Logo & Identity

Logo & Identity is the first standard section in every brand atlas. It contains the brand’s marks and the rules that hold them in place: lock-ups, clear space, minimum sizes, colour treatments, “don’t” examples, and the master file index. It is the section the team opens most often, and the section the brand owner edits least.

​

What lives here

Six block types make up a complete Logo & Identity section:

1. The primary mark. The canonical logo, in light and dark variants, with the SVG source and PNG exports at common sizes. The “this is the logo” block.
2. Lock-ups and variants. The primary mark in different orientations (horizontal, stacked, monogram), and any sub-brand or product-brand lock-ups that exist.
3. Clear space and minimum size. The exclusion zone around the mark and the smallest the mark can be reproduced at across print and screen. Specified visually and numerically.
4. Colour treatments. The mark on the brand’s primary colours, on white, on black, in single-colour, in greyscale. The “this is acceptable” matrix.
5. “Don’t” examples. The specific misuses to avoid: stretching, rotating, recolouring, putting on busy backgrounds, surrounding with effects. Specific, visual, named.
6. The master file index. A linked, downloadable list of every approved file: source SVG, EPS, PDF, PNG exports at standard sizes, favicons. Versioned and current.

A populated section typically takes one to two screens of scrolling. Beyond that, content is better placed in a Horizon.

​

Who edits this section

The brand owner. On Keeper and Guardian, Editors with Logo & Identity edit rights. MadeBy_ during an active maintenance retainer if access is granted. Team members do not edit. They raise Update Requests when something is missing or unclear (a new file format needed, a misuse seen in production, a clearer “don’t” example required).

​

What team members see

Team members see the section as a single scrollable canvas with the six block types. Every file is downloadable. Every value (clear space, minimum size, colour codes) is copyable. The section is searchable through the global search. For team members on Keeper and Guardian, a Raise Update Request button sits at the foot of the section.

​

How this section changes

Logo & Identity changes less than any other standard section. Most edits are additions:

• A new lock-up because the brand has acquired a new product line.
• A new file format because a vendor needs an EPS instead of a PDF.
• A new “don’t” example because a misuse has been seen and needs flagging.

Major changes (a wordmark redraw, a colour treatment overhaul) are brand evolution work; see Brand evolution and brand maintenance. Every edit is recorded in the section’s history with the editor, the date, and the diff. Brand owners can roll back a change at any time.

​

Common mistakes

Five mistakes show up repeatedly in Logo & Identity sections:

1. Missing the dark-mode variant. The light-on-dark version of the mark is omitted, which means it gets improvised whenever a dark background is needed. Include it from the start.
2. Clear space defined visually but not numerically. The team that prints onto packaging needs millimetres, not a diagram. Specify both.
3. “Don’t” examples that are too general. “Don’t stretch the logo” is not as useful as a specific image showing exactly the stretched version not to use. Make the example concrete.
4. A master file index that goes stale. Files change, vendors lose track. The index should be reviewed quarterly and dead links pruned.
5. No sub-brand rule when sub-brands exist. As soon as the team uses any sub-brand mark, there should be a documented lock-up. Otherwise, every sub-brand mark gets re-improvised.

​

Related pages