You are here: DIME Home > Marketing > Keeping Printability in Mind with Your Logo

Keeping Printability in Mind with Your Logo

When designing your company logo, printability of your logo is incredibly important. Here are five keys for developing a logo that will print well with all applications.

Author: Lee Eldridge
Date: Dec 30, 2010 - 2:12:57 PM

Printer friendly page

I have been involved in the design world and the printing industry for more than 20 years. I owned a small graphic design firm, and now own a promotional products company. I've been responsible for printing thousands of logos on countless different products. There are many important elements to consider when designing a logo -- such as colors, style and your target audience. But too often, designers fail to consider one of the most important elements of a good logo -- printability.

1 - Layout
When designing a logo, consider creating a horizontal and a vertical version of your logo. If your logo is tall, it will not print well on a pen. And if it's too wide, it will never print well on a stress ball. By creating two versions of your logo (with the same basic elements), you open up endless possibilities for utilization of your logo. You may be surprised at how often you utilize your secondary layout of your company logo.

2 - Color vs Black & White
Every logo needs to look good if it's printed in one color. Convert your logo to black. Does it still look good? Full color logos may be beautiful on your website, but are not always practical for printing. What happens when you put it on your fax cover sheet? What about in a B&W ad in the phone book?

3 - Size
There will be times where you'll need to print your logo small. Is your logo still readable if it's only 1" wide? Smaller? Print your logo at various sizes and make sure that it's still readable and looks great at every size. This is another reason to create horizontal and vertical versions of your logo. Sometimes one of the two formats may work considerably better at smaller sizes. If your logo is unreadable when it's small, you've got a problem.

4 - Shades
A shade or a screen of a color presents certain challenges when imprinting your logo. Let's say your logo is in blue, and the designer has used several shades of the blue in the logo. Shades are printed by imprinting "dots" and leaving some of the background between the dots. The darker the shade, the more dense the printing of the dots. The easiest example is to think of a B&W photo in a newspaper where you can really see the dots. Well what happens if you want to order a blue coffee mug with your logo on it? You'll probably want to print your logo in white. Well then what are you going to do with the screens of blue? I would certainly suggest that you have a version of your logo where only solid colors are utilized, preferably giving yourself an option to print a one color version of your logo without screens.

5 - Simplicity
Complex logos may be "cool", but can often become a printing nightmare. Sometimes a simple logo can be more striking and memorable than a complex logo. And if you create a logo keeping in mind all of the elements we've discussed today, I bet you've already ended up with a logo that's not too complex to print well.

Your logo is important, and is often a first impression with a new client. Sometimes the most important ability for your new logo is printability. Good luck and happy marketing.

Lee Eldridge has been involved in marketing for more than 20 years. He's the co-owner of the promotional products company Snap Promotions out of the Kansas City area. As a custom marketing products specialist Eldridge is known as an innovative leader within the promotional products industry. Lee writes for his company's blog as well as Love Promos.

View all articles by Lee Eldridge

Link to this article:

Code to copy: <a href="http://www.dime-co.com/marketing/Keeping-Printability-in-Mind-with-Your-Logo.shtml">Keeping Printability in Mind with Your Logo</a>

A Rookies Business Guide to Crisis Communications

Jun 29, 2011 - 4:41:34 PM

Many companies make income and customer growth their primary challenges throughout their early days of trading. Even though naturally such components are vital, especially when the economic climate is observing even well established firms failing, there are other crucial aspects of the business universe which it would be naive to circumvent employing.... [Read the full story]

Choosing Trade Show Displays That Grab Your Attention

Jun 25, 2011 - 11:04:41 PM

When your business is involved in a trade show, you need to make sure your brand is properly represented. An ordinary booth isn't going to cut it because there will be other vendors who are your competitors with a custom display and extraordinary trade show booths. If you want your brand to stand out, then you are going to need to know how to get the right look and make some choices in your display so that everyone will know who you are as they pass by.... [Read the full story]

Make the Initial Exposure of Your Postcards Count

Jun 22, 2011 - 3:56:02 AM

All postcards, be it for marketing or for personal communication have five seconds to convince readers that they are worth reading. This is a crucial concept in postcard printing since ignoring those initial five seconds means increasing the rates of failure for those color postcards. In this guide, I am going to teach you how to make those first five seconds count for your postcard printing. Just follow the key design strategies below to make this happen for your own color postcards.... [Read the full story]

How to Avoid Disasters in Your Catalog Printing

Jun 19, 2011 - 1:35:06 AM

Catalogs are very effective sales and marketing tools. Produced properly and used efficiently these powerhouse printed materials can really bring in a sold-out status to companies. However, if it is your first time to undergo catalog printing, you will realize that it is not as easy as lumping a rundown of your products in the catalog.... [Read the full story]

Newest Articles in Popular Topics:

Business & Marketing

Computers & the Internet

Entertainment

Health & Fitness

Finding Ways To Save Money And Maximize Revenue In Business

Cooper's Golf Park Tees Off Their New Website

Fiinovation Adjudged CSR Team of the Year & Caring Company at World CSR Day

Reasons Why Kale Realty is the Best Real Estate Firm in All of Chicago

Montreal Tech Startup Kangaroo Rewards Launches Mobile Loyalty Program for Local Merchants

It is time we break out of the SEO Shelter

3 Strong Reasons You Should Start Your Own Blog

Evolve Your Career With CompTIA A+ Certification Exam

High speed VMware Backups - Powered by UltraBlaze(�) from Vembu

Things to Consider When Selecting a Domain Name for Your Website

Fling Boom "Launches" This Holiday Season

Beautiful Abstract Canvas Art is Up for Grabs

Buying Art as a Gift: Tips From an Expert

Complete Guide to the 2014 Gatlinburg Fine Arts Festival Released by Jackson Mountain Homes

Learn Blues Music Online-Alternative to Traditional Piano Lessons

Causes and Treatment of Acne

What Type Of Constipation Home Remedies Are There?

Manual Wheelchairs: Buying One

Instant Facelift with Dental Implants

Lasik Surgery Leading Correction Of Vision Issues

Home & Family

Shopping

Sports

Travel

Enhance Your Learning Experience Through Best Responsive Elearning Development Tools

Best Apps for Learning German

Esvees is Cranbourne's Elite Hair Dressing Company

Ozone Generator

Practical Tips When Choosing Gates and Gate Openers for Your Home or Business

Why Cases are Required for Mobile Phones?

Are Dealership Services Worth It?

2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Named Must-Shop SUV for Towing from AutoTrader.com

Online Selling With An Appraisal Advantage

Macsome AudioBook Converter released New Version V2.0.4

Aditi Ashok signs off with a double

Softball Coaching: Avoid Becoming A Nattering Nabob of Negativity

Softball Coaching Tips - The Funnel Approach

Pick Up Specialized Advice on Jumping Exercises Which Are Highly Effective

Vertical Jump Training Tactics to Increase Your Athletic Performance

Tips for Choosing the Right Paris Short Lets

Hostels - the best choice for working womens and college students

Perfect holiday? Book a cruise and sail in Croatia!

Say Aloha to Your Best Vacation Ever with Kohala Coast Properties

The Perfect Guide for a Fantastic Family Trip to Kansas City

Search for articles:

Follow & Share Your Favorite Video Articles

Tell a Friend About This Site

Tweet about this site

Follow @dimeco

Subscribe to the eMarket Smarts^TM Newsletter in order to keep up to date with what's happening with dime-co.com, get the emails on new video articles, featured articles, and more. Your privacy is always protected. We never rent, sell or trade your private information

Recommended Associates

Latest Articles in All Categories

Putting Up a Small Commercial Printing Business

So You Might Be Unemployed And Desire To Become A San Francisco Real Estate Investor Now

Meditation and Mindfulness: Dealing With Emotion

CPA Websites: Five Essential Ideas for Composing Convincing Articles

Set Goals In Order to Come Up With Your Action Plan

Is the Air in Your Home Safe to Breathe?

Coarse Fishing Tackle Review: The JW Young 13ft Trotter Rod

Section 1031 Exchanges For San Diego Real Estate Investors

Phoenix Real Estate Investing For Highest Possible Earnings

Legendary are the Volk Racing TE37 Wheels

Developing the Next Generation Wall Station (ChaseDesk™) for Healthcare - A Case Study

What are step down transformers?

Introducing Sharehype, the Revolutionary Tool for Online Marketers

Rewards To Shopping For Austin Real Estate On The Web

Hydroponics for Beginners

Do you write?

Would you like submit your articles and have them approved on a priority status? Find out more about how you can become a Priority author for pennies a day! Click here.