A logo is not a picture. It is a package of files plus an answer to the question of who is allowed to use them. If what you receive is a PNG, you did not buy a logo. You bought a photograph of one.
The difference surfaces when you print shop signage, put the mark on a three metre banner, or want to adjust it slightly next year. That is the moment it becomes clear who holds the vector source.
The files you should receive
| File | What it is for | Not having it means |
|---|---|---|
| Vector AI or EPS | The editable source | Any future change means redrawing |
| SVG | Web, no quality loss at any size | A blurry mark on sharp displays |
| Transparent PNG at several sizes | Site, social, email signature | A white rectangle behind the logo |
| Print PDF | The printer | Printed colour differs from what you approved |
| Single colour, black and white versions | Invoices, stamps, engraving, fax | The mark falls apart in half its uses |
| Usage guide | Clear space, permitted colours, banned uses | Every employee invents their own version |
That list is what we deliver, and the source file stays with the client. We write it here because it is the right question to put to any designer, not because it is some unusual privilege.
The question to ask before paying
"Does the source file belong to me or to you?"
The answer should be explicit and it should appear on the quote. If the designer keeps the source, every small change in future has to go through that one person, and that person sets the price. The model is not illegal, but you should know you bought it.
Two more questions that cost nothing now and a lot later: can I use this mark in a trademark filing, and has this design been sold to anyone else.
The twenty four pixel test
The simplest criterion we know, and there is no taste in it.
View the logo at twenty four pixels, the size it appears at in a browser tab. Then take the same mark, make it solid black, and print it on paper. If it is unrecognisable in either state, the logo has a problem, no matter how good it looked on a monitor.
Logos that fail this test usually share one trait: gradients and shadows. Precisely the things that impress in the first presentation and are the first to disappear in real use.
Three routes, and which one is yours
An AI logo generator. For a side project, a channel, or something you are not yet sure you will continue, it is enough and it is free or close to it.
Three things it does not give you, and you should know them: an editable vector output that genuinely belongs to you, any assurance the same design was not handed to ten other people, and sound typography in your own script. Letter joins, spacing and diacritics are what these tools tend to break, and if you do not read the language you will not see the breakage.
A freelancer. Right when you already know what you want and can write a precise brief. If your brief is "something elegant", the result is several rounds of revisions and ends up costing more than the third option.
A design team. Worth it when the logo is part of a visual identity rather than a standalone item: brand colours, typeface, and how it all behaves in packaging and social.
In our process a logo takes seven to fourteen working days, and that figure includes research, several initial concepts, two feedback rounds and final delivery. A full visual identity runs three to six weeks.
Anyone selling you a logo in twenty four hours has removed one of those stages, and it is usually the research. The result looks like three of your competitors, because everyone drew from the same pool of references.
And when you should not pay for a logo at all
A graphic studio does not usually write this down.
If your business has no revenue yet and you do not know precisely who you are selling to, a professional logo is not an investment. It is a delay. Set your brand name in a good typeface, pick a primary colour, and go and sell. Six months later, when you know who your customer is, you will write a better brief and the same budget will buy a better result.
We say this to people who approach us with small budgets, and we turn the project down. A logo built on a guess gets rebuilt the following year.
Common questions
Are free AI logo generators any use
To start with, yes. Before you commit to one, check two things: whether it gives you a genuine vector output rather than an image, and if the logo carries lettering, have someone who reads that script look at the letterforms.
What does a logo cost, and how many concepts should it come with
There is no fixed figure. It depends on the number of concepts, the depth of research, how many revision rounds are included and which formats you receive. We issue an itemised quote after a short free discovery call, and a number given without hearing your requirement has quietly dropped something from the delivery list. On concepts, expect three to five genuinely different directions rather than fifteen variations on one idea. If you receive twenty designs, the designer is handing the decision back to you, and that decision is the thing you were paying them to make.
How do I choose the colour
Start from the audience and the market, not from preference. The reasoning is in how colour shapes what people assume about a brand, where the criteria are more practical than the chief executive's favourite shade.
Where to go next
If you only want a logo and the budget is tight, freelance graphic design projects are the cheaper route, and you can still make that file list a condition.
If the logo is meant to be part of a complete identity, visual identity design with the source files handed over starts from research rather than from sketches. And if you are building a site at the same time, run the two together: a site built in step with the brand identity avoids redoing colour and typography at the next stage.
Sources
- The MDN SVG documentation for why the web version of a logo has to be vector
- The WCAG 2.2 minimum contrast criterion for checking the legibility of the single colour version
The stages and delivery list above are what our graphic design service page states, checked on 15 August 2026.
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