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You should already know that “your brand is NOT just your logo”, especially if this isn’t your first time stopping by our site.
Your branding needs to stand out, be recognizable, and be remembered. That is of course, if you want your business to be successful – and I’m guessing you do.
But once you’ve done the brand messaging work and you know all the “whys” behind your business, it’s time to talk about the three logo types you’ll actually need to create for your business.
And because there can be so much confusion on this topic, we thought it warranted it’s very own blog post.
We will be going through your main logo, your alternate logo, and your submark logo.
So let’s dive right in.
I’m thinking this one will be the most self-explanatory of the bunch, but it’s clearly the most important.
Your main logo will be what you default to using about 80% of the time.
Or let me repeat that in a different way. You need to use your main logo 80% of the time on everything that you create.
I’m glad we’re clear on that!
This logo is also the very first logo you’ll create so you can build the rest of your logos (and brand collateral) based off of it.
We typically suggest creating your main logo in a more horizontal shape. That’s mainly because it will usually fit better at the top of your website and also look better on your business card.
That’s not to say that you can’t use a square or vertical-shaped logo for your main logo. We’re just suggesting that it will likely fit better if the shape is horizontal.
If there is one thing we’ve learned when it comes to branding, it’s that the rules never apply 100% of the time. We can merely make suggestions based on experience.
So before you move to worrying about your other logo options, make sure you’ve really nailed down that main logo!
An alternative logo is essentially a redesign of your main logo that has a different shape and will fit a different-sized space.
Your main logo might not fit nicely onto every type of brand material or marketing piece you create, so in comes your alternate logo to save the day!
The alternate logo still screams your brand and people will recognize it instantly. It will also looks way better than trying to squeeze your main logo into a place it doesn’t belong.
This is exactly why we recommend starting with creating your main logo first. Once you have that version nailed down, it’s then super easy to rearrange your business name to fit the different size.
If your main logo is more of horizontal share (as outlined above), you can easily move things around in your alternate logo to look more square.
We’ve taken an example below from our Instant Brand Blueprint to show you the difference in shape from the main logo to the alternate logo.
You can also see how easy it should be to reconfigure your main logo into your alternate logo.
Once your alt logo and is done and looking great, we can move onto the last step.
Now for the submark logo. This is sometimes the least used of the logo trio, but if you’re creating a brand from scratch why not do it and have it ready for when you need it?
I promise you that time will come.
The most important thing I want you to keep in mind with your submark logo is to make sure it’s legible at a distance.
Look up at all the tabs you have open in your browser right now and notice how easily recognizable they all are. If you’re using really small text. It’s going to be really hard for you to stand out amongst the crowd.
When it comes to your submark logo – less is definitely more. And don’t be afraid to even just use an icon instead of using any text!
And here are a few examples of where you might use a submark logo: social media icons, email signatures, your business card and many more.
Just think of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest etc. They offer you a small circular space for an icon that most logos don’t fit nicely into.
You may choose to have a photo of yourself or this can be the perfect spot for your submark!
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Now that we have that all cleared up, please know that I fully expect you to create all three.
Your main logo will always be the most challenging, but since you have to create that one anyway, there’s no reason to avoid the others.
You’ll also look way more professional and credible when you’re armed with a logo suite that you can perfectly use depending on the platform.
Basically, you’re welcome! 😉
If you learned anything today, we would love for you to let us know in the comments below!
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