Happy Tuesday!
Last week, we broke down your Brand Guidelines — the colors and fonts that make up your visual system. This week, we're looking at another folder that might have had you scratching your head at first: your logo files. Plural.
Why you have more than one logo.
A single logo file can't stretch, squish, and shrink its way into every space it needs to fill. A business card has a different shape and layout compared to an Instagram story. A website header is a different shape than a social media profile picture. Your designer built a version for each of those spaces so your logo always fits. So please, please, PLEASE do not stretch, crop, or cram your logo in sideways.
Your horizontal logo is the wide version, built for spaces that are short and long:
- website headers
- email signatures
- the top of a slide deck
Your stacked or 1x1 logo is the taller, centered version, built for square or vertical spaces:
- social profile pictures
- the front of a printed flyer
- anywhere width is limited
Your icon (or submark) is the simplified, standalone mark — just the symbol, no name attached. This one's built for tiny spaces:
- app icons
- social profile pictures
- favicons
- a watermark in the corner of a photo
Your reversed logo is the light-colored version, made for dark backgrounds. Your standard logo on a black or dark blue background, for example, will usually just disappear. This version is contrast-appropriate to keep you visible.
When you're not sure which version to reach for, the shape of the space you're designing for is usually the answer.
