A logo and brand are known as an identity. Think about that. It's a visual substitute for your presence, a mnemonic or memorable phrase in advertising and it is the most important graphic element you’ll invest in for your business. A great logo graphically tells your story, and can help to establish your brand image. It will appear online, in your ads, on your stationary, in your emails and, in fact, on virtually all of your advertising across many channels.

As a result, you’ll want to get different versions of your logo from your designer so that you're ready for any contingency. If you're an interior designer who wants to be viewed as serious, then it's critical to have a graphic designer create your logo. Let’s take a look at the most common formats you’ll likely encounter and which graphic formats you’ll need.

Vector VS Pixel Graphics

This is actually about the type of program used by your graphic designer to create your logo, which will then be converted into the other various formats. As a general rule, most designers work in Adobe Illustrator.  Illustrator is a vector-based program as opposed to a pixel-based program like Adobe Photoshop. Vector-based images can be sized without any loss of quality.  Pixel-based images lose focus as they’re made larger. 

Most likely, your final image will be delivered to you as an Adobe Illustrator EPS (encapsulated postscript) file. The upside is that your image can be easily made larger or smaller with no loss of quality. The downside, EPS images are not universal. They cannot be placed in Word or PowerPoint documents for example.

Here’s what you’ll need from your designer beyond your original Adobe Illustrator EPS file.

Logo Colors and Formats

There are two major areas to address with your designer. Color variations and file formats are often specific for different uses. Have your designer deliver a file of images in a variety of color and file formats.

Here are the ones you’re likely to need.

Color Variations

• Pantone Color – If you will be printing stationary of business cards on a traditional printing press, you’ll want a Pantone version.
• CMYK color – Use this for any four-color printing; color print ads or any color materials you’ll print on your desktop.
• RGB color - Use on your website and email. Get this in both GIF and JPEG formats.
• Grayscale – if your logo has and color shading or is more than one color you’ll need a grayscale for the newspaper, Yellow Pages, or any black and white laser prints.
• Black and White – for use on faxes and copies, B&W produces the best quality log

File Formats

• Original EPS file – This is your master file, and it can be used to create other formats as needed in the future. It’s also good to have if you make any changes to corporate colors, names or addresses if included. It’s also the most commonly requested format with commercial printers
•  PDF  – Unless you have graphics software, you’ll not be able to view most of your logos. PDF is for your use.
• Outline Original Format – This converts letters into shapes. Useful if the font you used is not available on the channel you’re working with.
• JPEG and GIF  - For use on the web, make sure GIF is on a transparent background.
• TIFF and 300 DPI (Grayscale and RGB) – Use TIFs in Word and PowerPoint files, some publications like the Yellow Pages may request grayscale TIFs.
Having a file with your logo in all of these various color variations and file formats will allow you to fill any identity request quickly.  It will also mean that you’ll never have to spend time or money having your logo redrawn or re-created down the road.

Lastly, when it comes to a logo and your brand, you would be wise not to cut corners. The recurrence of poorly crafted interior design logos seen on the web is both to frequent and disheartening. Mostly because interior design is a visual medium that encompasses so much more than slapping a couple complimentary colors together and making sure the divan matches the drapes. How often have we seen amateurs that think they know what interior designers do? Choosing a clip art design from the web or hiring your intern, nephew or a college student to "design out" your ideas is not the best way to demonstrate or convey your professionalism. Value the aptitude of your graphic designer and you will be well served by a timeless, flexible identity that represents you and your company well.  

About Michael Conway and Means-of-Production

My firm builds Squarespace websites, Houzz profiles, and content marketing and advertising solutions for architects, interior designers, design-build contractors and landscape design firms. Our all-in-one tactics attract the right clients with exceptional architectural photography and brand messaging that sets you apart from the competition. Want to talk? Schedule a time here.