For the past few months I’ve been trying my hand at some logo contests over at SitePoint Forums and was surprised to see contest holders still requesting the .psd as the desired file format. Likewise, there are still a surprising amount of entrants asking contest holders if it’s O.K. to create a proposal using Photoshop. I think to myself, why go raster when there are so many more advantages for an identity in vector format? The most significant advantage that could stand alone is probably that which I will dub as Quality Control.

An identity is the greatest asset to a company because it’s who they are, and what they represent. It’s the only graphic that will be used in 100% of the company’s products and services. You don’t put the logo on the product, you put the products on the logo. For this reason you have to realize that no matter what the identity is for, whether it be an online agency or manufacturer of diapers, your creation will possibly be used in an infinite variety of dimensions. What if the client’s business wants to have their own corporate pens? How about on a huge billboard on the side of a highway? If the logo was created in a raster program you’d need to take these questions into consideration because either way, the logo is going to turn into pixel mess.

Why even trouble yourself with such questions when you can create the logo in vector format. It deals with all of those questions without you even have to ask them. The format controls the quality for you and the client, so when the time does come that the business wants to put their name on buttons of their shirts then they can do so without their logo being transformed into a blob. Just save that sucker as an .eps or .ai and it can be opened to whatever size your heart desires. I shouldn’t even call it Quality Control, because there is nothing you need to control.

Then again if you want to make more money you could charge the client for every different dimension of .psd they’ll need.