Store Identity: How to Commission a Design and Approve the Finished Work

To commission a store identity, first decide where customers will see your design: on the sign, price tag, packaging, website, and phone screen. Give the designer the dimensions of these items, examples of actual products, and a list of the files you need. Approve the work after a test print and a review on a phone: the store name, product, and price should be easy to read under ordinary shopping conditions.

Before work begins, agree in writing on the scope, stages, revisions, fee, and terms for using the design. Obtain editable originals and documents covering rights to the logo, fonts, and photographs. Having a logo file does not automatically give you all copyright or trademark rights.

Define Exactly What the Store Identity Needs to Do

A store identity is a coordinated visual system: a logo, colors, fonts, graphic elements, and the design of materials. Its practical purpose is to help customers recognize the store in different places and easily read the information they need.

Before commissioning a design, the owner defines the store’s positioning: who it serves, what it offers, and why a customer should choose it. For example, a store selling everyday clothing for families needs to display categories, sizes, and prices clearly. Record these tasks directly in the brief so you can assess proposals against the needs of the business.

A trademark is a sign that distinguishes one person’s goods or services from another’s. A logo can serve as such a sign, but creating one and obtaining legal protection for a trademark require separate decisions. A brand book is a document setting out rules for using a brand. When commissioning an identity, specify which usage rules the designer must provide with the files; agree on the scope of a separate brand book as a separate task.

Prepare the Design Brief Before Reviewing Concepts

The owner gathers the source information, the designer proposes solutions, and one designated person from the store approves the result. This process helps prevent conflicting revision requests from sales staff, the administrator, and the advertising contractor.

Fill in a short table and attach it to the order. The items below are a practical brief structure that you can adapt to your store.

Add real data to the brief: the longest product name, the SKU (a code identifying a specific product item), regular and promotional prices, address, and opening hours. Short placeholder text can hide the fact that actual copy will not fit.

Sample brief: “A home goods store needs a horizontal sign, a square profile image, a price tag, and a mobile product card. The price tag must fit a long name, volume, SKU, and price in readable form. The salesperson must be able to change product data in the agreed template without redesigning it.”

Commission Logo Versions for the Formats You Need

Ask the designer to show the logo on all the main items before you approve it. The owner checks whether the name is legible and the store recognizable; the sign manufacturer or print shop confirms that the layout is suitable for production.

• Primary version. The full name with a symbol, if one is part of the design, for the sign, website, and packaging.
• Compact version. An agreed arrangement for a narrow or square space.
• Small symbol. A version for a profile image and browser tab icon, if the store uses those formats.
• One-color version. For single-color printing and situations where only a black-and-white printer is available.
• Versions for light and dark backgrounds. So staff can use the prepared version without changing its colors themselves.

For each required version, agree on the minimum size and clear space around the logo. The designer should show the size limit at which the name remains legible and small elements do not merge. If the symbol becomes unclear on a small label, ask for a simpler version or use the compact version.

If the sign is already registered as a trademark, discuss significant logo changes separately with an intellectual property specialist. Under Article 16 of Ukraine’s Law “On the Protection of Rights to Signs for Goods and Services”, use in a modified form is taken into account if individual differences do not alter the mark’s overall distinctiveness.

Agree on Colors for Screen and Print

Ask the designer to record the exact color values and the purpose of each color: for backgrounds, body text, headings, buttons, and promotional messages. Names such as “dark green” are not enough to hand the work to another contractor.

• For digital materials, request HEX codes (the hexadecimal notation for a color) and RGB values (red, green, and blue components).
• For print, agree with the print shop on CMYK values (a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks), taking the material and production method into account.
• If a contractor uses ready-made film or another material with its own color catalog, ask them to record the code of the selected sample.
• Request a list of approved text and background combinations so staff do not have to choose them themselves.

Order a proof on the selected material before the full print run. The owner approves it under the store’s usual lighting, and the print shop keeps the approved sample as a production reference. A photo of the proof in a messaging app cannot be assessed in the same way as the material itself.

Applying the WCAG Recommendation to a Store Website

For web text, include a reference to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 in the brief. Success Criterion 1.4.3, Level AA, specifies a text-to-background contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, or 3:1 for large text. Under this criterion, large text is at least 18 points in regular weight or 14 points in bold. The developer should assess the text’s actual size on the page.

Use these values as an acceptance criterion for web design. They are not a universal standard for printed price tags and signs. Text that is part of a logo is exempt from the contrast requirement, but product names, prices, descriptions, and buttons do not receive that exemption because of the brand style. For a logo that acts as a link, it is also advisable to choose a legible version; deliberately reducing its contrast for effect does not automatically exempt it from the criterion.

Check Fonts with Real Product Names and Prices

Ask the designer to specify the fonts for body text, headings, and prices, and show the required weights: regular, semibold, or bold. A small store can start with one typeface family and several of its weights.

Before approval, open the layout on a work computer and a phone. Print product names containing digits and the hryvnia symbol, along with the letters “і,” “ї,” “є,” and “ґ” and an apostrophe. Ask a salesperson to read the longest name and price from the usual viewing distance. If they have to bring the label close to their eyes, change the text size, weight, or placement.

For templates that staff will edit, agree on a fallback font and check what happens when it is substituted: whether any characters disappear, whether the price wraps to another line, and whether the name stays within its field. Provide font files only if their license allows it.

Test the Sign, Label, and Phone Display

Agree that final approval will happen after tests on actual items. The owner gathers feedback into one list that identifies the layout, the problem, and the required result. For example: “On the small label, the long name overlaps the SKU; both fields need to remain legible.”

For a practical recognition test, show several people from the target audience the sign, bag, and product card without explanation. Ask whether they belong to the same store, how they read the store name, and what the store sells. Record recurring difficulties and pass them to the designer. This test can identify problems before a print run, but it does not predict future sales.

Product Names, SKUs, and Label Printing in Torgsoft

To apply the approved design to labels, the employee responsible for inventory first checks the product data. In Torgsoft, open “Склад → Стан складу” (“Warehouse → Stock Status”), find the product, and click “Змінити” (“Edit”) to open its card and edit the name or SKU. In Torgsoft, an accounting center is a store or warehouse used to track inventory. If you are viewing several accounting centers, “Усі склади” (“All Warehouses”) mode and the “Вибрати склади” (“Select Warehouses”) button help you choose which ones to view. For label design, agree on a consistent naming convention and retain the attributes sales staff use to distinguish products.

The “Друк” (“Print”) menu in the “Стан складу” (“Stock Status”) form includes options to print labels individually, for the quantity in stock, and with a discount. For a trial, print individual labels for several different products, including a product with a long name and products with different attributes and prices. Compare the printed labels with the approved design, check that the data is legible, and scan the barcode with the work scanner. If the design differs, ask the employee responsible for the software to determine whether and how the required layout can be configured before the print run. Once the samples are approved, select the required print mode; before printing labels for the quantity in stock, verify inventory levels.

Agree on Design Rights in Writing

For a store operating in Ukraine, copyright is governed by Ukraine’s Law “On Copyright and Related Rights” No. 2811-IX. Article 15 establishes a general rule that economic rights to a commissioned work pass to the commissioning party upon creation, unless the contract provides otherwise. However, an exception applies to a work of fine art created on commission: economic rights remain with the author unless otherwise stipulated by the contract or law. A separate exception to this rule applies to a work created specifically as an element of a computer program. Therefore, specify the rights terms in the contract for the logo and other graphic work.

The author retains the moral rights to a commissioned work. An assignment of economic rights or a license (permission to use the work) must cover the scope the store needs. Under Article 48 of the Law, transactions concerning the disposal of economic rights must be made in writing, including electronically. The agreement specifies the subject matter, the scope of rights, and the fee or that the agreement is free of charge.

Discuss the following terms with the designer before signing the contract:

• What will be created. List the logo, its versions, graphics, and templates. Identify final works by file name, image, or an appendix.
• Which rights the store receives. Agree on an assignment of economic rights or a license; for a license, also specify any required exclusivity, territory, and term of use.
• Where the design will be used. List signs, packaging, labels, the website, social media, advertising, and any other required uses.
• Who can work with the materials. Agree that files may be given to a print shop, packaging manufacturer, website developer, or another designer as needed to fulfill the store’s orders.
• Which changes are allowed. Specify resizing, rearranging, translating captions and labels, and any other required adaptations. Article 15 allows the commissioning party to modify a commissioned work unless the contract provides otherwise.
• When payment is due and what it covers. Distinguish the fee for creating the work, the agreed scope of rights, and additional work if charged separately.

If the parties enter into a separate agreement assigning economic rights, Article 49 does not allow objects and rights that did not yet exist when the agreement was made to be its subject matter. For future work, enter into a commissioned work agreement with the required usage terms, then accurately record the final result once created. Rights not covered by a partial assignment remain unassigned.

Clarify the Terms for Using Fonts, Photos, and Ready-Made Graphics Separately

Ask the designer to list third-party elements: fonts, photographs, illustrations, icons, and ready-made templates. For each one, you need its name, rights holder or purchase service, license document or text, and permitted uses. Rights to an element included in another work remain in force under Article 12 of Law No. 2811-IX.

For a font, check whether the license covers use on employees’ computers, use on the website, and sharing it with a contractor. For photos and graphics, check whether advertising, packaging, editing, and the required scope of use are allowed. The applicable license defines the specific permissions. If the store needs to buy a separate license in its own name, agree on that before launching the materials.

Assess the Name and Logo as a Trademark Before Producing the Sign

Before spending money on a sign and a packaging run, ask an intellectual property specialist to assess the sign for your goods and services. Give them the name, logo image, description of the product range, and plans for growth. Ask them to explain the risks of similarity to earlier signs and possible grounds for refusal of registration.

Article 6 of Ukraine’s Law “On the Protection of Rights to Signs for Goods and Services” No. 3689-XII provides, among other things, restrictions on descriptive signs, signs without distinctive character, misleading signs, and signs similar to earlier marks. Exceptions apply to some grounds, including acquired distinctiveness through use before filing an application or the consent of the holder of an earlier right under the conditions established by law. A preliminary search alone therefore does not guarantee registration.

Under Article 5, trademark rights are certified by a certificate; exceptions apply to international registration and marks recognized as well known in Ukraine. The scope of protection is determined by the image and the list of goods and services. Copyright in a graphic work and trademark rights must be considered separately.

Accept the Originals and Check That They Are Ready to Use

Include a file list in the order terms. Agree on the formats with the print shop, website developer, and employee who will edit the templates. A vector file stores graphics as outlines and can be resized; a raster file consists of pixels and must be prepared for the required image dimensions.

• Editable originals. Files in the agreed software with editable elements, required images, and no broken links to external files.
• Production logos. Approved vector formats, such as SVG or a PDF suitable for production, with all required versions.
• Files for daily use. Images in the required dimensions, including PNG with a transparent background if needed.
• Templates. Price tag, label, product card, and other commissioned layouts, with fields identified for staff to change.
• Design specifications. Color codes, font names, approved combinations, and minimum logo sizes.
• Documents. Contract, recorded list of accepted work, rights documents, and licenses for third-party elements.

Before acceptance, the responsible employee opens the originals on a work computer, changes a test name and price, saves the file, and prints a sample. The print shop separately confirms that the production file is suitable for use. If the logo was delivered with its lettering converted to outlines, check that text in the product templates remains editable.

After approval, save the final set in a shared folder accessible to responsible staff and create a backup. Label the approved files clearly and remove working drafts from the folder used day to day. Assign someone to provide contractors with the current file set and approve future changes.

Official Rules for Agreements and Use of Signs

• Ukraine’s Law “On Copyright and Related Rights” dated 01.12.2022, No. 2811-IX: Article 6 — copyright works; Article 12 — economic rights and methods of use; Article 15 — commissioned works; Articles 48–49 — execution of transactions and assignment of economic rights.
• Ukraine’s Law “On the Protection of Rights to Signs for Goods and Services” dated 15.12.1993, No. 3689-XII: Article 5 — conditions and scope of legal protection; Article 6 — grounds for refusal; Article 16 — rights under a certificate and use of a trademark.