Logo design: A mark that works in the product, not only on a slide
Logo design for startups, apps and SaaS products, by a product designer. Most people meet a product’s logo as a 16-pixel favicon, an app icon among forty others or a mark in the corner of a dashboard, and only later on a slide or a sign. So I design the mark for those places first. Sometimes a logo is all a company needs at the start; when it needs more, the mark grows into a brand identity.
To start, email andriy.dsgn@gmail.com with a few lines about the product and where the logo will live.
When a logo is the job
- You are launching and need one mark for the product, the website and the deck.
- The product works and the logo is still a placeholder someone made in an evening.
- The company has a new name, or the old mark no longer fits what the product became.
- The app needs an icon that holds up next to everything else on a phone.
- You are raising, and the mark on the deck has to look like the company you describe.
What makes a product logo work
- It reads at 16 pixels. A browser tab and a bookmark are where many people see it first, so the mark is drawn to survive there, not only at poster size.
- It works as an app icon. The phone puts it in a rounded square next to dozens of others. A mark that needs its wordmark to make sense disappears there.
- It holds on dark and light. Products ship both modes, and the logo has to sit on either without a second design.
- It belongs to the interface. The mark shares its shapes and weight with the product’s icons and type, so it does not look pasted onto the screen.
- It can move. Built from simple parts, it can turn into a loader, an empty state or an intro, as Deva’s mark does below.
- It is yours. Simple enough to remember, specific enough not to look like every other mark in the category.
How I design it
- From the product. What it does, who uses it, what the category already looks like, and every place the mark will appear.
- Directions. A few ideas worth drawing properly, rather than many half-finished.
- Tested where it lives. As an app icon, a favicon, in the interface, on a dark screen and on a slide, so it works small as well as large.
- Finished. The mark and every version it needs, with a short guide to using it.
What you get
- The mark and the wordmark, and the lockups that combine them.
- Versions for light and dark backgrounds, and a one-colour version.
- The app icon and the favicon, drawn for their sizes rather than scaled down.
- Vector and image files for screen, and files for print.
- A short guide: clear space, minimum size, colours, and what not to do with it.
Exactly what is included is agreed in the scope before work starts.
Marks from my case studies
Both are AI agent products; 10Planet is the protocol and Deva the platform built on it. More of each identity on the case pages: 10Planet and Deva.
Logo or brand identity
| Logo design | Brand identity | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The mark, the wordmark and their versions | The whole system: type, colour, components, website, decks, assets |
| When | You need a mark now, or a placeholder has to go | The product, the site and the deck look like different companies |
| Form | A short project | Ongoing work alongside the product works best |
| Price | Quoted after a short call | Quoted after a short call |
A logo is the first piece of a brand, so I design it to grow into one: brand identity for products.
Questions founders ask
How much does a logo cost?
It depends on what the mark has to cover: a mark alone, or a mark with a wordmark, an app icon and a guide. It is quoted after a short call.
How long does a logo take?
It depends on the scope. The date is agreed before work starts.
What files do I get?
Vector and image files for screen, files for print, light and dark versions, the app icon and the favicon, as agreed in the scope.
Do you design the app icon too?
Yes, and App Store icons and screenshots.
Can you redesign our existing logo?
Yes. Sometimes a refresh keeps what people already recognise; sometimes the mark has to change. The first conversation is about which one you need.
Do you design logos for AI startups and SaaS products?
Most of my work is AI, fintech, Web3 and SaaS products. 10Planet and Deva, above, are AI agent products.
Can the logo grow into a full brand later?
Yes. That is how I design it: the mark is the first piece of a brand identity, not a separate thing.
Do you work with teams in other countries?
Yes. I work remotely, with teams in different countries and time zones.
Other ways I can help
- Brand identity for products, quoted after a call: the product, the site and the deck as one.
- Mobile app design, quoted per flow: from the first flows to shipped screens.
- Design and build, from $8,000: a first version designed, and built if you want.
Further reading: 10Planet: an agent protocol. All services, with the situation each one fits: Services.
Need a logo for your product?
Send a few lines about the product and where the logo will live. If it’s not a fit, I’ll say so.