4

So I have a client right now which is asking me to include a second logo on the website's header. I am no graphic designer but I feel this is so wrong.

The second logo is for one of the projects the company has.

Background. The company is into palm oil extraction and exportation. As of 2015 they need to be compliant with certain environmental guidelines and certifications. I guess this is why they want that second logo on the header, since the project is about Clean Energy Generation and is a big plus with stockholders and industry.

They are asking me to make a second header in which I am supposed to place both logos, and keep the actual image header below.

How can I make this work? This feels so wrong to me from a marketing and UX perspective.

site: acey desa.com (Just concatenate the parts of the url, I dont want it showing on google results)

EDIT I am including both logos. The first one is the company's logo and the second one is the logo of the Clean Energy Project. My question is if this is wrong. Wouldnt this confuse users?

Institutional Logo

Clean energy project logo

6
  • 1
    Can you show us the images of the two logos and how to combine them? At last the wish of customer rules ... BTW: Welcome to GD.SE!
    – Mensch
    Nov 29, 2014 at 23:32
  • We need to see the images/header you are talking about Nov 30, 2014 at 1:07
  • Hi Kurt and thank you. Hi Zach Saucier. The site is www.aceydesa.com. In there you can see the logo and header. It's a common institutional website. The logo that you see there is the company's logo. The other logo is for an internal project of the company. I will be adding both logos on my original post. Nov 30, 2014 at 6:26
  • @FerminArellano Thanks for providing the images. Could you also provide some insight, perhaps an example image, of the "second header in which I am supposed to place both logos, and keep the actual image header below" Nov 30, 2014 at 14:42
  • 1
    If any of the answers below is satisfactory, please tick the "accepted answer" tickmark next to it. Good for you, me, us.
    – benteh
    Aug 27, 2015 at 13:14

6 Answers 6

3

What's hard with these 2 logos is how they have the a similar shape.

What I often do for that kind of project where there's a primary logo and a secondary one is making sure the emphasis is added to the primary one, and then I put the second in a position to make it look more like a badge.

For these 2 logos that have a round shape, I think it helps a lot to modify the shape of the second smaller logo.

For example, adding the smaller logo on some kind of ribbon to destroy that kind of similarity with the 2 shapes:

If you ever need to add another logo, you can create another small ribbon or add it to the same one.

2 logos on a navigation with ribbon effect

Or changing the outside shape of the second logo to cut that roundness of the circle shape:

2 logos on navigation bar with diamond shape

1

In this situation you need to think from a user experience standpoint. I think that you need to gather some information for your bosses, show him how this would confuse website visitors. The to further stress your point show them how many secondary logos are often in the footer (things like Norton site security logo, that green safe shopping check mark and so on)

The user will definitely get confused as to what is going on with both logos up top and it hurts your brand and branding by doing this. I would really try to build a case against this to show them how this could make things weird. If all else fails just do what they want. But just know, as you obviously do, what they are suggesting is confusing and bad design.

0

i'd probably just enlarge the white search-menu bar on top by maybe 1,5-2 times its size and then place both logos overlapping both the bar and the photo by half of their size.

Both logos same visual size of course and on top left position. Of course that just works, if your client is ok with reducing the logo size.

Hope this helps. Sry for bad english.

1
  • By having both logos with the same size. Wouldnt this give a hierarchy problem? It's an institutional website, and my logic tells me that the institution's logo must be the one standing out on the website header. How can I include the second logo but in a second plane? Nov 30, 2014 at 6:35
0

Use their logo in the header and the second logo in a side bar with a link to the organization's site.

1
  • 2
    Can you please explain what you mean? What is the advantage of your answer?
    – Mensch
    Dec 1, 2014 at 0:18
0

When you use the client's logo in the header, visitor's instantly know who's site they have arrived at. By placing the second logo in a sidebar, visitor's can see that the site has a "sponsor" or "feature" and not confuse the that logo with your client's logo. Your client is primary even if they are a sponsored target.

For example (here http://www.smallbiz-marketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/small-business-website-temp.gif), place the second logo where it says "photo" and your client's visitors will know immediately whose site it is and the sponsor will feel that they are being treated well by being featured prominently.

0

I have had to place 4 standards groups and partner logos on all of a company's materials (printed and web). It was starting to make them look like a NASCAR jacket. I managed to convince them to put all the compliance/partner logos in the footer area of the web site. The argument I used (successfully) was that it diluted and weakened their branding.

Placing the logos in the footer also afforded the ability to link to an explanation of what the compliance was/who the partner was (either on an explanatory page on our site, or a link to the other company's site)

This also convinced them to use text instead of logos on their business cards.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.