So you need to create a grid of logos for a brochure or website. And of course your client sends you a bunch of low-res jpegs. What do you do?
This is one of the tasks that quite literally gives me nightmares because it’s tedious, frustrating and absolutely soul crushing when you can’t find what you’re looking for. My biggest issue is that I refuse to just grab a low-resolution png file from a Google search, I always use a high-quality vector version of the logo whenever possible.
Thankfully I’ve figured out a few dead simple methods to track down good quality vector logos from each company’s website.
#1 – SVG Logos
You’d be shocked how many big websites are using SVG logos – I figured this out by accident months ago, and now it’s no go-to first step when tracking down a vector logo. This tip works best with Safari but will also work with Chrome (it just requires an extra step). Literally click on the logo in the website’s header – if it’s an SVG file it will display using an Adobe Illustrator icon (if it’s anything else you’ll just be dragging the image itself). Seriously, it’s that simple! Just continue dragging the icon right into Adobe Illustrator and you have your high quality vector logo.
If you’re using Chrome you’ll need to drag the SVG file to your desktop (or anywhere else you prefer), it will not let you drag right into Illustrator.
#2 Vector logos used in PDF files
This method takes a little more work but still usually results in a high quality vector logo.
I head to a company’s website and do a search for the term ‘PDF’, downloading the first PDF file in the search results and checking for a logo. If there’s a logo I open the PDF file in Adobe Illustrator, and fingers crossed, it’s a vector version that I can easily extract.
Note that sometimes you can’t open a PDF file in Illustrator because of the security settings embedded in the PDF file. No worries, 99% of the time you can just open that PDF file in Preview, go to PRINT, Save as PDF in the print dialog box, and then open the new PDF file in Illustrator. Shocking, but most designers don’t bother turning on the ‘Prevent Printing” feature!
#3 Vector logo Websites
Websites like brandsoftheworld.com or seeklogo.net are a godsend, but they’re still my last resort as the quality of the logos can sometimes be questionable at best. Sure it’s still infinitely better than a JPEG, especially if you need transparency, but you have to be careful. When using one of these services I always check the company’s website to ensure the logo I’m downloading is their current logo. There’s absolutely no guarantee that what you download from a free logo service is current.
What do you think of these tips? Do you have any other tricks you use to source high-quality vector logos for client projects? If so I’d love to hear your thoughts.
And if you’re from RBC, please don’t sue me for using a screenshot of your website. Your site is setup perfectly for what I needed to show – it’s a compliment, seriously!
