People ask for a logo when they mean 'make us look like a real business'. Sometimes a logo does exactly that. Often it does half the job, because a logo is one mark and a business shows up in a dozen places: a board over the door, a visiting card, a Google profile, a WhatsApp catalogue, a box, a website. Each of those needs decisions the logo does not make for you.
A brand identity is the set of those decisions, written down. The mark, the colours, the typefaces, how a page or a board is laid out, how the business speaks. The test is simple. If a printer in another city could make your next banner without phoning you, you have an identity. If not, you have a logo.
What each one is
| Question | A logo | A brand identity |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | One mark, in the file formats a printer and a website need. | The mark, the colours, the typefaces, layouts, a voice and the rules for using them, written down. |
| Best for | A new or very small business that needs to start trading now. | A business that shows up in several places: shop, packaging, website, social, a team. |
| Main risk | Everything built later is guessed, so the look drifts. | It takes longer and asks you to decide more before you start. |
| Who can use it | You, mostly. Everyone else has to guess. | A printer, a web developer or a new hire, without phoning the designer. |
| Cost shape | Smaller and quicker, because it covers one thing. | Larger, because it covers many situations. |
| Can you grow into it? | Yes. A good logo can be the first part of an identity. | It already contains the logo. |
The vocabulary is looser than it should be. A logo suite is the mark in its different forms: horizontal, stacked, icon only, one colour. Brand guidelines are the written rules. An identity is the two together, plus the colours, type and layouts they govern.
Signs a logo is enough for now
- You are about to open and the name is settled. Waiting for a full identity can cost you the launch.
- You sell in one or two places, such as one shop and one Instagram page, and you are the one who makes every post and every bill.
- The budget is small and the idea is untested. Spend on the proof first and the system later.
- You will not hire anyone to produce material for you in the next year. A system exists to hand work to other people.
Signs you need an identity
- Your material already looks like it came from three different businesses: the board, the pamphlet and the website disagree.
- More than one person or supplier makes things for you, and each one invents the colours again.
- You are about to launch a website, packaging or a second location, and everything has to match on day one.
- You are raising prices or moving up the market. The look has to say what the price says.
- You compete on trust: a school, a clinic, a jeweller, an advisory firm. Consistency is part of what you sell.
The middle path
There is a sensible middle: a proper logo with a one-page guide. Two colours with their exact values, one typeface for headings and one for text, a rule for the clear space around the mark, and the full file set. It costs little more than a logo and saves most of the drift. Our guide to the logo files every business should own lists what to ask for, and what is in brand guidelines shows what a fuller system adds when you are ready.
Questions to ask before you buy either
- What exactly will I receive, as files? Ask for the list in writing: vector files, one-colour and reversed versions, a favicon, social profile sizes.
- Do I own the artwork at the end, including the source files? You should.
- Is the name safe to use? Check it before the logo is drawn. Our guide to trademark basics before a logo explains the search.
- Will the mark work small, in one colour, on a dark background and on a signboard read from across a lane? Try it with the logo in context tool.
- Who will use this after the project ends, and will they be able to without calling you?
When we are not the right choice
If you need something this week, the name is untested and the budget is very small, a freelancer or a careful do-it-yourself job from a good template is a fair start. Do it, trade for a while, and come back when the business knows what it is. We would rather you did that than paid for a system you are not ready to use.
We are the better choice when several things have to match and someone has to decide how: the identity, the website and the launch material. That is the work of brand identity. If you are not sure where you stand, the brand health check takes a few minutes, and the free brand audit gives you a person's answer.
A ten minute way to decide
- Write down every place a customer meets your business. If it is two or three, start with a logo and a one-page guide.
- Circle the ones someone other than you will make. Each circled place is a reason for an identity.
- Look at what you have today, side by side, on one table. If it already looks like three businesses, an identity will pay for itself in fewer mistakes.
- Decide the next twelve months. Launching more, hiring or raising prices points to an identity. Standing still points to a logo.
