A logo does not scale without vectors

Logo delivery often ends with a PNG, and the problem surfaces months later: the sign maker wants vectors, the printer asks for Pantone, the web team needs a transparent background. The same mark needs different files in different media, and that need is part of the design.

A vector means the mark is defined by curves; enlarging it loses no resolution. The master file is therefore always a vector (.ai or .svg) and raster outputs are derived from it. The reverse is not possible: converting a PNG to vector means redrawing it.

Scale is not only about getting bigger. Legibility at small sizes is the real test for most logos: a favicon at 16 pixels, an app icon on a phone, a print on the barrel of a pen. Thin strokes close up, counters fill in. That is why guides state a minimum size and a simplified version is prepared for small use.

Colour has three separate worlds too: RGB for screens, CMYK for print, Pantone for spot colour. Accepting that they do not convert one-to-one, and specifying values for each, pre-empts the question of why 'our blue' came out different.

The minimum delivery package is this: the vector master, transparent PNGs, single-colour (black and white) versions, colour values and a minimum size. Collected in a guide, the brand can then be used correctly without its designer in the room.