Participating Frequently

Question

Is there a way to create a grid for an already designed logo?

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
May 6, 2022
5 replies
5655 views

I know this seems like a silly question, but I'm new to graphic design and I've designed a logo for a project without using a grid. Is there any simple way to create a grid for a logo that wasn't designed with one? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

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Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

Since this interesting old thread was bumped I'll add my 2¢. In some respects it does make sense to have a logo fit neatly into some sort of grid to communicate to others that the design wasn't just thrown together in some kind of slap-dash fashion. It would show deliberate thought into how the logo was constructed.

But! Be careful about making the parts of a logo design fit absolutely to a grid. It's possible to arrive at an end result that looks dull or even a bit odd. Various optical illusions can occur in designs. The parts may be perfectly sized in terms of math, yet the parts can end up not looking right. Type designers battle these problems when designing letters and other glyphs, which is why you'll find some letter strokes are thicker than others and why parts of letters will overshoot the baseline and cap height line.

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Kwaku Amprako

Participant

Hey, @robja3 not a silly question at all, it’s actually a really common one.

Yes, you can create a grid for a logo that’s already designed. There’s actually a specific type of grid made for this — it’s called a construction grid.

A construction grid is used after the logo is finished. It reveals the structure behind your design — things like anchor points, bezier handles, outlines, and alignment lines. It’s super useful for refining your work and showing the thinking behind it, especially in client presentations or your portfolio.

Here are two ways to create a construction grid for an existing logo:

Method 1: Manually

In Adobe Illustrator, you can use the Selection Tool to isolate parts of your logo, then recreate the construction — like outlines, anchors, and gridlines. Press Cmd+Y to view in outline mode and start building from there.

Heads up though, this can take 30–60+ minutes depending on the logo. I actually ran a survey with over 100 logo designers — that timing holds up.

Method 2: Automatically

I created a tool called Logo Grid Generator that does this instantly. It builds a full construction grid for your logo in just one click. I’m not trying to pitch you — just sharing it because it genuinely saves a ton of time.

Hope that helps!

– Kwaku Amprako

Logo Expert & Brand Identity Designer

pixxxelschubser

Community Expert

If I understand you correctly - you might mean something like this (for example):

https://www.lesptitesaffairesdemayl.be/articles/graphics/whats-a-logo-grid-and-why-should-you-use-one.html

or

https://medium.com/@radenyunos/how-to-use-geometric-shapes-to-design-logos-db7d045ae3f0

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robja3Author

Participating Frequently

Here is something I did quickly just to give an idea. Would this look acceptable in my project to justify the design of the logo or would it be better to stick to a regular grid? Thanks!

Anna Lander

Inspiring

Haha I totally get it, the only thing is that it's for a school project and we were supposed to use a grid. So I thought maybe I could get by with using the circles and lines

the only use of all these grids is to show the client and all his contractors the allowed sizes and proportions. And yes, it can help them to keep consistence. So in explication I would choose the characteristic element (e. g. circle) and use its size to highlight the sizes/distances/proportions/protection zone.
And yes, as you used lines and circles, you can show them as a "sceleton" (grid) of the logo.

pixxxelschubser

Community Expert

Looking for the place to turn on the document grid?
Or do you want to draw a real grid (and maybe convert it to guides)?

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robja3Author

Participating Frequently

I was hoping to draw a real grid to show dimensions and consistency of the logo. I know how to draw a grid with the rectangular grid tool, but I wasn't sure if there was a way to make a grid that fits an already designed logo (which wasn't created with grid). I've already made the logo but later realized that I was supposed to make it with a grid for the project. I'm not sure if it makes sense to use circles and rectangles in this case? (I've included some photos below) Hope I'm making sense, thanks for your help!

pixxxelschubser

Community Expert

What kind of grid?

Circular or rectangular, or hexagonal or, or, or...

Can you please show us the logo?

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robja3Author

Participating Frequently

Sorry I'm so new to this, thanks for the quick response! It would be a rectangular grid. There are different versions of the logo but here is a screenshot of two. The artboards are fitted to the logos but I know in the grid I need to leave some free space around them.

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