From my last article, it’s clear that getting pictures from your designer at the end of a logo design project is not the right thing to do. But what should you be getting? That’s what we’ll talk about here. By the way, if you’ve not read my last article or you want to refresh before jumping into this one, you can read it here: https://thecrazybadass.medium.com/c2e9495198b4
Now down to the main thing. Which files should your designer give you when he’s done with a logo design project? Well they’re basic files he “must” give you and there are some that are optional depending on the needs of the project. Lemme explain this to you using my standard procedure.
When I finish logo design projects, I provide the client with (1) editable files and (2) picture files. What are these? Well, editable files are files a design can manipulate and edit. It’s like the raw file of the logo. With it, a designer can create mock-ups of your logo, make the logo bigger, change colors, print it, whatever. You could literally do anything you want to do with a logo once you have the editable files. This is the most important file I give my clients when I’m done and it comes in either of the following formats: Portable document format (.PDF) Adobe Illustrator format (.Ai) or Encapsulated Postscript format (.EPS). (NB: these files can only be manipulated or edited using design software like Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator)
I also provide them with picture files. This one needs no explaining. It’s just the logo in JPEG format and also PNG format so can use it for their basic needs like updating their social media profiles and stuff like that. This also includes black and white versions of the logo in both JPEG format and PNG format.
Optionally, depending on how big the project is, I also provide “A Logo Usage Guide”. This is a document that outlines every detail of the logo. It shows how it was made, the meaning behind it, fonts that were used, the exact colors used, etc. Things like that. Above all, this document shows the reader the way to or not to use the logo. So as the name says, it’s a usage guide.
So there you have it. This is what I provide on logo design projects and once it’s done, the client will have every file he needs to tackle every design need he’ll ever have. Even if he hires a new designer, the new designer will have the necessary files needed to do his job correctly. So you see, picture files are not all you need. Do you have a question? Please, let me know in the comments.
