Author Topic: company logos  (Read 1399 times)

company logos
« on: 17 June, 2019, 10:45:53 pm »
Not sure if this should be here or in Ctrl-Alt-Del?

My one man business has survived 5 years using a home made logo using MS Paint but I'm steering into a world where I can see that I start to need higher-res and better thought out identity.  I'm sure a quick chat with a marketing/design agency would put me straight but I need to have the right vocabulary to ask for what I need.  I'm happy with my own simple design as it's not a consumer brand (indeed most sales are through personal contacts) but it needs a tidy up and to be made more usable (e.g. different colour background for circumstances other that going on white paper).  For example I might for example want to have the company ID printed on workwear/PPE.  It's also about time I had a banner stand made up for when I do public events (or possibly sponsor one). We've also just been part of a team that has won an award and I've been asked to provide a "high res logo of your company".

Anyone on here do this sort of thing for a living and fancy dropping me a DM on the subject, or can otherwise steer me in the right direction?

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: company logos
« Reply #1 on: 17 June, 2019, 11:53:28 pm »
Some thoughts...

If you are happy with what you have, get it converted to a (recreated as a) vector file by a local designer.
If you aren’t happy with what you have, put some ideas down about what you want the logo to mean/show and approach a local designer to create one for you.

It should be usable in print, black and white and web. And if it uses weird fonts you will need them rasterised so that the file can be used without needing the weird fonts installed.

Read up on the difference between vector and bitmap, and how the term ‘high resolution’ can be quite misleading. A vector file will be scalable infinitely, a high resolution file, not so much...

Someone more knowledgeable will come along soon!
It is simpler than it looks.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: company logos
« Reply #2 on: 17 June, 2019, 11:54:56 pm »
A common problem, caused by people not learning the difference between bitmap[1] and vector[2] graphics *before* designing a logo using the wrong sort of tool.

If you're happy with your existing design, and don't mind a bit of fiddling about, you could do worse than install a copy of Inkscape and trace over your existing design to create a vector version.  From there you can create a bitmap of any desired resolution, or save the vector image in a standard format like SVG or EPS.  The nature of a vector image means the individual components (lines, curves, areas, text, etc.) retain their characteristics, so you can easily go back and change their colour, size, move them around, etc.

It shouldn't be too hard to find a designer who can do this for you.  It must come up all the time.


ETA: Crosspost with Jaded.


[1] An image represented as a grid of pixels, each having a different colour.  If you render it too large, the individual pixels become obvious.
[2] An image represented as a series of lines and angles.  It can be scaled to any size without creating 'jaggies'.

ian

Re: company logos
« Reply #3 on: 18 June, 2019, 09:44:38 am »
Logos should be vector (generally eps/pdf, svg, or a native .ai file) and not jpegs, bitmaps, pngs etc. They can be made transparent and printed on any background. If you must use colour, do so with care – colours change depending on reproduction and that wonderful shade of bronze you've selected on-screen turns out to be steaming turd brown on the 10,000 letterheads you've had printed. You should – if you have colour – have a black and white alternative. Consider whether you need an inverted version of each for printing on dark backgrounds. Convert any fonts in the final versions to paths (avoid rasterizing them). Ensure your logo is scalable, so print it small, and print it big and check everything remains in proportion, particularly lines and strokes. Also proof anything with the logo on it.

Most print shops these days offer design advice and consultancy. I wouldn't recommend tracing, a logo should be simple and quick to draw from scratch and will look tidier. Never try to be too clever with logos, they should be simple and professional.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: company logos
« Reply #4 on: 18 June, 2019, 10:11:33 am »
Oops, yes, paths rather than rasterising.
It is simpler than it looks.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: company logos
« Reply #5 on: 18 June, 2019, 10:16:53 am »
I did some wetweb work ~10 years back for a chum's new business. He'd had the logo designed by a pro.  When I asked her for it as a transparent-background PNG she gave me a bollocking: "the background is part of the logo, which is registered as a trademark. If you knew anything about your business rant rant rant...".  So the resulting web pages had the logo on a big white rectangle against the asked-for "metallic" background and looked crummy.

Just sayin'... if you want your logo to be registered as a trademark be sure to think through all the versions you're going to need, backgrounds and all.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: company logos
« Reply #6 on: 18 June, 2019, 11:16:36 am »
Thanks all - some very useful advice in there.

Fortunately, my logo (having originally been home made) is dead simple so should be easy for someone talented to swiftly recreate in the desired formats.  I'll look up a local resource and get a price.

C

Phil W

Re: company logos
« Reply #7 on: 18 June, 2019, 11:24:29 am »
Second trying Inkscape if the bitmap is not too complex.  It has a menu option path --> trace bitmap to convert to vector format.  I have mine set to do 8 scans.

ian

Re: company logos
« Reply #8 on: 18 June, 2019, 11:31:03 am »
You don't have to trademark a logo, it's protected by actual use, though you can register it. I'm not sure why the background of any logo would have an import, unless it's a key component of the logo and its recognizability. That's the point of a logo, after all, that it's recognized. You don't need to read the words Coca-Cola to know it's Coca-Cola.

Re: company logos
« Reply #9 on: 25 June, 2019, 07:28:00 pm »
I know someone who does it professionally, and very very good, but they're not in the UK...
At the risk of stating the bleedin' obvs, shirley in this day and age, they don't need to be in the UK.
I employ someone to churn out survey reports for my client.
Sometimes he does this in Walthamstow, sometimes he does this from somewhere in Sweden.
There's no perceptible difference in the service he delivers.