Free worksheet · English edition
A Logo Is a Decision
A grounded way to move from name and idea to an identity that can live.
For
Designers and founders making an identity
Language
English
Format
Editable worksheet + notes
Status
Free working edition
Working tool / 01
Give the mark a reason to exist.
An identity direction and review sheet to use alongside your sketches and source files.
01 / Meaning
Write the promise, context, and relevant associations. Record pronunciation or language questions for further review.
See an illustrative answer
A neighbourhood repair service wants to feel capable and approachable. This is an illustrative scenario.
ReviewAre you asking the logo to explain more than a mark can carry?
02 / Constraint
Choose a useful rule: proportion, rhythm, contrast, a join, or negative space. Explain its relationship to the idea.
See an illustrative answer
Explore two parts meeting at one shared edge, connected to the act of repair.
ReviewDoes the rule generate a coherent family of possibilities?
03 / Selection
Compare alternatives against the brief. Note where the chosen sketch is weaker, too.
See an illustrative answer
The joined shape is clear in one colour. Its narrow gap disappears at small sizes and needs adjustment.
ReviewCan you explain the choice without saying it feels premium?
04 / Use
Test real sizes and backgrounds. Include small icons, type pairing, monochrome, and Arabic composition when relevant.
See an illustrative answer
Check the actual profile icon, invoice header, storefront sign, and bilingual name lockup.
ReviewHave you tested the files in context, beyond the presentation slide?
05 / Handoff
List source files, export formats, spacing rules, font licences, and unresolved checks. Visual review does not establish legal clearance.
See an illustrative answer
Prepare editable source and SVG exports; document spacing; verify font rights; arrange appropriate name and mark clearance.
ReviewCan another person produce a consistent piece without asking you to recreate it?
Why this exists
A logo is a small visible decision carrying a much larger invisible one. The work is not to make a clever shape on demand. It is to understand the name, the promise, the context, and the behaviours the identity needs to support—then reduce until the mark can do its job without pretending to be the whole brand.
Notes behind the questions
Name before mark
Listen to the word. Its sound, rhythm, origin, and associations are raw material. Do not draw before you know what must be carried.
Choose the constraint
A strong identity often begins with one rule: a cut, a turn, a rhythm, a proportion, or a relationship. Constraint gives exploration a spine.
Reduce without sterilising
Remove what is merely illustrative. Keep the tension, the character, and the detail that makes the idea belong to this project.
Test the life around it
A mark has to survive a favicon, a title, a product surface, a small screen, a monochrome print, and the ordinary moments between campaigns.
This edition is intentionally small. The archive holds the longer thinking behind it.
Read the archive ↗Last updated 2026-09-07