No longer do you only design a company logo for letterhead, some
shirts or other promotional items, and your website. When designing your logo
you must consider its many different uses, including multiple sizes, different shapes,
and possible color requirements.
The first and most important thing to be certain of when
creating your logo or having one created for you is to design it originally in
a vector format. Vector graphics, unlike raster graphics, are fully scalable up
or down and will meet any of your future design sizes and needs without
compromising the quality of the graphic. There are many different vector
formats, but one of the most popular for two dimensional graphics is AI or
Adobe Illustrator. We will go into more detail about the different types of
graphic files you will need in a future blog post.
For now, let’s think about all the different ways and places
you will use your logo so you can design a logo that is adaptable to all of
them. Following are some you may need along with specs currently in place as of
this writing for those that have a standard. We’ve used different variations of
our logo to show how it can be adapted to each scenario. Note that social media sites update their requirements often
(especially Facebook who has changed header requirements more often than some
people change socks). So be sure to check with specific sites for current specs
before you start designing.
Embroidery or screen
printing – most companies at some point want to use their logo on shirts,
hats, mugs, or other promotional items. You will need a black or grayscale version, a fully
white version, and a color version available depending on the specific company’s
requirements. Vector is almost always a requirement for a good logo quality.
You also may need versions with and without your tagline.
Websites –
remember to design your logo not only for your website, but for use on others
as well. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve placed logos on a website
for companies and they are frustrated with how their logo shows up next to the
competition. Keep that in mind when designing your logo! Most websites have no
more than 200-300 pixels wide of space when placing multiple logos – so be sure
whatever you design fits well in a small space. A logo with multiple words in a
long straight line won’t scale down well. You may also want to think of designing
a more stackable or square version of your logo.
Large scale printing
– think billboards, buses, banners, exhibit booths, etc. You want your name and
logo colors to stand out and catch the eye. Check out some posters and banners
we’ve created for our clients here.
Social media –
every site is different – here are some of the current most popular site requirements:
~Twitter
– You definitely need a sharp, legible 73 x 73 version of your logo for your Twitter
profile pic. You also have the option now of including a 1252 x 626 pixel
header or a background like ours,
which is 230 x 1238 pixels aligned to the left.
~Facebook
– Currently you need a 160 x 160 pixel logo and a cover photo that is 851 x 315
pixels like this.
~LinkedIn
– Your business LinkedIn page requires a 100 x 60 pixel logo and a 646 x 218
pixel cover photo – you can take a look at ours here.
So you can see just some of the many requirements you will have
for your logo. These will continue to change as social media sites change
requirements and you expand into other social media avenues. Your logo is often
the first thing customers and potential customers will see when they connect
with you, so be sure to stay on top of them so your business is always
represented in the best possible way at first sight.
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Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.
