The 3 Logo Variations Your Brand Needs

As a brand designer, I highly recommend that every small business have 3 different variations of their logo.

Why?

Well, think about it! Logos are placed on so many different marketing materials – business cards, websites, social media profiles, shirts, mugs, and the list could go on!

You definitely don’t want to have to stretch or warp your logo to get it to fit into a certain space or shape, so having different logo variations can help you make sure that your logo will always fit in wherever you need it to.

This can help your visual branding stay consistent across all of the platforms you use, which is so important!

It’s vital that all of your logo variations resemble one another and have a strong, consistent look. In this post, I’ll be using my own logo as an example to show exactly how I would use each variation. Let’s go!

Primary Logo

Your primary logo is – you guessed it! – your brand’s main logo. This should appear on your website, social media pages, business cards, etc.

Primary logos are typically stacked, meaning that they resemble a square shape. This is my primary logo.

Secondary Logo

Your secondary logo should be very similar to your primary logo, only in a different layout. While my primary logo is stacked, the secondary logo is horizontal. This would allow it to fit, for example, at the top of a print

As you may have noticed, I actually use my secondary logo on my website because it fits so nicely across the top.

Submarks

Submarks are very simplified versions of your logo. These typically don’t contain many (if any) words – like I said, very simplified! These little marks are handy for branding materials that you don’t necessarily want your whole logo on, such as social media posts or other images like Pinterest pins. I also use my submark as the profile picture of my brand’s Facebook page, since it’s circular and fits perfectly.

So, hopefully now you can see the benefits of having 3 different logo variations! It’s so important to make sure that you have a logo for every occasion to make sure that your visual branding stays consistent and strong.

If you don’t have a logo or consistent branding for your business and are interested in learning more about how I can help, you can find out more here!