When designing a logo is there a minimum size canvas that should be used to keep quality when it is enlarged or when reduced?
Obviously the dimensions of a canvas depend on the shape of the logo, but is there a sugested size?
asked Jan 17, 2012 at 12:34
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5 Answers
Typically a logo is designed in a vector program such as Illustrator, so it can be scaled to meet the various needs required by the customer. For instance, a logo will typically end up on:
- Business cards
- Letterhead / envelopes
- T-shirts
- Web headers / web pages
Since you're theoretically going to be designing in a format that can be scaled without loss (vector) the size you work with should be something you're comfortable with (remember if you put too much detail into your logo it's going to be lost when it's scaled down to fit on a business card).
If vector won't work for you (e.g., don't own Illustrator / don't want to learn another program / strictly prohibited by your religion) you should try and figure out where the logo is going to be used. If it's only going to be on a web site I'd try and figure out the largest iteration of the logo and work at that size. If it's going to be printed you should figure out where it's going to be printed (business card, t-shirt, mint tin, sticker, etc.) and again work at the largest physical size (i.e., x inches by y inches) at a minimum of 300 ppi.
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"Largest physical size at 300 ppi" could get extreme if it's going to be used on a billboard - what's wrong with just saying largest pixel size plus some extra room for error Jan 17, 2012 at 18:25
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billboard prints are set at around 50 ppi never 300ppi. hand held prints are 300ppi small 11x14 and 24x36 posters are printed around 250-300ppi but larger posters around 36x48 are set at 100-200ppi. this has nothing to do with file size but viewing distance. You just don't need a photo quality print that large for ad work. Museum or fine art prints are a different subject.– DanferthJan 17, 2012 at 23:28
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1Leviticus 19:19 "Keep my decrees. Do not mix different kinds of artwork. Do not design logos made from both vector and raster artwork, for those works profane the name of the lord Adobe." Aug 24, 2018 at 12:20
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Would add - bearing in mind the high and growing usage of mobile devices, you need to consider a suitable vector version of your logo or it is potentially going to look very poor at small scale on something like an iPhone / iPad with Retina. Majority of clients will want a web ready version of the logo and jpg / png don't cut it any more. I have been a graphic designer for 25+ yrs and we were taught to vector back then - all my logos are conceived with this in mind, work in black / white (as well as colour) and I provide an SVG file for web use. May 17, 2019 at 10:12
While you should be creating vector artwork which is scalable to any dimensions, it makes sense to create the logo in the order of a few inches/cm across.
This is just so that when you initially import it at 100% scale into a empty box on a page layout at 100% scale, it's not so big that you only see the white space from the logo's upper-left corner. You'll generally need to scale it up or down, or just auto-scale to fit the box, but this just avoids a potential second or two of confusion.
Variant logos are sometimes created for extra large or extra small applications, but this is fairly rare.
As others have mentioned logos should always be designed in vector format for scale-ability, embroidery, screens... you never know what the client will do with it latter. But I always use a standard letter size canvas horizontal to display the logo or variants for the customer. I find it a good size when they call and want a pdf sent over. It fits on the screen well and if they print it out they usually have letter size sheets in the printer so it's just easier on them. Customers are not as computer friendly as you may think sometimes so giving them something they don't have to think about make things go smoother. All preference though.
Its always recommended to create logo in vector program but You should definitely have a larger canvas size Like 90% the size of your screen WHEN 100% ZOOM NO MATTER which application you are using. OF COURSE you can increase the size of logo if you are using vector program like ILLUSTRATOR But when when you start designing logo, you work most of the time in shaping the object like adjusting anchor points, lines or Curves and in that process you also use your arrow keys to move the anchor points up and down So if you use a very small or very large canvas size then you will face some problem in adjusting those Anchor points of logo.
So I STRONGLY recommend you to use the canvas size of your logo according to your working screen(but keep it at-least 512px in width or height)
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I think you are saying that the larger you make your logo in the software, the more fine control you'd have with anchor points in relation to the overall scale. This is true...though not necessarily a direct correlation to the canvas size.– DA01Nov 22, 2015 at 17:54
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But it obvious that if you have canvas size 1024x1024px then you not gonna draw your LOGO just in 100x100px area or small area– RishabNov 22, 2015 at 17:57
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I wouldn't say that's obvious. It makes sense, but isn't always true. I often use huge canvases but actually make small illustrations...perhaps as a sketch board, or managing many multiple assets in one file.– DA01Nov 22, 2015 at 18:06
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well the question was about the canvas size of logo So I just answered on that logo basis. Otherwise the designing Industry is very big and each every one of us has its own way of working– RishabNov 22, 2015 at 18:14
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You should definitely use vector graphics for logos, not just because they scale to whatever size you want but also because you can change them later. Your customer might want it in a different colourscheme or in B&W or whatever and you can't efficiently do this unless you use vector graphics. While others recommend Illustrator or Corel Draw, I think Inkscape is far better and it's free: http://inkscape.org/
