Logo and visual identity - a mark that also works at a small size

When we design a logo

We design a logo when a business doesn't have one, or when its existing mark can't be used in the places where the business shows up today. We don't redo marks that work just for the sake of change.

Typical reasons why a mark needs fixing or redoing from scratch:

• it only exists as a JPG or PNG file, with no vector version (SVG, PDF), so it comes out blurry on a banner or a vehicle wrap

  These are two kinds of image files:

  • Raster is an image made of pixels, tiny coloured squares. Photos and most of the logo files businesses have on their computers are saved this way: JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP. The file has a fixed number of pixels. When you enlarge it, each pixel gets bigger, so the edges turn blurry or jagged.
  • Vector is an image saved as formulas: lines, curves, shapes and colours described mathematically. The formats are SVG, AI, EPS and PDF saved from a vector graphics program. The computer recalculates it at every size, so the same file is sharp on a business card, a website, a billboard and a vehicle wrap.

  In practice: a logo downloaded from an old website or emailed as logo.jpg looks fine on screen. When it has to be printed on a banner three metres wide, it comes out blurry. The printer then asks for a "vector file" or "outlines", and the business doesn't have one, because nobody ever handed it over.

• it becomes illegible at a small size, for example as a Facebook profile picture or a browser tab icon

  On Facebook, Instagram and your Google Business Profile, the logo appears as a small circle, and in a browser tab as an icon a few millimetres wide. At that size, a long name, thin lettering or fine details blur into a smudge. A good mark has a simplified version that stays recognisable even that small.

• it has four colours and a gradient, so it prints badly and costs more

  In print, every extra colour can raise the cost. A gradient, a smooth transition from one colour to another, can't be reproduced faithfully in many techniques: an embroidered T-shirt, a rubber stamp, an engraving or a vinyl wrap. A mark that works in one or two colours looks the same everywhere and costs less in every kind of production.

• it has no single-colour version and no version for dark backgrounds

  A logo ends up on all kinds of backgrounds: a white invoice, a dark photo on social media, a black T-shirt, a car window. Without a single-colour and a reversed version, for example white on a dark background, the mark disappears or has to sit in a white rectangle, which looks makeshift. The full set of versions is prepared once, as part of the design.

What you get

A visual identity is more than a logo file. The full set includes:

• The mark as vector files (SVG and PDF), plus raster files for everyday use
• Versions of the mark: full, simplified for small sizes, single-colour and for dark backgrounds
• A colour palette with values for screen and for print
• Typography: a heading typeface and a text typeface, with rules for using them
• A favicon and profile pictures cropped to each platform's requirements
• Usage rules: minimum size, clear space around the mark, what not to do

The rights to the mark belong to you

Once the project is paid for, the economic rights to the logo and visual identity pass to the client's business. You can use the mark without restriction, change it and apply to register it as a trademark.

The principle is the same as with the website and the domain: you don't rent your business assets from us. The terms of the rights transfer are set out in the contract signed before work begins.

How payment works

You pay for the build once, at the start. The monthly plan for ongoing care is optional, and its cost depends on what your business needs. These are two separate items and can't be confused on the invoice.

The one-off fee covers everything created at the start: the audit, strategy, a logo if you don't have one, the website or shop, SEO, AEO and GEO, and tidied-up social media profiles. The amount depends on the scope and is set after the audit, not taken from a ready-made price list. The highest quotes are for Shopify stores with a large number of products.

The monthly plan starts with hosting and maintenance alone. You add only what you really need: social media management, monthly content and, for a large shop, monitoring and technical on-call support. You know the cost of the plan when you get the project quote, so from the outset you know what it will cost over three years, not just at the start.

When you don't need a new logo

If you have a mark that works and that your customers already recognise, it's usually better to keep it and just put the files in order: add a vector version, a single-colour version and one for dark backgrounds. It costs less than a new design and doesn't throw away the recognition you've already built.

Common questions about logos and visual identity