A professional logo package is the complete collection of files and guidelines for a company’s new logo. It serves as a toolkit for every possible application, from a social media icon to a trade show banner. Its primary purpose is to ensure the logo appears consistent and professional everywhere the brand is seen. This consistency builds recognition and trust with an audience.
Core Logo Variations
A logo package provides a suite of logo variations, often called lockups, to ensure flexibility across different contexts and layouts. Each version serves a distinct purpose, allowing the brand to adapt to its environment without compromising its identity.
Primary Logo
The primary logo is the main version and the one that will be used most frequently. It is the fullest, most detailed representation of the brand’s identity. This is the go-to logo for major branding materials like the header of a website, official letterheads, and the front of a business card, where it can be displayed with maximum impact.
Secondary/Alternate Logos
Secondary or alternate logos are adaptations of the primary design, created to fit into spaces where the main logo would be awkward or illegible. For example, if the primary logo is a wide, horizontal arrangement, a stacked or vertical alternate would be included for use in narrow spaces like a mobile app header. These alternates maintain the core brand elements but rearrange them for versatility.
Submark/Favicon
A submark is the most simplified version of the logo, often an icon, initial, or monogram. This compact identifier is designed for small-scale applications where the full logo would be too detailed to be recognizable. Its most common uses are as a website’s favicon, a social media profile picture, or a subtle watermark.
Color Versions
To maintain brand integrity across various backgrounds and printing methods, each logo variation is supplied in several color formats. These versions ensure the logo remains visible and impactful, whether on a dark webpage or in a black-and-white newspaper ad.
The full-color version is the standard rendition and should be used whenever possible to build brand recognition. It features the official brand color palette and represents the ideal presentation of the logo. This version is used on company websites, marketing materials, and anywhere else color is available.
For situations where color is not an option, a solid black version is necessary. This is used for internal documents, invoices, or single-color print jobs where using the full-color logo would be impractical or too costly. It ensures the logo remains crisp and legible in its simplest form.
A reverse or white version is included for placement on dark or colored backgrounds. This “knockout” version ensures the logo stands out clearly against darker brand colors or photography without being enclosed in a distracting box. It provides flexibility for modern layouts in both print and digital design.
File Formats
Understanding the different file formats in a logo package is important for using the right one in the right place. These files are divided into two main categories: vector and raster. Each is created differently and serves a unique purpose, from professional printing to digital screen use.
Vector files, such as AI, EPS, and SVG, are the master files for a logo. They are constructed using mathematical equations, which means they can be scaled to any size—from a pen to a billboard—without any loss of quality. For this reason, always send a vector file to printers for projects like business cards or signage to ensure the final product is crisp.
AI files are the original, editable source files from Adobe Illustrator. EPS is a widely compatible standard for printers. SVGs are ideal for web use where scalability is also valued, ensuring the logo looks sharp on all screen sizes.
Raster files, like PNG and JPG, are built from a grid of pixels, making them best suited for on-screen applications like websites, email signatures, and social media posts. They cannot be scaled up without becoming blurry. PNG files support transparent backgrounds, which is ideal for placing a logo over images or on presentation slides. JPG files do not support transparency and are better for rectangular web graphics.
The Brand Style Guide
The brand style guide is the instruction manual for the visual identity, ensuring everyone who uses the logo does so consistently. It is a document that outlines the rules for how the brand’s assets should be applied. A basic guide provides the information needed to protect the brand’s integrity and maintain a unified look across all communications.
This guide establishes clear rules for logo usage, such as the required clear space around the logo to ensure it doesn’t get crowded. It also defines the minimum size at which the logo can be reproduced to maintain legibility. The guide will include visual examples of what not to do, such as stretching, altering colors, or rotating the logo.
A component of the style guide is the brand’s official color palette. It provides the exact color codes for every color used in the logo, ensuring consistency across different media. This includes HEX codes for web design, CMYK values for printed materials, and RGB values for on-screen displays.
The guide also specifies the typography, naming the official fonts for the brand. This includes the primary typeface used in the logo and a secondary typeface for body copy and other text. Providing the font names ensures all brand communications share a cohesive typographic voice.