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Ok, I'm designing a logo that has another logo in it. The reason I have the "extra" logo is because my product promotes the use of another product, let's call it the "master product" for now.

So for legitimation reasons I'm including the master product's logo into my own logo.

What I've tried to do is to "tone down" the master product's logo by making it small and gray, while trying to allow my logotype and mark stand out by color, size and contrast.

I know this is a very weird case and most designers may see this as an incorrect and/or weird approach, but I urge you to be open minded and try to understand the circumstances of my product.

I've made several variations and I would like your opinion on them:

enter image description here

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I would double check you're not potentially misusing/misrepresenting Codepen by using their logo in these orientations. Most companies outline logo orientation and usage in their respective brand guidelines.

Aesthetically your logo is in pretty good shape. Unique logo mark, good color contrast, simple shapes, large readable text, etc. Objectively the logos are in rough shape though. Unfortunately the placement of the (apparently inseparable) Codepen logo makes me think this is a Codepen product, sponsor, or subsidiary. As if they literally own a piece of your product. I would opt for a smaller tag line with their logo like "powered by" or "partnered with" somewhere below your logo more like an accent or subtext. Lookup company partnership logos and/or partner driven ads for inspiration.

There needs to be more separation between the two logos or your product will perpetually be dependent and associated beneath the better known, better understood brand (Codepen).

Hope this helps!

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  • CodePen does not have any guidelines about the use of their logo which would restrict the designs I've made. This has been cleared with them anyhow. Yes, CodePen is inseparable, our name is CodePen Dayton and having their brand mixed with ours is pretty much required. I don't feel I can just add "CodePen" in a whatever font, it would dilute their brand and ours the way I see it. I like the "powered by" and "partnered with", the thing is that our name is "CodePen Dayton". …
    – Ricardo Zea
    Commented Aug 18, 2016 at 13:11
  • …And yes, our product is dependent on CodePen 100%. I think you made me realize that what I did is in the right track. Thank you for your feedback! :)
    – Ricardo Zea
    Commented Aug 18, 2016 at 13:11
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    Awesome! No problem. @RicardoZea
    – sojmoore
    Commented Aug 18, 2016 at 13:36

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