Childminder

Which file format do you actually need?

A logo is not one file. Sign-writers, printers and social platforms each want something different, and handing a supplier the wrong one is the most common reason a new business ends up paying to have its logo redrawn.

• SVG — the vector master. Infinitely scalable, editable, and the only file a sign-writer or vehicle-wrap shop should be given. Keep it safe; everything else can be regenerated from it.
• Transparent PNG — for placing over photos, coloured headers and letterheads. Download at 1024px for print-adjacent use and 512px for web.
• Favicon (32px) — the browser-tab icon. If your mark is unreadable at this size, simplify it: this is the single best legibility test there is.
• Lawn sign and storefront artwork — supply the SVG and state your exact colours. Do not send a JPG; it will be traced by hand and the result will not match.

Using your logo on trucks and trailers, signage and workwear

The same mark behaves differently at different sizes, and the mockups above the grid show you exactly that before you commit. Check the favicon frame and the vehicle frame in particular — those are the two extremes.

• trucks and trailers — one clear mark plus your phone number reads at 30 metres; a detailed illustration does not. Give your wrapper the SVG.
• Lawn sign and storefront — check contrast against the actual fascia colour, not against white. The editor warns you when contrast drops below a readable ratio.
• Workwear — embroidery cannot reproduce fine detail or gradients. A bold, simple version of your mark stitches cleanly; a thin outline does not.
• Social profiles — square, centred, and legible in a 40px circle. The kit download includes correctly sized versions so you are not cropping by hand.

Naming and trade marks — the part most logo tools skip

A logo is not a trade mark, and choosing a name is a separate job from designing a mark for it. Business names are approved provincially or federally depending on how you incorporate, and a federal incorporation requires a NUANS name search. In Quebec, the OQLF also governs French-language use in commercial names and signage. None of these protect a logo — that is a separate trade mark application.

A logo you design here is yours to use commercially with no licence fee. Registering it as a trade mark is a separate application to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) (ised-isde.canada.ca/cipo), and it is worth doing before you invest in signage or vehicle livery — discovering a conflict afterwards is the expensive version.

• Check the name is free at your provincial registry or Corporations Canada before you commit to it.
• Search existing trade marks in your own class of goods or services — an identical name in an unrelated sector is often not a problem, in the same sector it usually is.
• A word mark (the name) and a figurative mark (the logo) are registered separately. Most small businesses start with the word mark.
• Keep your original SVG. If you ever need to prove first use, dated original artwork helps.