Calgary graphic design and logo work: what to brief, what to expect, and what to own
A logo is not a deliverable, it is one item inside one. What makes design work usable months later is the lock-ups, the file formats, the usage rules and the ownership terms. Brief with constraints rather than adjectives, agree a fixed number of revision rounds, and settle font licensing and artwork ownership in writing before anyone starts.
What a usable logo project actually contains
The variants matter more than they sound. A mark that only exists in full colour on white will fail the first time it needs to go on a dark header, a single-colour sign, or embroidered onto a shirt. Those failures surface months after the project closes, which is the worst time to discover them.
Brief with constraints, not adjectives
“Modern and clean” is the most common brief and the least useful. Every designer believes their work is both, so the words do not narrow anything.
What genuinely helps: the smallest place the mark must work, the physical surfaces it has to survive, what it must not be confused with, and two or three examples you find effective along with the specific reason why. A constraint like “it has to be legible embroidered on a cap” does more to shape a design than a paragraph of description.
The three questions to settle before work starts
Font licensing causes more trouble than any other item on that list. A design can look finished and still leave you unable to legally use the typeface on your own website or in your own documents. Ask which fonts are used, under what licence, and what it costs to extend it.
Logo, or brand system?
The dividing question is how many people will produce materials without a designer involved. If it is one or two surfaces and a designer touches everything, a logo project is sufficient. If sales decks, social posts and signage get made by different people at different times, the rules are what hold it together and a system pays for itself.
A system does not have to be large. Colour, type, spacing, and a page of do-and-do-not examples covers most of what goes wrong. What matters is that it exists somewhere other than in the designer’s head.
Copyright or trademark: which one protects your logo
Most owners assume buying the logo means they own the brand. Those are two different rights, and you need both.
Copyright covers the artwork. CIPO’s copyright guide says a work is protected “the moment it is created and fixed in a material form”, and registration is voluntary. That protection belongs to whoever owns the copyright, which is why the written assignment above matters.
A trademark covers the mark as a signal of who sells what. CIPO’s trademarks guide describes trademarks as words, designs, colours and more “used to distinguish the goods or services” of one business from others. Registering gives you “the sole right to use the mark across Canada for 10 years”, renewable every 10 years.
| Copyright | Trademark | |
|---|---|---|
| Protects | The artwork itself | The mark as a brand identifier for named goods or services |
| How you get it | Automatic once created and fixed | Registration with CIPO |
| Registration | Voluntary | Required for the registered right |
| Who holds it at the start | The creator, until assigned in writing | The applicant who registers it |
Registering a logo in Canada: steps and 2026 fees
The CIPO process runs in order: search the Canadian Trademarks Database and trade names, file with your goods and services grouped by the Nice Classification, then examination. An examiner searches for confusing marks and can object, and you get a chance to respond. Approved applications are advertised in the Trademarks Journal, published every Wednesday, and anyone has two months to oppose. If nobody does, you get a certificate of registration.
Two details catch people. You “may not expand the scope of goods or services” after filing, so list everything you use or plan to use. And CIPO suggests hiring a trademark agent for the trade name search because it is complex.
Government fees, per CIPO: an online application in 2026 costs $491.06 for the first class of goods or services and $149.04 for each additional class. Paper filing is $640.10 for the first class. On January 1, 2027, those rise 1.7%, to $499.41 and $151.57 online, and the fee you pay depends on when CIPO receives it. Online renewal in 2026 is $595.06 for the first class.
A hypothetical: a business files its name and its logo as two separate online applications in 2026, each covering two classes. Government fees come to 2 x ($491.06 + $149.04) = $1,280.20, before any agent fees.
Our view on timing: run a clearance search before you pick the final concept, not after. A mark you cannot register is a sunk cost.
Not legal advice. This is a plain-language summary of the published rules; have a lawyer review anything you rely on.
What the logo handoff folder should contain
This is our standard, not a legal requirement. A handoff is finished when someone who has never met the designer can produce any asset correctly.
Outlined type deserves its own line. An SVG logo built from live text renders in whatever font the viewing context can load. Used as a favicon or image file, it cannot load your web fonts and falls back to a system font, so the same logo looks different in the header and the browser tab. Outlined paths look the same everywhere.
We handle this as part of our branding work, and the Calgary branding page covers scope and process in more detail. One thing worth saying plainly: we build brand and digital work in-house, and where a project needs print-ready production or packaging artwork we will tell you that up front rather than discover it late.
Questions
What should a logo project deliver besides the logo?
A usable logo project delivers the mark in multiple lock-ups (horizontal, stacked, icon only), in colour, single colour and reversed, as vector source plus exported formats, with clear space and minimum size rules, and the fonts and colour values needed to use it consistently.
What file formats do I need?
Vector source is the one that matters, because it scales without loss and is what a printer or signage supplier will ask for. Everything else can be exported from it. A logo delivered only as a raster image will eventually fail at a size someone needs.
Who owns the design when it is finished?
Settle this in writing before work starts. Paying for the work does not by itself transfer copyright, so get a signed written assignment, and ask for a waiver of moral rights, which in Canada can be waived but not assigned. Fonts are licensed rather than owned and that licence may not transfer. Stock elements carry their own terms.
How many revision rounds is normal?
A defined number, agreed in advance, is normal and healthy. Unlimited revisions sound generous but tend to produce worse work, because they remove the pressure to make decisions and the project drifts rather than converging.
What makes a good design brief?
Concrete constraints beat adjectives. Where the mark has to work (signage, embroidery, a favicon), what it must not resemble, who the audience is, and two or three examples of work you find effective with the reason why. “Modern and clean” tells a designer nothing.
Do I need a full brand system or just a logo?
It depends on how many surfaces you produce. If you only need a mark for a sign and a website header, a logo project is enough. If several people will make materials without a designer involved, the rules matter more than the mark, and a system saves the money it costs.
How much does it cost to trademark a logo in Canada?
CIPO’s government fee for an online application in 2026 is $491.06 for the first class of goods or services plus $149.04 for each additional class. On January 1, 2027 those rise 1.7%, to $499.41 and $151.57. Trademark agent fees are extra. Not legal advice.
Is my logo automatically protected by copyright in Canada?
The artwork is protected by copyright the moment it is created and fixed in a material form, and registration is voluntary. But the creator holds that copyright until it is assigned in writing, and copyright does not give you the sole right to use the logo as a brand across Canada. Trademark registration does. Not legal advice.
How long does a Canadian trademark registration last?
Ten years from the date of registration, renewable every 10 years for a fee. Online renewal in 2026 costs $595.06 for the first class. If the renewal fee is not paid, the trademark is expunged from the register.
Questions, answered.
What should a logo project deliver besides the logo?
A usable logo project delivers the mark in multiple lock-ups (horizontal, stacked, icon only), in colour, single colour and reversed, as vector source plus exported formats, with clear space and minimum size rules, and the fonts and colour values needed to use it consistently.
What file formats do I need?
Vector source is the one that matters, because it scales without loss and is what a printer or signage supplier will ask for. Everything else can be exported from it. A logo delivered only as a raster image will eventually fail at a size someone needs.
Who owns the design when it is finished?
Settle this in writing before work starts. Paying for the work does not by itself transfer copyright, so get a signed written assignment, and ask for a waiver of moral rights, which in Canada can be waived but not assigned. Fonts are licensed rather than owned and that licence may not transfer. Stock elements carry their own terms.
How many revision rounds is normal?
A defined number, agreed in advance, is normal and healthy. Unlimited revisions sound generous but tend to produce worse work, because they remove the pressure to make decisions and the project drifts rather than converging.
What makes a good design brief?
Concrete constraints beat adjectives. Where the mark has to work (signage, embroidery, a favicon), what it must not resemble, who the audience is, and two or three examples of work you find effective with the reason why. “Modern and clean” tells a designer nothing.
Do I need a full brand system or just a logo?
It depends on how many surfaces you produce. If you only need a mark for a sign and a website header, a logo project is enough. If several people will make materials without a designer involved, the rules matter more than the mark, and a system saves the money it costs.
How much does it cost to trademark a logo in Canada?
CIPO’s government fee for an online application in 2026 is $491.06 for the first class of goods or services plus $149.04 for each additional class. On January 1, 2027 those rise 1.7%, to $499.41 and $151.57. Trademark agent fees are extra. Not legal advice.
Is my logo automatically protected by copyright in Canada?
The artwork is protected by copyright the moment it is created and fixed in a material form, and registration is voluntary. But the creator holds that copyright until it is assigned in writing, and copyright does not give you the sole right to use the logo as a brand across Canada. Trademark registration does. Not legal advice.
How long does a Canadian trademark registration last?
Ten years from the date of registration, renewable every 10 years for a fee. Online renewal in 2026 costs $595.06 for the first class. If the renewal fee is not paid, the trademark is expunged from the register.
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