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A logo rarely travels alone. Sooner or later it has to sit with a tagline, the name of a division, a web address or the word Foundation. Each of these combinations is a lockup, a fixed arrangement of the logo with extra text. Without them, every designer and printer invents their own.

The first rule is that the logo stays the logo. The added text should never grow large enough to compete. A common approach is to set the extra words in the brand typeface at a size tied to a measurement inside the mark, such as the height of a lowercase letter. That keeps the relationship the same at any scale.

Taglines are the trickiest. They change more often than logos, and they are usually longer than anyone expects. A tagline locked under the mark works on a poster and becomes unreadable on a pen. Most brands need two versions of the logo, one with the tagline and one without, plus a rule about the minimum size at which the tagline is allowed.

Sub-brands need a system rather than a single drawing. Decide once whether the division name sits to the right of the mark, below it, or replaces part of it. Then draw every existing division to that rule. When a new team appears next year, nobody has to ask a designer. They follow the pattern.

Addresses, phone numbers and web links belong in a looser category. They change, they vary by country, and they rarely need to be part of the artwork. Instead of locking them to the mark, define a zone and a type style for them. That way the logo file stays clean and the details can be updated in a template.

Horizontal and stacked versions solve different problems. A wide lockup suits a website header or a shop fascia. A stacked one fits a square social avatar or the side of a box. Draw both from the start. Retrofitting a stacked version later often means redrawing spacing that was never planned for it.

Every lockup should come as its own file, named clearly, with the same clear space rules as the main logo. Loose instructions such as put the tagline underneath lead to a dozen slightly different results within a year.

A short page in the guidelines showing each lockup, its minimum size and a few wrong examples saves more time than any other page. People copy what they see.

Co-branding is a special case. When the logo sits beside a partner, sponsor or parent company, decide which mark leads, how the two are separated and how much space each gets. A thin vertical rule between them is common. Equal height is not always fair, because a compact symbol looks smaller than a wide wordmark at the same height. Balance them by eye.

Review the lockups once a year. Divisions close, taglines are retired, new programmes appear. Removing outdated files from the shared drive matters as much as adding new ones, or old versions keep resurfacing on slides and signs.

Designers draw a logo on a clean artboard. Platforms then take it and crop it without asking. Social networks put it in a circle. Messaging apps shrink it to the size of a fingernail. Browser tabs reduce it to a square of sixteen pixels. Phone home screens round the corners. The mark has to survive all of this.

The circle is the most common crop and the least forgiving. A wide wordmark placed inside a circle becomes a thin line of tiny text with empty space above and below. A tall symbol loses its top and bottom. The fix is to design a separate avatar version, usually the symbol alone or a single letter, sized so it sits comfortably within the circle with a margin all round.

Test the avatar on real screens. Upload it to a private account, then look at it in a comment thread, a direct message and a search result. It often appears smaller than expected, next to other circles that are all fighting for attention. Fine details and thin outlines disappear first.

Background colour matters more in an avatar than anywhere else. Platforms switch between light and dark themes, and a transparent logo can vanish against one of them. A solid background colour, chosen from the brand palette, keeps the mark visible in both modes and makes it recognisable in a crowded list.

The favicon is an even harsher test. At sixteen pixels a logo has room for perhaps two shapes. Many brands use a simplified symbol or a single bold letter here, drawn directly on the pixel grid rather than scaled down from the master file. Scaled artwork turns soft and grey at that size.

App icons carry their own rules. Each operating system applies its own mask, and some add shadows or tints of their own. Keep the important part of the mark inside a safe area in the centre, and never put text into an app icon. The name already appears underneath.

Keep a simple table of every crop the brand has to feed, with the size, shape and safe area for each. Update it when a platform changes its layout, which happens more often than anyone would like.

None of these versions replaces the main logo. They are adaptations that share its shapes and colours, and they should be approved as part of the same project. A logo that works only on the artboard has not been finished yet.

Email signatures and marketplace listings add further crops. Many email clients block images by default, so the signature should read well without the logo. Marketplaces often place a small square next to the product name. Each of these deserves a quick check with real screenshots.

Profile banners are the opposite case. They are wide, but the platform places a profile picture and buttons over part of them, and the visible area changes between phone and desktop. Keep the logo away from the edges and out of the zone where the avatar overlaps.

Some of the most remembered logos contain a second shape. An arrow between two letters, an animal inside a letterform, a hidden initial in the space around a symbol. People enjoy spotting them, and a clever one gives a brand a small story to tell. The technique also fails in predictable ways.

Negative space means the empty area around and between the parts of a mark. In most logos it is background. In these logos it is drawn on purpose, so that the gaps form a second figure. The eye reads the main shape first and finds the second one later, sometimes years later.

The hidden figure has to earn its place. An arrow suggests movement or delivery. A shape inside a letter can link two ideas the company cares about. A figure added only because it is possible makes the mark busier and adds nothing that customers need to know.

Scale is the first test. Small gaps close up at small sizes. At favicon size, on a printed receipt or in embroidery, the hidden shape can disappear or turn into a blot. The designer should check the smallest real use before anyone falls in love with the idea.

Reproduction is the second test. Negative space depends on sharp contrast between the figure and the background. On a busy photograph, a textured material or a cheap print, the second shape may never appear. A mark that only works in perfect conditions is fragile.

The main shape must work without the trick. Most people will never notice the hidden figure, and that has to be acceptable. If the logo only makes sense once the secret is pointed out, it is a puzzle rather than a mark.

Watch for unintended shapes too. Gaps can form figures nobody planned, and some are embarrassing. Show the mark upside down, mirrored and very large to a few people outside the project. Ask them to describe everything they see.

Originality needs checking. Popular ideas get reused, such as a house inside a letter or a leaf formed between two strokes. A search through trademark databases and design galleries for similar constructions is cheaper than a dispute later.

When it works, negative space gives a logo depth without extra detail. It keeps the drawing simple and rewards a second look. Treat it as one possible route in the brief, not as a requirement, and judge it by the same practical tests as any other mark.