A logo is the smallest piece of a brand and the one people see most. It sits on a shop sign, a browser tab, an invoice and a phone screen, often at the size of a fingernail. This guide covers how to design one that is recognisable, works everywhere and belongs to the business that pays for it. The last section is for clients: what to ask a designer for.
Start with a brief
A good logo answers a brief, so write one before you draw anything. Keep it to one page:
- The business in one sentence. What it does and for whom.
- Three words for the personality. For example "calm, precise, local". These become the test for every idea.
- Where the logo will appear. A website, a van, embroidery on a uniform, a stamp on packaging. Each place has limits.
- The name and any tagline, spelled exactly, in every language it will be used in.
- What to avoid. Colours of a direct competitor, symbols the owner dislikes, anything with a meaning that travels badly.
If the client cannot answer these, the brief itself is the first deliverable.
Research the field
Collect the logos of the main competitors and lay them side by side. You will usually see a pattern: every dentist uses a tooth, every café a cup, and half the sector shares one shade of blue. It shows what customers expect and where there is room to stand out.
Search for marks that are close to your idea early. A logo that "reminds people of something" is a design problem, and one that resembles a registered trademark is a legal one. TMview, a free database run by the EU Intellectual Property Office with national offices, lets you search registered trademarks from many countries. A search there is a sensible first check.
Sketch before you open software
Use paper and a pen. Draw quickly and aim for many small ideas, thirty or more, each the size of a stamp. Small sketches show at once whether an idea reads at a glance.
Explore different routes. A logo can be a wordmark (the name in a set or custom typeface), a lettermark (initials), a symbol, or a combination of symbol and name. A long name often suits a symbol or initials for small spaces. A short, distinctive name can carry a wordmark on its own.
Keep it simple
Pick the two or three strongest sketches and build them digitally, in black on white only. If an idea needs colour, gradients or shadows to work, the shape is not strong enough yet.
The best simple marks still carry one clear idea: a letter that doubles as an object, a shape that hints at what the business does. One idea is enough. Two ideas compete.
Test it small, and test it everywhere
A logo has to survive at 16 pixels in a browser tab and on a large sign. Shrink each candidate and look at it from across the room.
Run these checks before you present anything:
- Small size. View it at 16, 24 and 32 pixels. Thin lines and small gaps close up first.
- One colour. It must work in solid black and in solid white on a dark background, for stamps, embroidery and cheap prints.
- Upside down and mirrored. This shows whether the shape is balanced and whether it accidentally forms another image.
- In context. Place it on a mock website header, a business card and a phone home screen.
Choose colour and type with purpose
Add colour only after the shape works. Choose a main colour and, at most, one or two supporting ones. Check that the logo still has enough contrast on both light and dark backgrounds, and give each colour its exact values: HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK and, when printing matters, a Pantone reference.
For type, either use a typeface whose licence allows logo use, or draw custom letters. Adjust the letter spacing by eye. If the brand works in several languages, check that the typeface covers every script you need, Greek included, before the client falls in love with it.
Deliver a complete set
A logo is finished when the client can use it without calling the designer. A complete delivery:
| File or item | What it is for |
|---|---|
| SVG masterVector, the source of every other file | Websites, and any size without loss of quality. |
| PDF or EPSVector for print | Printers, sign makers and packaging. |
| PNG on transparentA few fixed widths | Office documents, slides and social profiles. |
| VersionsFull colour, black, white, icon only | Dark and light backgrounds, small spaces. |
| Favicon setSVG icon, 32 px ICO, 180 px touch icon, 192 and 512 px PNG | Browser tabs, phone home screens and web app icons. |
| Usage sheetOne or two pages | Colours, typefaces, clear space, minimum size and what not to do. |
Agree in writing, before work starts, who owns the final logo and the rights to use it. The client should also receive the font names and licences, so the next designer can extend the brand.
What a client should ask for
- A written brief that you both agree on before design starts.
- Two or three routes shown in black first, then the chosen one in colour.
- Every idea shown at small size and on real mock-ups.
- A clear number of revision rounds for each stage.
- The full file set above, the usage sheet, and the transfer of rights in writing.
On Internetivo, a logo project is split into milestones that the client reviews and approves, so these stages map neatly onto a project: the brief and research, the concepts, then the final files. If you design logos for clients, Getting paid on Internetivo explains how each approved milestone is paid.
Common questions
- How many concepts should a designer show?
- Two or three strong, finished routes are more useful than ten rough ones. The designer should explain how each one answers the brief.
- Should a logo use a free font?
- It can, as long as the licence allows commercial and logo use. Check the licence text and keep a copy with the logo files.
- Why does the client need an SVG?
- SVG is a vector format, so it stays sharp at any size and is the source for every other file. Websites can use it directly.
- What is the smallest size to test?
- Test at 16 pixels, the size of a browser tab icon. If the logo is not recognisable there, make a simplified icon version for small spaces.
- Can a logo be completely unique?
- No one can promise that every shape is new. A clear brief, early searches and one strong idea make a logo distinctive and defensible.
Start with the brief. A logo that answers a clear question is far easier to design, and far easier to approve.