format and how it will be compressed. Also consider if the design will be printed or displayed online; this way it would be easier to choose the best way to save the work. Your designer should be able to help you make these decisions as well once they know how the finished product will be used.

5- Too much reliance on free images

While stock photography is a quick, affordable option to be used with most projects, be cautious of such websites that grant unlimited usage for free. Not only do these images tend to be of low resolution, but there is also a high risk of copyright infringement and other unintended consequences.

On the contrary, it always makes perfect sense to buy photographs that guarantee exclusive usage through the purchase license. This means that no one else has legal rights to use your images in any capacity, which protects you and your brand down the road.

6- Under-Deliver After Promising too much

Out of all the mistakes covered so far, this is by far one of the most severe and potentially damaging. When discussing deadlines and expectations with your client, you’ll want to make sure you don’t promise them something amazing, and then fail to meet that promise. It’s better to finish a project ahead of a long deadline than late on a short deadline.

7- Stock Images

While it’s not wrong to use stock images, it’s best to go easy on them. Using too many stock photos makes a project look cheap and, in some cases, unprofessional. Plus, there are plenty of stock images out there that people will instantly recognize since they have seen them all over.

8- Check for Spelling

Sure, you are a graphic designer and not a writer, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to pass on proper spelling. While you may feel that running a quick spell check after finishing your project is all you’ll need, there are plenty of graphic design mistakes that spell check systems can miss. So, pay close attention to the details and carefully comb over your project before sending things to print.

9- Taking the Customer’s instructions for granted

Finally, it is always imperative that you stay aware of the fact that you’re designing a project for a client. It’s incredibly important that you stick to the client instructions and don’t make changes because you think it looks better. After all, the customer is paying for a graphic design, and your job as a designer is to do all you can to help the customer achieve their business goal.