Designing a business logo can be somewhat tricky because it has to work on all of your printed media, from posters to letterheads to business cards. Very often, a business will adopt a logo with only a specific printed media in mind and forget to check the versatility of the design. Below are a few ways you can test the transferability of your logo.

1. Readable Font

If your logo will contain your company name or abbreviation, then the font you choose needs to be readable at any size. Try several different fonts to see if which one is easiest to read when your logo is only an inch in size and also when it is larger than life.

2. Simplicity

A complex design may work when printing brochures but not when printing postcards, nor will it reinforce the memorability of your logo. You don’t want clients to guess at the meaning of a puzzling design nor have to squint to see your business card logo. A simple design is a much better associative tool for helping your clients remember your company.

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3. Contrasting colors

Using colors with a high contrast will make your design easy to see and be usable in black and white too. Limit the amount of colors to only two or three at the most, since too many colors will be indecipherable at small sizes.

4. Appropriate message

A logo is supposed to be a symbol of your company that you can use to brand all of your business items. Therefore, the design you use needs to present an overall look and message that you want your company to project.

5. High Resolution

A logo needs to be saved in a high resolution so that it won’t be pixelated when enlarged. For most printed media, 300 DPI (dots per inch) is the standard resolution for images, but for large scale posters, your printing company may require a higher resolution, such as 800 DPI.

6. Multiple versions

Save your logo in different file formats so you can quickly grab your jpg, eps, or pdf version when needed. Save a color version and black and white version of each file type as well.

Even if you are hiring a professional designer to create your company logo, you will need to make sure your logo passes these tests, especially if you use a less experienced designer. It can’t hurt to just double check the transferrability of your logos to avoid extra costs in the future. You don’t want to be stuck with needing a new design when your logo that worked on your business cards can’t be upsized for your posters.