A Designers Guide to Creating Logo Files

You’ve come up with a logo and your customers have agreed to the style. Excellent! Now , we can save and transmit the vector logo file , and you’re done? Not quite…

If you’re looking to get an excellent job it’s not easy. There’s more work to be done…

The logo will be used in many different ways. No matter how small or big, white or black printed or online. Whatever the case for you as an professional designer, you’ll need to take all the measures to make sure that your design looks professional in all situations.

You’ll need to transmit several different files, each with an individual purpose, so it’s essential to know which files you’re sending out and the reason for them.

There are two primary types in logo design documents that are Vector and Raster.

Vector Files

Vector files can be expanded to any size with out any degradation in quality. This is because it is built out of mathematically precise points.

It is possible to see how a shape is created in the image below, which is from the Design Tuts tutorial. Hand Lettering How to Vectorize the Letterforms of Your Choice (a helpful tutorial if you’re new to vector illustrations).

Vector files are what your customer needs to have anything professional printed or require design work to be completed by a designer other than your own like brochures leaflets, exhibition stand and pens, as well as vehicle printing and so on.

Except for SVG Vector files are intended to be used for printing, so they are supplied in CMYK color mode. CMYK is a shorthand for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black These are the four colours which compose the colors of an entire colour printed page. There are also specific inks that are utilized in certain instances for example, like Pantone that we’ll talk about in the following post.

If you had to choose just one type of file that is a vector one since it is able to be converted to any type of file, provided you have the appropriate software.

Vector file types come with extensions for files like .ai, .pdf, .eps or .svg

Full Colour (CMYK)

This is the file that your client needs for regular printing in 4 colours.

Pantone Colour

Pantone can be described as an widely-known color coding system utilized by graphic designers as well as print businesses.

The issue in CMYK is that from one print runs to prints, there may be slight color differences. This is due to the fact that 4 distinct inks are employed to make up the color. When using Pantone however, one ink is used for printing, which means the colors will be exactly regardless of the location where your designs are printed.

Single Colour (Black)

It is essential to provide the logo in a single color version. the logo. This will ensure that the logo you’ve created can be easily reproduced on items, whether embossed or laser cutting, signage or even within single-color documents.

You can read more about the uses and need for a black and white version of a logo in my blog post; Does the logo have to be able to function with black or white?

White

The white version that is the same logo comes in a single-colour version that is suitable for use on colored backgrounds or on dark images where contrast is required. When it comes to white logos, unfortunately it’s not just a matter changing the colour and saving the image. There’s much more to be completed.

If the black and white object is reversed, we see an irradiation effect which is when the white counterpart appears slightly bigger.

To combat this illusion It is important to lower the overall impact of your logo. You may also come across designs that you’re working on that do not look good when inverted, which is why it’s crucial to create a subtle variation of the design to ensure that it’s still effective.

As you can see below, the Premier League logo is a perfect example of the necessity of the use of a white-colored variant that is modified.

Raster Files

Raster files consist of pixels. That means that when you expand the dimensions of an image it’ll become bloated or appear blurry. (This is the reason why logo should be designed with vector format).

Raster files are designed to be used on computers, and are supplied in RGB color mode. RGB refers to Red green and blue These are the colours that make up the colors that you can see when you look at your monitor. The term “black” refers to the lack of light.

The file types of Raster are characterized by a file extension of .Jpeg and .PNG.

Logo Lockups

It’s true that your logo may be utilized in a variety of places. Each site will have a unique size and shape, which can result in issues with visibility and recognition in the event that the logo does not fit properly.

If, for instance, your logo is comprised of both symbols and typography it could have two layout options, for instance; an extended/thin variant with the symbol on just to the right and a different one with the symbol in the middle.

Here’s an example I created from my design of a logo for People Code..

If your logo contains the icon of your choice, then it could be used on its own.

The icon should never be used very sparsely, but only when your target customers are already familiar with the business name (For example, in an office’s exterior or as a website Favicon). Companies such as Nike, Starbucks and McDonalds have been able to eliminate the wordmark on their logos due to the ongoing public exposure to the worldat large, and their role in the world of popular culture.

Small-sized variations (optional)

If the logo you’ve chosen will be used in smaller sizes, it’s crucial to look into designing different versions of the logo for this reason if the design demands it.

This is evident in the following example which is a sample taken in Argento Wines brand guidelines.

This is an increasingly popular subject because of responsive web design, in which smaller screens are becoming more common However, the same principles are applicable to print as well. These blogs are worth a read on this subject: Responsive Logos, Part 1 and Part 2.

Logo Design Files: Quick Reference

Here’s a summary of the files I’ve sent:

Vector

Ai, PDF and EPS

• A full-color (CMYK) version
• A full-color Pantone version.
• A single-colour, black version
• A white version

SVG

• A full-color (RBG) version
• A single, black version
• A White version

Raster Files (in RGB)

Jpeg and PNG

• A full-color (RBG) version
• A single-colour, black version
• The transparent version is white (PNG only)

Logo Variants (optional)

• Lock-up versions
• Smaller sizes of the variants

While you cannot always determine how clients will utilize the logo By providing the logo in the format described above and a usage guideline, you’ve taken all the steps to ensure that the design is presented in the best possible way.

How to Quickly Package Logo Files

One of the most demanding jobs that logo designers must complete is the creation of logo file. If you intend to offer several lockups in a broad variety of formats for printing and web as described above, the task may require a couple of hours to finish.

However, there’s a new method of doing the job… What do you feel after 2 minutes?

logo package express is possibly the most effective Adobe Illustrator extension I’ve ever utilized as it speeds in the creation and transfer of various logo formats.

Instead of having to alter to export and modify the file one by one, Logo Package Express will take care of it all. It can also efficiently sort these files into groups that are meticulously labeled to make it simple for customers to identify precisely what they want. Absolutely amazing, and among the top investments you’ll make as an logo designer. Further more checkout