So you bought a logo, now what?

So you bought a logo, now what?  In this post I plan to talk about the different files you may have received, the differences in file formats and some ideas about getting your branding out there but let’s first start with the difference between the JPG and PNG files you received. 

File Formats

One of the main differences between the JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and PNG (Portable Network Graphics) files you received is that the PNG files support a transparent background the JPG files do not.   This is important to know as you can see below in the example the PNG does not have a background (The checkerboard illustrates blank space).  When you open the PNG files in certain programs the background may be all black, checkerboard as you see in this example or white, it is a bit confusing but its an important difference between the two file formats.   

In addition to transparent background, the PNG files use lossless compression so they usually provide a better version of your logo.   At this point, you may be asking why we even provide JPG files?  That is an easy one, JPG files are almost universally accepted by websites and software around the world.  What we recommend is that you try first to use the PNG file and if the website or software you want to upload it to doesn’t take the PNG file then use the JPG.  Also, some software/websites may call for a JPEG file, this file is the same as JPG.  JPG and JPEG are the same file types they just use different extensions.  Early windows computer systems only allowed for a three-letter extension so JPEG was shortened to JPG and it stuck, most of the time.  You can actually change the end of your file name from .JPG to .JPEG and it will work just the same.

File Backup

Now that we have briefly discussed the differences in file types let’s discuss the first thing you should do with your files.  BACK THEM UP, BACK THEM UP, BACK THEM UP.  We only keep client files for six months, our auto-deleting archiving system clears out older customer files to make room – this means it’s a crapshoot if we have your files if it’s been longer than six months. Sometimes we have them sometimes we don’t and when we don’t, we feel really bad that we don’t and will try to work with the customer on recreating them cheaply but there is still a cost to it and it’s always more than the cost of backing up. What we recommend is…

• First download the files to your computer
• Then put them on a USB Thumb drive and put that thumb drive-in with the rest of your company’s paper files. 
• We highly recommend putting them in a cloud storage location such as Google Drive or Dropbox, both services have a free tier so there really is no excuse. 

As of writing this, Google Drive free tier allows for 15GB of storage and Dropbox allows for 2GB. 

Set up an account with one of those services, upload your files and now you have them in three locations, local computer, USB Thumb Drive, and the Cloud of your choice. 

Brand Launch

Next, I would like to talk about getting your brand out there.  If you have social media accounts tied to your business start with those, Facebook, Instagram, Etsy, Linkedin, Google/Google Maps, Pinterest all allow you to upload your logo to them and use them in different locations on their respective sites.  This is where the different versions of your logo come in handy.  If you purchased from our website then you already have all the different versions, if you purchased from Etsy and then depending on your choices you may only have one or two of the three. 

If you’re putting up your logo in a banner location we recommend the horizontal version, if it’s a profile picture you will want to see what looks best. Sometimes the circle looks best because of the way the website presents it, sometimes the square looks best.  It’s a bit of trial and error to see what you can get away with and what you like. Also, remember the transparency of the PNG, this sometimes helps and sometimes it hurts, if the background of the website clashes with your colors or causes parts to blend in with their background give the JPG a go and see what happens. It really is hard to say which version will work best as each website is different and they are ever-changing.   

Brand Colors

If you purchased more than one logo option from Etsy or from our website, within your files you will also get a file that says something like XX_colours.jpg.  When you open it there will be color swatches of each of the major colors in your logo and each of the swatches will have one or two numbers below them starting with a # sign. These numbers are what is called the HEX code for each of those colors and this will allow you to use those codes to customize your social media accounts a bit more.  For instance, they might allow you to change the background color from the standard white to something else and if this is your color pallet you may want to use the light grey in the far right.  If that is the case the website will probably ask you for the hex code and you will put in #E8E8E8 or E8E8E8 depending on the site.  You will notice the Red and middle gray have two hex codes, this is because they are gradients, and the gradients fade from one to the other.  You may be able to use that for a border or maybe you just want to use one of the two colors for a font or another element that you can customize.  Note if you purchased a single logo from Etsy and want the Colours file for the logo then please reach out and we will send it over to you. 

Brand Fonts

The last topic I want to touch on is Fonts.  We get a lot of questions about why we don’t give you the fonts we use with your logo and the reason we don’t is that legally we cannot, nor can any designer provide you with third party fonts.  While we cannot give you the fonts it doesn’t mean you can’t get them, this is why we provide you with the font information in the readme PDF. Most fonts we use are standard or free, however, some of the script fonts are paid fonts. We recommend downloading or purchasing these fonts as soon as you get your logo and putting them in the folder with your logo in all three of your backup locations. This way if something changes with the artist who created the fonts you already have them. 

Once you have them downloaded and backed up, you may want to install them.  Below are links to installing them on both Windows and Mac.

• How to install Font on Windows
• How to install Font on Mac/OS X