A logo is the visual shorthand for a business. Done well, it works on a 16-pixel favicon and a six-foot van wrap. Done badly, it's the thing every staff member quietly wishes they could redo. The difference is rarely the designer's talent — it's almost always the brief and the deliverables list.
What a good logo brief contains
Keep this on one side of A4:
- What the business does, in one sentence. Plain. "We deliver kiln-dried firewood across Leinster" beats "Premium provider of solid-fuel heating solutions."
- Where the logo will appear. Web only? Or website plus van plus uniforms plus signage plus packaging? The answer changes how it must be designed.
- Three logos you admire and three you don't. Specific examples. Words like "modern" and "professional" mean too many things.
- Hard constraints. Existing colours you must keep. Existing name you must use. Existing typeface in printed matter. The constraints save the designer guessing.
- The budget. Don't withhold this — designers can scope to it. A €500 logo and a €5,000 identity are different products; both are legitimate; you decide which.
What you should actually receive
The file kit, not just the JPEG:
- Vector source files — SVG and AI/EPS. Editable. Yours to keep.
- PNG exports at the sizes you'll use (favicon 32px, social 1024px, print 300dpi).
- A monochrome version — black on white, white on black. Some uses (single-colour print, embroidery) can't take colour.
- A horizontal and a stacked lockup, if the name is long. You'll need both.
- A short usage note — minimum size, clear-space rules, what not to do (don't outline the logo, don't recolour, don't squash). One page is enough.
How to spot a logo that won't survive
- It only works in one colour. If the logo collapses without the gradient or the colour, it's an illustration, not an identity.
- It's unreadable at favicon size. Test at 32×32 pixels. If you can't see what it is, it'll be invisible in the browser tab forever.
- It uses three or more typefaces. Two is the practical limit. Three is a sign the designer didn't make a decision.
- It's a literal illustration of what you sell. A house for an estate agent, a tooth for a dentist. It's hard to differentiate; everyone in your category has one.
- The designer can't explain why each choice was made. Subjective taste is fine; arbitrary choices are not.
Reasonable budget bands in 2026
- €300–€800 — single-mark logo, minimal exploration, suitable for a side-business or a one-person trade.
- €1,200–€2,500 — proper identity kit: logo, secondary mark, palette, type pairing, file kit, short usage doc. Suitable for most established small businesses.
- €4,000+ — full brand system: identity, stationery suite, brand guidelines, application templates. Worth it when the brand will live on packaging, vehicles, signage, multiple touch-points.
None of these bands is "right." They reflect different scopes. Match the scope to where the brand actually lives.