Logo design for companies: a mark that works everywhere it appears

What does a logo design project include?#

A logo project delivers one mark, drawn and tested for the places it will appear, plus the versions and files that keep it consistent everywhere. Typography, palette, imagery and voice beyond the mark belong to brand identity work.

• A brief that ranks every place the logo will appear
• A few distinct territories, shown at real sizes in real places
• Refinement, responsive versions and final files for screens, print and apps
• A usage guide and a clearance pack for your trademark attorney

When is a logo project the right scope?#

Choose a logo project when the name is settled, the company knows who it serves, and what's missing is a mark that works everywhere: a company that launched with a placeholder, a new product line, or a team about to print or ship something permanent.

Other briefs fit another service. If you still need a position, typography, color and voice, start with brand creation, which includes the logo. With no name yet, brand naming comes first, because a mark is drawn for specific letters. If customers recognize your current logo and it only looks dated, a brand refresh keeps that recognition. If the business itself has changed, see rebranding. For a temporary mark to test an idea, a template or a freelancer costs less.

Wordmark, lettermark, symbol or combination mark?#

The type of mark follows from the name and from the smallest place the logo must work: a short, distinctive name can carry a wordmark, while a product that lives on phones needs a symbol that survives as an app icon.

How we design a logo: brief, territories, refinement, tests#

We design a logo in four stages, and you approve each one before the next starts. The brief ranks where the logo will appear, from the product interface and website header to invoices or signage, and records competitors' marks, what to avoid and who decides.

Territories are distinct directions, not variations of one idea, each shown from the first review where it will be seen: a browser tab, a home screen, a proposal cover. Refinement then settles curves, spacing, weight, color and the optical corrections small sizes need. We test the result at 16 pixels, in a circular avatar crop, under an app-icon mask and in one color over a photo. Trademark review runs before final approval, not after.

Responsive versions and the files you receive#

One logo becomes a set of versions, because a drawing that works on a sign carries too much detail for a browser tab. The usage guide gives each version a minimum size and clear space.

• Primary lockup, horizontal and stacked versions, and the symbol alone
• A simplified drawing for 16 to 48 pixels
• Full-color, one-color, black, white and reversed artwork
• SVG and PDF masters, editable sources and PNGs
• A favicon set, iOS and Android app icons and square social avatars

Platform rules shape these files. As of October 2026, Google Search's favicon guidelines ask for a square of at least 8 × 8 pixels, recommend more than 48 × 48 and don't list SVG among supported formats, so an SVG favicon ships with ICO and PNG versions. Apple specifies a 1024 × 1024 pixel app icon for iPhone, iPad and Mac, with default, dark, clear and tinted appearances, and advises against text unless it's essential. Android's adaptive icons use 108 × 108 dp layers, of which only the inner 66 × 66 dp is never clipped.

Our own mark ships as this kind of set: the three-shard symbol alone in an ICO at 16, 32 and 48 pixels, a 180-pixel Apple touch icon and 192, 512 and maskable web app icons, with the symbol and Dardo wordmark together in a 2400 × 1260 share image. To roll a new mark out, our brand launch checklist puts the touchpoints in order.

Trademark clearance before you approve a logo#

A logo can be original and still sit too close to a registered mark in your category, so clearance is a legal decision for a trademark attorney before you commit. We don't give legal opinions; we prepare what the attorney needs.

Logos are harder to search than names. The USPTO's Trademark Search system finds designs through six-digit design search codes for category, division and section (animals, then birds and bats, then eagles, in its own example) and, as of October 2026, can't search by image. WIPO's free Global Brand Database added AI image search in 2019. We run both on early directions to drop obvious conflicts.

The USPTO says a comprehensive clearance search covers its federal register, state registrations and unregistered common-law marks, and strongly encourages hiring a U.S.-licensed trademark attorney; companies domiciled outside the United States, including in Latin America, must use one. As of October 2026, its fee schedule lists USD 350 per class for an electronic base application, plus USD 200 per class when goods and services are described in free-form text. Attorney fees are extra.

Fonts in a wordmark: licenses and custom lettering#

A wordmark set in an existing typeface is only as safe as its license, so we check it before a font enters a territory. Fonts under the SIL Open Font License can be used in a logo without extra permission, and the logo doesn't fall under that license. Commercial licenses differ on logo use, trademark registration and whether your company needs a license of its own.

Outlining the letters lets the logo display without the font installed but doesn't change what the license allows, so the handover names each typeface, its license and who holds it. Custom lettering sidesteps most of this and makes the mark more distinctive, at the cost of more drawing time.

What moves the price of a logo design?#

There's no package price: a wordmark in a licensed typeface and a symbol drawn from scratch with a full app-icon set are different jobs. The estimate separates design and files, and lists font licenses and trademark filings on their own lines.

• The type of mark: an adapted typeface, custom lettering or a new symbol
• The number of territories and refinement rounds
• How many people approve the work
• Versions and applications: app icons, signage, packaging, motion
• The languages and scripts the mark sits beside

Our inquiry form's budget ranges start under USD 5,000, and the pricing page lists them all. A launch can add a pitch deck or website design as separate lines you can phase.

Questions before you choose#