Guide

The startup branding checklist

A logo is one asset. Here is the short, concrete list of everything else a new company needs around it — and an honest split between what has to happen before launch and what can wait.

By Design a Lot SRL · Updated September 2026

A logo is not a brand. It is the one asset most founders finish first, and then the only one they finish at all — so the mark ends up doing a job it was never meant to do alone: representing the company everywhere, consistently, with nothing behind it to keep it consistent. This guide is the rest of the list. Not a full brand-strategy exercise with a fifty-page book — that is agency work, and our own cost guide is honest about when you actually need it — but the small, concrete set of assets and decisions a new company genuinely needs before it starts putting its name in front of strangers.

Full lockup — site, deck, signage

Symbol alone — favicon, avatar, app icon

One generated recipe, two of the assets on the checklist below. The $29 package includes both, plus black-and-white versions, without a second design job.

The theme running through all of it: decide once, reuse everywhere. Every item below exists because someone, somewhere, was about to make the same design decision for the fourth time this month with no record of what they picked the first three times.

1. Core logo files

Before anything else, make sure the logo itself is actually finished — meaning you have the right files, not just a picture of it. At minimum: a vector file (SVG, ideally with any text converted to outlines so it opens correctly without your font installed), a high-resolution PNG for anywhere a raster image is expected, and a black-and-white version for the places color isn't an option — a stamp, an engraving, a fax cover sheet that still exists at some vendor. Our file formats guide goes into why each one matters; the short version is that a PNG-only logo is a logo you will need to remake the first time a printer or a sign shop asks for a vector.

If your logo is a combination mark — symbol and name locked together — you effectively get two more assets for free: the symbol alone, for anywhere square, and the wordmark alone, for anywhere narrow. That is the practical case for choosing a combination mark over a pure wordmark when you are starting from nothing: one purchase, three usable shapes.

2. Colors, type and a one-page brand sheet

You do not need a brand book. You do need a page — one page, could be a doc, a slide, a pinned message — that answers three questions so nobody has to guess or re-derive them from an old file: what are the exact colors (hex codes, not "the blue from the website"), what are the one or two typefaces the wordmark and any headings use, and what does the logo look like when it is not allowed to change — minimum clear space around it, the smallest size it stays legible at, and which background colors it works on.

That last part matters more than it sounds. The fastest way for a young brand to look inconsistent is not a bad logo; it is five different people each making a reasonable-looking call about how big the logo should be in a slide deck, with no reference to check against. A one-page sheet fixes that in about the time it takes to write it.

3. Digital essentials

Three places your logo needs to work at small, square sizes before you launch anything publicly: the browser tab (favicon), your social profile picture, and your email signature. All three want the same thing — a square, high-contrast version, usually the symbol alone or a monogram rather than the full lockup, because a wide wordmark just turns into a smudge once it is cropped into a circle and shrunk.

One honest caution here: exact pixel sizes for profile pictures, cover images and favicons vary by platform and change without much notice, so we are not going to print a table of numbers here that will be stale within a year. Export your square symbol at a large size (at least 512×512) and let each platform resize down from there — that direction is safe; going the other way, stretching a small image up, is not. Our $29 package includes a generated favicon alongside the vector files specifically so this step is not a separate design job.

Beyond the icon itself: a social preview image (the picture that shows up when your link is shared — often called an og:image) is worth setting up once, on your homepage, so your link doesn't show up blank or generic the first time someone shares it.

4. Print & physical

Not every startup needs print collateral on day one, and it is fine to skip this section entirely if you are purely digital. If you do need it — a market stall, a client meeting, a storefront, a trade show — the same logic as above applies: the vector file is what makes this cheap and fast. A business card, a sign, a vehicle decal or an embroidered patch all want a clean vector, at whatever size the print shop needs, without you re-drawing anything. This is the entire argument for insisting on an SVG from whatever logo tool you use, ours included.

One thing worth deciding before you order anything physical: the black-and-white version of your mark. A single-color print run (engraving, embossing, a rubber stamp, some screen printing) is often cheaper than full color, and it is much easier to know in advance that your logo holds up in one color than to find out after a hundred cards are printed.

5. Name, domain and trademark basics

Strictly separate from the logo, but usually decided around the same time: confirm the domain you want is available (or find a workable variant) and do a basic search — your country's trademark register and a general web search for the name plus your industry — before you commit to it everywhere. This is not legal advice and it does not replace a real trademark search or an attorney if the name matters a lot to you; it is the cheap, fast pass that catches an obvious conflict before you have printed anything with the name on it.

Worth repeating plainly, because it applies to any logo tool including ours: a generated mark is not a guarantee that your name or symbol are clear to use. The design being original does not settle the legal question of the name. Handle them as two separate checks.

6. Minimum viable brand kit: day one vs. later

Not everything above needs to happen before you launch. Here is a fair split between what actually blocks you and what can wait.

	Have it before launch	Fine to add later
Logo files	Vector SVG + PNG + favicon	Additional color variants, seasonal versions
System	Hex codes + 1–2 fonts noted somewhere	A formal style guide document
Digital	Favicon, social avatar	Custom social templates, email banner
Print	Nothing, if you're purely digital at launch	Cards, signage, packaging — once you need them
Name	Domain secured, basic conflict check done	A full trademark registration

The pattern in that table is not an accident: everything in the "before launch" column is cheap and fast, and everything in "later" column gets easier to justify once you know the company is sticking around. Spend effort in that order and you will not have wasted much if the name, the market or the whole idea changes in six months — which, for an early-stage startup, is a real possibility worth designing around.

Start with the logo

Generate two dozen concepts free, then get the vector, PNG, favicon and black-and-white files in one $29 package — everything the checklist above calls a day-one essential.

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The full checklist

Vector logo file (SVG, text outlined)
High-resolution PNG export
Black & white version of the mark
Favicon, generated from the symbol or a monogram
Exact colors written down as hex codes
Typeface names for the wordmark and any headings
Minimum clear space and minimum size noted somewhere
Social profile picture, square, high resolution
Social preview / og:image set on your homepage
Email signature using the logo consistently
Domain secured
Basic name conflict check done (search + trademark register)
Business cards / signage — only if you need them yet

None of this needs to happen in a day, and almost none of it needs a designer on retainer. It needs the logo finished properly — real files, not a screenshot — and about an hour to write down the handful of decisions that keep everyone building the same brand.

Frequently asked

Do I need more than a logo before I launch my startup?

At minimum you want the right logo files (vector, PNG, black-and-white, favicon), your exact colors and fonts written down somewhere, a square social profile picture, and your domain secured with a basic name conflict check done. Everything else on the checklist — print collateral, a formal style guide, custom templates — can wait until you actually need it.

What is the minimum viable brand kit for a very early startup?

A vector logo file, a PNG export, a favicon, your hex color codes and font names noted somewhere, and a square version of your symbol for social profiles. That covers a functioning website and social presence without a single print item or a formal brand document.

Do I need a formal brand style guide right away?

No. A one-page reference — exact colors, font names, minimum size and clear space — does the job for a new company. A full style guide with usage rules and brand voice is worth building once you have a team large enough that inconsistency has actually become a problem.

How do I get a favicon and social avatar from my logo?

Use the symbol alone (or a monogram if your logo has no symbol) rather than the full lockup — a wide wordmark crops badly into a small square. Export it large (512×512 or bigger) and let each platform resize down. Our $29 package generates a favicon from your mark automatically, alongside the vector and PNG files.