- At launch you need a small, complete kit, not a brand book: a checked name, logo files, colours, type, icons, a few templates and a one-page guide.
- Check the name before any design work: domain, app store listing, social handles and a trademark search.
- Pick colours by role and test them for contrast, because the same palette has to work for buttons, text and charts inside the product.
- App stores have exact icon rules: Apple asks for a layered 1024 x 1024 px icon, Google Play for a 512 x 512 px PNG of up to 1024 KB.
- Keep every source file and font licence in company-owned accounts, with the copyright assigned to the company in the design contract.
What does a new software company need for its brand at launch?
A small, complete brand kit: a name you have checked, a logo in a few versions and formats, a colour palette and typefaces that work inside the product, app store icons if you ship an app, a handful of templates and a one-page guide. That is enough to look consistent on your website, in the product, in the app stores and on social profiles. It is the core of most branding projects for early-stage software companies.
A full brand book with campaign imagery and detailed tone-of-voice rules can wait. What cannot wait are the pieces developers and stores need on day one, because changing them after launch means changing them everywhere at once.
Have you checked the name before designing anything?
Design work on a name you later lose is wasted. Before the logo brief, check:
- Domain: the main domain, plus obvious misspellings if they are affordable.
- App stores: search the App Store and Google Play for apps with the same or a confusingly similar name.
- Social handles: the handles you plan to use on the networks that matter for your customers.
- Trademarks: in the United States, the USPTO offers a free Trademark Search system. Other countries have their own registers. A search is a first filter, not legal clearance, so ask a trademark lawyer before you invest heavily.
Which logo files do you need?
One logo is not enough. Ask for a small set that covers every place the brand appears:
- Primary logo, usually horizontal, for the website header and documents.
- Stacked version for square spaces such as social profiles.
- Symbol only, the mark without the name, for the app icon, favicon and small spaces.
- One-colour and reversed versions for dark backgrounds, single-colour printing and partner materials.
Get each version as SVG for the web and product, PNG with a transparent background for tools that do not accept SVG, and PDF for print. Check the symbol at very small sizes, such as a browser tab or a notification icon. Fine details and thin lines disappear first.
How do you choose colours and type that work in the product?
For a software company, the palette lives mostly inside the product, so define colours by role rather than as a mood board: primary action, text, background surfaces, borders, and states such as success, warning and error. Then test them for contrast.
WCAG 2.2 asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text, and at least 3:1 for user interface components and meaningful graphics such as input borders, icons and chart lines. Logos are exempt from these rules, but your buttons, links and charts are not. A brand colour that fails on white can still be used for large shapes, with a darker shade for text and buttons.
Choose one typeface for headings and one for text, or a single family with several weights. Check that the font licence covers your website, your apps and any documents you produce, and pick a system font fallback for places where the brand font cannot load. Hand developers the colours and type sizes as named design tokens, so the code and the design files stay in step; good UI/UX design work delivers them in that form.
What do the app stores need from your icon?
If you ship a mobile app, the icon is the brand most people see daily, and each store has exact rules:
- Apple: iOS, iPadOS and macOS icons are square and the system rounds the corners. Apple's guidelines list a 1024 x 1024 px layered icon with default, dark, clear and tinted appearances, built in Icon Composer. Apple also advises against words such as "Watch" or "Play" in the icon.
- Google Play: the store listing icon is a 512 x 512 px, 32-bit PNG of up to 1024 KB, with no badges or text that suggest ranking or price. Every listing also needs a 1024 x 500 px feature graphic.
- Android launcher: adaptive icons use foreground and background layers of 108 x 108 dp, with the logo kept inside the inner 66 x 66 dp that is never masked, and an optional monochrome layer for themed icons.
Design the symbol with these crops in mind, and test it on light and dark wallpapers. Our app store publishing checklist covers the rest of the listing.
Which templates save time after launch?
A few templates stop every new post or document from becoming a design task:
- Profile images and cover banners for your social and directory profiles.
- Social post templates for announcements, feature releases and tips.
- A frame for product screenshots, used on the website, in the stores and in posts.
- A slide template for sales and investor decks.
- Email signature, invoice and proposal headers.
Keep everything in one shared folder owned by the company, with clear file names and the date of each version, so nobody uses an old logo from an email attachment.
What goes in a one-page brand guide?
One page is enough at launch, as long as it answers the questions people actually ask:
- Which logo version to use where, the clear space around it and what not to do with it.
- Colours with their codes and roles, and the pairs that pass contrast checks.
- Typefaces, weights and a simple type scale.
- Icon and illustration style, and the type of photos to use or avoid.
- Three or four lines on tone of voice, with one example of a sentence that sounds like you.
- Who to ask when something is not covered.
Expand it when you hire a marketing team or work with outside agencies. If you are still shaping the product, our guide on planning an MVP helps you decide what else belongs in the first release.
Frequently asked questions
Should we hire a designer or use a logo generator?
A generator can give you a placeholder for a private beta, but it rarely produces a mark that is distinctive, works at small sizes and comes with editable source files. A designer also builds the colour, type and icon rules that the product team needs. If budget is tight, pay for a simple mark and a solid system rather than a complex illustration.
How much branding do we need before an MVP?
Enough to look trustworthy and consistent: the name, a logo in a few versions, a colour palette, one or two fonts and the app icon if you ship an app. Campaign imagery, brand videos and a full guideline book can wait until you know who your customers are and what they respond to.
Can we change the brand after launch?
Yes, many software companies refresh their brand once they find their market. It costs more after launch, because the app icon, store listings, website, email templates, documents and social profiles all need updating at once. A simple mark and colour tokens in the code make a later refresh much easier.
Who should own the logo files and font licences?
The company, not the designer or a founder personally. Ask for editable source files, export files and a written assignment of copyright in the contract. Buy font licences in the company name and check that the licence covers web, app and print use, since these are often licensed separately.
Do we need a registered trademark before launch?
You can launch without one, but search before you commit to a name, because rebranding later is costly. Filing is a legal process that differs by country and can take months. Many founders file for their key markets around launch with the help of a trademark lawyer, who can also judge the risk of similar marks.
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