In our previous episode, we looked at the four things that make for a good logo and why your logo doesn’t need to explain what you do, but who you are.
Today is a bit of a grab bag — a few more important questions in the logo design territory before we move on to the next important chapter.
Our first question: What are the different types of logos? Honestly, I’m not going to linger on this one. Some designers will tell you there are up to seventeen different types, but there aren’t. There are six.
Number one, a word mark, like the Google logo.
Number two, a letter mark, like IBM.
Number three, a pictorial mark, like Apple.
Number four, a combination mark, like Adidas.
Number five, an emblem, like the Starbucks logo.
Number six, an abstract mark, kind of like the Nike swoosh.
Each has a purpose, and each has a context where it thrives and where it fails. The real question is: Which type is actually right for your business?
In the short version, it depends entirely on your name, your industry, your ambitions, and a few more things.
Long names tend to want a letter mark or a symbol. New companies often need a combination mark to build recognition. A short, punchy name benefits from a word mark. But you don’t have to make this call yourself. This is exactly why you’re paying a professional designer to work it out. Trust them with it.
Let’s take a quick break from the show. Everything on BRAND:NEW comes from somewhere. This podcast is an extension of a book I’ve spent the last year writing. It’s called The Business Owner’s Guide to Branding: 150 Answers to the Questions You’re Actually Asking. Written for business owners, it’s a book that finally translates what goes on inside a brand designer’s head, so you know exactly what you’re paying for and why. Available soon on Amazon, in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle. Now, back to the show.
Next is a question I get asked constantly: Do I need a designer that specializes in my industry? No. Whether you’re selling pogo sticks or lunar landing gear, a good designer sees the same puzzle either way. Our own eclectic client list has covered toys, adventure tourism, hotels, medical science, construction, finance, legal — I could keep going; you get the point. What actually matters isn’t whether a designer has worked in your specific industry before, it’s whether they love the craft. They take pride in the outcome and care more about getting your brand right than about the invoice.
Now, for our next two questions, we come back to the comparison we’ve made a few times now in previous episodes: the difference between that Fiverr designer churning out template logos versus an actual professional.
Here are two more places where that gap really shows up.
How many logo concepts do I actually get? Every designer works differently, but here’s my process: one highly refined, strategic concept, visually applied across several touch points. I can hear you frown from here — that’s not a lot of choice for what I’m paying. Here’s the truth about designers who hand you 10 or 20 options instead: it’s not generosity, it’s lack of confidence. They’re quietly handing you the terrifying job of making the strategic call yourself. So if it all goes wrong later, it was technically your choice.
You see one refined logo in my presentation, and what you don’t see is the graveyard, the carnage. By the time I show a client anything, I’ve already built and killed 30 or 40 logo variations behind the scenes. I stress-tested them, scaled them, changed them, and ruthlessly tossed out the ones that just don’t hold up. Hand someone 20 options instead, and they don’t make a decision. They start playing Frankenstein. Can we take the icon from this one and the font from that one and the color from the third? And that’s not how you build a brand. You hired an expert to make the hard call. That’s exactly what you should get — the right answer, not a buffet of mediocrity.
The next question: How many revisions should I get? Let me tell you, nothing kills creativity quicker than the account handler walking in with a list of so-called client improvements to a logo that I’ve designed. Clients revise a brochure. Clients revise website copy. But clients should not be revising a logo design.
Most standard agreements will include two or three rounds of structured revisions. It’s a meaningful boundary supposed to ensure that feedback keeps the project moving without stalling into endless subjective tweaks. Trust me, after two or three rounds of client tweaks, you no longer have a professionally designed logo. You now have a logo designed by committee. You have white bread, no butter. Design tweaks are the paper cuts that kill creativity.
This next question is one that trips up more business owners than almost anything else: What file formats will I actually receive? Remember that fifty-dollar logo you got online? This is exactly where it falls apart. A cheap, crowdsourced designer hands you one file, usually a JPEG or a PNG, and that file is functionally useless the second you actually try to build your brand anywhere beyond a Word document.
When a professional designer hands you a completed logo, they don’t hand you a file, they hand you a logo system. I won’t walk you through every format here because it’s a lot and it’s very technical.
But here’s the short version: your website needs one thing, your printer needs another, your embroiderer needs something else entirely. A PNG cannot scale, a JPEG cannot be CMYK, neither can it be used for embroidery. What you need is a logo system consisting of at least 40 different files, half of which are vector-based.
Creating the various artwork files takes several days of careful, dedicated work. Your $50 logo fee doesn’t come close to covering those hours, and it says nothing about the equity a well-crafted mark can build over decades.
A cheap designer hands you one file and wishes you luck. A professional designer sees into the future and designs for every scenario before it ever comes up.
Quick one before we wrap: In Episode #6, we talked about the importance of a brand audit. So we’re opening up a brand audit slot for your business, or if you will, a referred friend, live in a future episode of BRAND:NEW. Real brand, real audit, real on-air results. Interested? Reach out — details are in the show notes.
In the next episode, we wade into the most essential part of your branding, of course, outside of your professionally designed logo.
That’s it for this episode of BRAND:NEW. Thank you for spending a few minutes with me. I don’t take your time for granted. If this helped you, share it with a business owner who needs it. And if you have 10 seconds, please leave a rating. It would really mean the world to me.
I’m Donovan. This has been BRAND:NEW. I’ll see you in the next episode.
WHICH TYPE OF LOGO IS RIGHT FOR ME?
A logo doesn’t need to explain what you do. It needs to tell people who you are. Once business owners accept that, the next question always follows close behind: which kind of logo actually fits my business? It’s one of the most practical questions I get asked, and it deserves a straight answer.
THE 6 ESSENTIAL TYPES OF LOGO DESIGNS
Some designers will tell you there are up to 17 different types of logo designs. There aren’t. There are six.
1. WORD MARK
A text-only logo. Focused on unique, precise typography.
2. LETTER MARK
A monogram logo is ideal for simplifying complex or long company names.
3. PICTORIAL MARK
An icon or graphic-based logo. Highly memorable and scalable.
4. COMBINATION MARK
The most popular type. Blends a pictorial mark with a wordmark.
5. EMBLEM
A classic, intricate look. Elements contained within a defined shape or shield.
6. ABSTRACT MARK
A conceptual, unique, non-representational shape that evokes a feeling.
Each one has a purpose, and each one has a context in which it thrives and another in which it fails. The real question isn’t which type is trendiest; it’s which type is right for your business. That depends entirely on your name, your industry, your ambitions, and a handful of other factors.
Long names tend to lean toward a letter mark or a symbol. New companies often need a combination mark to build recognition from scratch. A short, punchy name can carry a word mark on its own.
You don’t have to make this call yourself. This is exactly why you hire a professional designer: trust them to work it out.
There are six types of logos, and each one thrives in a different context. The real question is which type is right for your business.
Do I Need a Designer Who Specializes in My Industry?
No. Whether you’re selling pogo sticks or lunar landing gear, a good designer sees the same puzzle in both cases. Our own client list has covered toys, adventure tourism, hotels, medical science, construction, finance, and legal — and I could keep going.
What actually matters isn’t whether a designer has worked in your specific industry before; it’s whether they love the craft, take pride in the outcome, and care more about getting your brand right than about the invoice.
What actually matters isn’t whether a designer has worked in your specific industry before; it’s whether they love the craft and take pride in the outcome.
How Many Logo Concepts Should I Actually Get?
Every designer works differently, but here’s my process:
One highly refined, strategic concept, visually applied across several touchpoints.
I can hear you frowning already — that doesn’t sound like a lot of choices for what you’re paying.
Here’s the truth about designers who hand you 10 or 20 options instead: it isn’t generosity; it’s a lack of confidence. They’re quietly handing you the terrifying job of making the strategic call yourself, so that if it all goes wrong later, it was technically your choice.
You see one refined logo in my presentation. What you don’t see is the graveyard behind it. By the time I show a client anything, I’ve already built and killed 30 or 40 logo variations. I’ve stress-tested them, scaled them, changed them, and ruthlessly thrown out the ones that didn’t hold up.
Hand someone 20 options instead, and they won’t make a decision — they start playing Frankenstein. Can we take the icon from this one, the font from that one, and the color from a third? That’s not how you build a brand. You hired an expert to make the hard call. That’s exactly what you should get: the right answer, not a buffet of mediocrity.
Hand someone twenty options, and they don’t make a decision; they start playing Frankenstein.
How Many Revisions Should I Get?
Nothing kills creativity faster than an account handler walking in with a list of “client improvements” to a logo I’ve already designed. Clients revise a brochure. Clients revise website copy. Clients should not be revising a logo design.
Most standard agreements include two or three rounds of structured revisions. That boundary isn’t arbitrary — it’s there to keep feedback moving the project forward instead of stalling into endless subjective tweaks.
After two or three rounds of client-driven changes, you no longer have a professionally designed logo. You have a logo designed by committee. White bread, no butter. Every extra tweak is a paper cut, and enough paper cuts kill creativity outright.
After two or three rounds of client tweaks, you no longer have a professionally designed logo — you have white bread, no butter.
What File Formats Will I Actually Receive?
Remember that $50 logo you bought online? This is exactly where it falls apart. A cheap, crowdsourced designer hands you one file — usually a JPEG or a PNG — and that file becomes functionally useless the moment you try to build your brand anywhere beyond a Word document.
When a professional designer hands you a completed logo, they don’t hand you a file. They hand you a logo system. I won’t walk through every format — here, it’s technical—but here’s the short version: your website needs one thing, your printer needs another, and your embroiderer needs something else entirely. A PNG can’t scale. A JPEG can’t be CMYK. Neither can be used for embroidery.
What you actually need is a logo system of at least 40 different files, half of which are vector-based. Producing those files takes several days of careful, dedicated work — and a $50 fee doesn’t come close to covering those hours, let alone the equity a well-crafted mark can build over decades.
A cheap designer hands you one file and wishes you luck. A professional designer looks into the future and designs for every scenario before it ever arises.
A cheap designer hands you one file and wishes you luck. A professional designer looks into the future and designs for every scenario before it ever arises.
This piece is a companion to Episode 11 of BRAND:NEW — you can listen to the full conversation, including the audio version of this transcript, above.
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