What is a Secondary and Sub-mark Logo?

Using your logo consistently and frequently forms a recognizable and memorable visual identity. But what happens when you have to stretch, crop or resize your logo to fit? The answer: you are damaging your visual identity.

Today we are going to talk about how you can create a consistent visual identity with the flexibility of three different logos: primary, secondary, and a sub-mark logo.

Primary Logo:

The primary logo is the main graphic that represents your business and is used most often. When designing the primary logo, our goal is to communicate who you are, what you offer, or where you operate. This logo may include your company’s tagline, website, or geographic location.

• Used most of the time
• Includes full business name
• May include tagline, website, or geographic location

Secondary Logo:

The secondary logo is a simplified version of the primary logo. This design may eliminate some text or rearrange the elements to improve readability in small sizes. Secondary logos are intended for online use or when you must resize your logo to small formats.

• Simplified design & text
• Used only when the logo is resized small
• Includes full business name

Sub-mark or Icon Logo:

A sub-mark logo is a stripped down graphic of your main logo. The sub-mark typically does not include text or the full name of the business. Instead, the sub-mark logo is a graphical shape, drawing, or icon that represents your business. The sub-mark logo is used when the design must be resized to extremely small formats or to help communicate your brand quickly. Reading the text on a logo takes time, and we all know “ain’t nobody got time for that.” Help your customers quickly identify and remember you with a well designed sub-mark logo.

• Commonly used online and on social media
• Used when logo is resized to extra small formats
• Includes single letter(s), number(s), or symbol

Why you need more than one logo:

We have all been there, desperately trying to squish our logos into profile images, business cards, and various marketing materials. Your primary logo may be wonderful but if it isn’t flexible, then you may be damaging your brand identity.

A squished, blurry logo does not communicate the right message. To build a strong brand you must have a brand identity that translates well online, in print, and on merchandise. It is rare that one logo style can meet all your needs, so consider expanding your brand to include a secondary and sub-mark logo.