Logo Design: What to know before you hire a designer.
As a brand and logo designer for small business, I have developed a set of standards that must be met when delivering finalized logos to my clients. Through my experience of designing branding from scratch to redesigning/revamping existing logos, I’ve come across many small business owners who were not provided with the right digital file types from their previous designers. In many instances, they aren’t the owner of their own branding and have little control when using their logo across all mediums, digital or print. I’ve gathered a few tips and details to look for and to ask of your designer, including musts and red flags. Read these tips below and determine if you’re all set with your branding or if you need to address these topics with your designer.
Your designer should provide ALL file types you’ll need, organized into a digital folder (whether an online storage application like Google Drive or Dropbox or on a flash drive). File types to look for are listed below from high priority to low priority:
Vector file. These files can be AI or EPS files. This is the master file that your logo was designed with. All file types, resolution qualities, variations and colors can be exported from these files. Even if you have no experience with working with vector formats, or if you never plan to open these files, it’s still important to have ownership of them.
Transparent background file(s). These are PNG files of your full and secondary logos that have transparent backgrounds. These are high detail files that you can use on your website, letterhead, print projects and more.
White or color background file(s). These can either be JPG or PNG files used for your social media profile pictures, digital marketing thumbnails, etc.
High resolution print files. These are PDF files that produce high quality printed materials. A PNG file may be efficient for a print job, which is why I have a PDF listed last. A high res PDF can also be pulled from the master vector file at any time.
Your designer should make you the owner of your logo folder or files. Upon delivery, ownership of your online storage file should be transferred to you to ensure that you are in control of storing it and having access to it. If this is not in practice, your logo files may disappear if your designer decides to delete them from their accounts. If your files are delivered via flash drive (which in my opinion is an antiquated way to deliver), you should upload them into additional storage areas, like your computer, an external hard drive, or online storage software.
These two details will give you the opportunity to display your logo anywhere. You’ll be able to send the correct files to printers, sign makers, graphic designers, website designers, and more.
Your designer should happily provide everything you need upon delivery of your final brand or logo design. Contact your designer for additional file types that you are missing. It should be a quick and easy task to export your requests. It is fair if your designer applies additional charges to provide you with different variations of your logo not originally discussed at the start of the project.
A few red flags to look out for when hiring a designer or inquiring about additional files are listed below.
🚩 Your designer cannot provide a vector file. This may mean they aren’t designing in the correct software. If they aren’t aware of vector files (AI or EPS) or supply you with an Adobe Photoshop file (PSD), they probably aren’t the right designer for you.
🚩 Your designer cannot freely change colors of your logo, especially the icon or graphic included, if applicable. This may indicate, again, that they are not using the proper software, or they are using ready-made clip art. This is not to say that your designer must apply any color you would like to your logo. It is up to their discretion on whether or not your requests follow your brand guidelines. However, for example, if you need your full color logo in all black, this should be easy to adjust.
🚩 Your designer is using clip art! Clip art is ready-made designs that can be purchased or downloaded for free online. This is a GIANT red flag. Not only are they not creating a completely unique or custom logo, but the clip art may have been used in dozens if not hundreds of other designs. Clip art usually depicts cartoon-style images, extremely detailed images, or gradient colors. If you are unsure about whether or not your logo design options are clip art, just ask!
🚩 Your designer is using mainstream online design tools, such as Canva, to create your logo. Tools like Canva are great for using your existing branding in flyers, brochures, social media posts, etc., but they should definitely not be used to design a final logo for reasons listed below.
· Your logo won’t be completely unique
· You can’t trademark a Canva-made logo
· You can’t export important or high-res file types
· You have to adhere to Canva’s licensing agreement
🚩Your designer is using mainstream fonts and typefaces in your logo design options. Fonts like Comic Sans, Curlz MT, Papyrus, Impact are usually built in to most operating systems and are overused and played out. Your designer should be applying creative and well-thought-out design to all aspects of your logo and branding.
After reading this blog, ask yourself; Do I own my logo? Do I have the right file types? Is my logo custom? If the answer is no to one or more of these questions, discuss with your designer or work with me for a free logo design audit consultation. After a consultation, I can assist in vectorizing your existing logo, updating it, or designing an entirely new brand for your business.
