Some people are physically repelled by the sight of blood. Their bodies just can’t handle it. They contort, wretch and lose the contents of their stomach. I get the same feeling when I see a pixelated logo inside a white box on a color background.
Few business owners zealously guard their logo against lazy print designers, nonchalant broadcast producers, over zealous receptionists or even their own clumsy PowerPoint skills, and the results are sickening.
Here are a few tips…
1. DON’T tell anyone to, “just grab the logo off our website.”
The logo on your website is low-resolution. That means that while it may look good on a monitor, it won’t when printed on a piece of paper. It will be grainy and the edges will look like the steps of the pyramids. Additionally, there are likely colors underneath and/or adjacent that will come along for the ride.
2. DON’T leave your logo in a white box.
This is often a symptom of pulling a logo from your website, but can also happen with a scanned version. The white around your logo exists as pixels. When you draw a rectangle around it, copy and paste it over a color, the white box remains. It takes a patient hand to erase the white, so lazy people leave it as is. This is both sloppy and embarrassing.
3. DON’T stretch your logo.
Imagine a picture of you printed on Silly Puddy. Think how your face would look if someone grabbed the sides and started pulling it apart. That’s the equivalent of what too many people do to logos. This is a favorite trick of administrative assistants and high school yearbook designers. They put the logo in the layout and then, “there’s too much blank space on the sides.” Next thing you know, your logo’s four times longer than God intended and once again, the edges look like something out of Giza.
4. DO get your logo as “vector.”
Vector files can be enlarged infinitely without diminishing quality. They can also be placed over color backgrounds without the accompanying white box. This should be the format in which your logo was originally created, most likely using Adobe Illustrator. Look for a file name extension of either .EPS or .AI. Be sure to request a vector version of your logo the moment the design is approved and keep it close at hand at all times.
There’s not much that fundamentally demonstrates your regard for your brand more than the way in which you allow your logo to be displayed. Make sure it’s an expression of pride and not a total car wreck.