Vector logo - printing & protecting your work

[ojste]

basically, i have designed a logo for someone and id like to know what the norm is for sending them the work for print. i have done some commerical (poster) work before i would get told the exact size needed, convert my work from .ai to .pdf and be done with it.

this however is a little differenct because its a logo and they will be needing various sizes, most of which are unknown at the moment... would i be expected to send them the original .ai file or should i be sending .pdf? i am not too keen on the idea of sending the orignal .ai file but i dont know what my other options are. just wondering if they is anyone in the industry could offer some advice and let me know what the 'normal' process is

 

[Pho]

An SVG/EPS should be fine I'd have thought? They're vector formats.

 

[ojste]

does that mean they can freely resize but not edit the work? thats the kind of result that i want

 

[gord]

does that mean they can freely resize but not edit the work? thats the kind of result that i want

A vector saved as a PDF can be stretched and is harder to edit.. but can still be imported into Illustrator and messed about with if that is their prerogative. SVG/EPS is basically your .ai file. Theres no way around it really, but you are getting paid to do this work so why not hand over the product they are buying?

Have they not specified they want the source files? In general I think providing the original artwork is normal. I know if I was doing a freelance logo design that the company would be expecting all of the files necessary.

 

[lsg1r]

In general I think providing the original artwork is normal.

Not if it isn't specified in the brief it isn't (not in my experience anyways) - relates to edittable ai file.
Transferring any editable work over would require additional fees if it isn't part of the brief. Normally (my experience) its a case of the payment is to allow the use of the logo for the intended purpose, ie letterhead or website etc, as specified in the initial brief unless arranged otherwise. If they want to use it outside of those areas, then its additional fees or purchase of the logo. Plus you want them to keep coming back to you for more work

This is branding after all and its one of the more expensive areas (for what you get) of design and by transferring over your work you in effect lose the (I think its this) copyright on the work you did to produce it (basically you maintain ownership of the produced work but they have the ownership of the logo design, can't remember it exactly off the top of my head though)

As to the op, if you're worried about the work being changed, theres not a lot you can do about that if they wanted an edittable file, its theirs at the end of the day, as you've signed over the ownership of the digital file.

Did you not get a contract of any sort before doing the work?

 

[Paul11]

how can you expect a company to pay you for a logo to be used "on letterhead and webiste" and then tell them further down the line that they cannot use the same logo on a poster, because they didnt pay you for that use ??

if i company buys a logo design from you, surely you give them the complete and finnished logo to do with as they please?

 

[lsg1r]

how can you expect a company to pay you for a logo to be used "on letterhead and webiste" and then tell them further down the line that they cannot use the same logo on a poster, because they didnt pay you for that use ??

if i company buys a logo design from you, surely you give them the complete and finished logo to do with as they please?

Its all down to the fine print, which is all agreed/explained and signed on at the agreement/contract stage, if its designed with the initial intention of web only, then it gets a different price compared with if it was designed for use on multiple media, it saves them money. If they want to use it in ALL media then they would buy the logo outright, its all about options. What's the point of a web only company paying out thousands for a logo which can be used anywhere and then only using it online when they can have a web only use one for a few hundred say

 

[Nimzicki]

It's perfectly normal to hand over a .eps of the logo, what they do with your logo is irrelevant as you have been paid and thats that. If you really don't want them to change things then you will have needed to state that when you first entered into contract with the client.

 

[ojste]

cheers guys, a little more background on what i'm doing: the logo i created is for a family member, i dont actually mind what they do with it at all and am comfortable with them doing anything they please with it. my concern is when they take this file to the printer place etc and giving them the file... i really don't like people having original copies of my work because i don't want them to have the possibilty to recycle/steal my work.

specifically, the logo is for a restaurant and will be used for all sorts of mediums from the main logo for the restaurant itself, menus, business cards, web use etc. so its important that they will be able to get the right sizes.

 

[LiE]

I wouldn't worry about a printing company stealing your work, they deal with a lot of digital work on a daily basis.

 

[lsg1r]

Agree about the printing firm, if you are in doubt ask to see their privacy and data protection policy and then only go with them if you are happy, alternatively you can always go the non disclosure agreement route although this is probably overkill for a logo though .

Also most printers I've dealt with like to take a flattened file anyway so they don't have to worry over fonts etc, so it should limit the amount of changes they can do.

As to the work, I would assume it would need to be scaled for each one so if its in the vector format you can just scale and then as said flatten it before they receive it

 

[ojste]

yep thats correct, 'flattening' in illustrator seems to be a different function from the flattening im used to in photoshop though. i guess the best option here is just to give them the original illustrator file. cheers for the help guys

 

[Samione]

give them an .eps, remember to convert all fonts to outline, expand all strokes etc. essentially the file type is not going to stop someone stealing your work, at the end of the day, someone can just copy and paste the raster version of the logo into illustrator, trace it by hand or just live trace it in seconds.