Versions and when to use them
| Version | Use it for | Avoid it for |
|---|---|---|
| Primary horizontal | Website header, letterhead, slide title pages, wide signs | Square spaces where it shrinks too far |
| Stacked | Social profiles, shirts, square signs, booth panels | Narrow headers |
| Mark only | Favicons, app icons, stickers, small embroidery | First contact with someone who doesn't know you yet |
| One color | Engraving, stamps, single-ink print, vinyl cut | Places where full color is available |
| Reversed | Dark backgrounds and photos with a calm area | Busy photos and mid-tone colors |
Clear space and smallest size
Clear space is the empty margin around the logo that nothing else may enter: no text, no photo edge, no other logo. We set it as a fraction of the mark's height, usually half, and call that unit x. Because it is tied to the mark, the rule works at any size without anyone measuring in inches.
The smallest size is the width below which details fill in or the descriptor stops being readable. We test each version on screen and in print and give a separate minimum for each, in pixels and in millimeters.
The misuse page
People rarely break logo rules on purpose. They stretch a logo to fill a box, tilt it to look lively, or drop it onto the nearest photo. A page of misuse examples stops more of that than any paragraph. Here is the format, drawn with a concept logo:
Your version uses your own logo and the mistakes your team actually makes. We find those in the material you send with the brief.
Partners and co-branding
Growing companies end up next to other logos: event sponsors, resellers, clients, a parent company after an acquisition. We add rules for lockups with partner logos, including the divider, the spacing and which logo leads in which context, so a partner can build a co-branded slide without a back-and-forth.
File kit
Every version comes as SVG, EPS and PDF for print and signs, and PNG at common sizes for slides and documents. Files follow one naming pattern, such as brand-primary-color.svg or brand-mark-reversed.png, so people pick the right one from a shared folder without opening five files.
Common questions
Our logo only exists as a low-resolution image. Can you still do this?
Yes. We redraw it as clean vector files first, keeping its shapes, then write the rules around the new files. The quote lists the redraw as its own item.
Who owns the files?
You do, once the job is paid. The written quote states the transfer, and you can hand the files to any vendor.