In this post you will find my 5-step process for planning a unique and effective logo suite that withstands the test of time. But first, let’s talk about what makes a logo suite in the first place.

SECTION ONE: WHAT IS IN A LOGO?

A logo is a visual emblem that represents a business’, organization’s, or even person’s brand. Your logo is oftentimes the first brand visual that audiences engage with, so it is good to think of you logo as your brand’s initial introduction to your audience. It doesn’t need to tell the ENTIRE story, but it does need to set a good foundation to grow from.

Your logos have tons of opportunities to share information about your business and evoke a desired emotion out of your viewer. These opportunities include:

1. Typography
2. Illustration
3. Composition
4. Color application
5. Copywriting

The construction of your logo suite–whether it be minimalistic and sophisticated or maximalist and whimsical–is guided by your brand’s strategic positioning. Your brand strategy MUST be completed before you begin planning for your logos. Without strategy in place, it is impossible to navigate the never-ending possibilities of what your logo could look like.

In the next two sections, we will break down how each of these opportunities can be harnessed to create a successful logo suite.

SECTION TWO: WHAT DOES A SUCCESSFUL LOGO SUITE LOOK LIKE IRL?

Successful logo suites all have a few common traits:

1. They are unique and memorable
2. They are clear about their purpose
3. They are logistically easy to use

Logo suites that are unsuccessful typically:

1. Are comprised only of trends or are easily confused with competitors logos
2. Have too much content or too many stories trying to fit all into one suite
3. Are logistically complicated to use

For example: This is the full logo suite for East Pass Coffee Co. located in Destin, Florida. The coffee shop uses the script logo often as the initial introduction to the brand, but has access to a full suite of logos that all do different jobs for the brand identity.

While your brand can survive with just one logo, successful logo suites are typically comprised of a handful of logos that all perform different jobs, but are cohesive in their messaging, styling, and goals. Each logo in the suite should support the other logos by reinforcing, and perhaps even expanding on, the messaging and personality of the brand.

SECTION THREE: AN ACTION PLAN FOR BRINGING YOUR LOGO SUITE TO LIFE

How do we create something that is clear, unique, memorable, and logistically sound all in one? The five step process below will help us achieve all of these characteristics, and will hopefully leave us with an irreplicable logo suite that will set our business up for success.

Step One: Determine the purpose of the logo suite

Step Two: Determine the level of illustrative design that will be used in the logo suite.

Step Three: Assign the roles each logo will play in your logo suite

Every logo suite that I create for my clients includes 5 logos. These logos perform different jobs within the logo suite. Some are more formal and easily used on things like legal documents, some are more playful and used for decorative embellishments, and some are educational: teaching the viewer about what to expect from the brand.

All logo suites must include:

1. The primary logo, which is ALWAYS the “best foot forward” that should set the tone for the rest of the brand identity.
   • The Directive: This logo’s job is to educate the viewer on the most essential information about the brand.
   • The content: This is *typically* (but not always) one of the larger logos in the suite because it usually include:
     • The full brand name (you do not need to include legal designations like LLC in your logo)
     • A tagline or some form of descriptive text
     • An illustrative element, whether integrated in the typography or a separate icon, IF the logo suite has any form of illustration in it.
     • Additional content might be:
       • the established date
       • the geographic region of services
       • an essential piece of education like the services offered, the name of the owner, or emotional descriptors if the brand needs more expounding in order for the viewer to understand.

Step Four: Establish the minimum content that must appear in each logo

Step Five: Identify design direction with a special focus on cohesion, rich symbolism, and creativity

SECTION FOUR: LOGO SUITE SAMPLES FOR INSPIRATION