logo-design

Logo Design Pipeline

Generate, evaluate, and refine logo designs using Gemini image generation. You act as both the prompt engineer and art director: generate prompt variations, call the API, read the resulting images (you are multimodal), score them, and iterate.

Prerequisites

GEMINI_API_KEY must be set in the environment. Verify before starting:

[[ -n "${GEMINI_API_KEY:-}" ]] && echo "API key set" || echo "GEMINI_API_KEY not set"

Pipeline

Stage 1: Brief

Gather from the user before generating anything:

• Brand name (exact spelling, capitalization)
• Industry/domain (what the company does)
• Style direction (modern, vintage, playful, corporate, minimal, etc.)
• Color preferences (specific colors, or mood like "warm", "professional")
• Constraints (must include icon, text only, specific element, avoid something)
• Where it will be used (app icon, website, print, all of the above)

If the user is vague, suggest 2-3 directions and let them pick. Do not proceed without at least brand name and general direction.

Stage 2: Prompt Generation

Generate 6-8 diverse prompts covering different logo archetypes:

Count	Type	Description
2	Wordmark	Typography-focused, the brand name IS the logo
2	Symbol	Iconic mark, abstract or literal, works without text
2	Combination	Symbol + wordmark together
1-2	Wildcard	Unexpected interpretation, creative risk

Each prompt should:

• Start with "Professional logo design for" or "Logo:"
• Specify the exact brand name in quotes
• Include style keywords (flat, vector, geometric, hand-drawn, etc.)
• Mention "white background" or "transparent background" unless the brief says otherwise
• Specify "clean, minimal, scalable" to guide generation quality
• Be 1-3 sentences, concrete and specific

Example prompt structure:

Logo: Clean, modern wordmark for "Acme Labs" in a geometric sans-serif font.
Flat design on white background. Colors: deep navy blue and electric teal accent.
Professional, tech-forward, minimal.

Present all prompts to the user for approval. They can modify, add, or remove prompts.

Stage 3: Concept Generation

Show cost estimate before running:

Generating {N} images with Nano Banana 2
Estimated cost: ~${N * 0.02} (~$0.02/image)

Run generate-image.sh in parallel for all prompts. Save to ./logo-output/{brand-slug}/stage1-flash/.

# Example: generate all prompts in parallel
for i in $(seq 1 N); do
    scripts/generate-image.sh \
        --prompt "..." \
        --output "./logo-output/{brand}/stage1-flash/concept-${i}.png" \
        --aspect-ratio "1:1" &
done
wait

Use the script at the path relative to this skill's directory. The full path is available in the skill's context.

After generation, report how many succeeded and failed.

Stage 4: Evaluation

Read all generated images (you can see them, you are multimodal). Load the evaluation rubric from references/evaluation-rubric.md and score each image on the 5 criteria.

Present results as a ranked table:

| Rank | File | Text | Simple | Color | Scale | Brief | Total | Notes |
|------|------|------|--------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
| 1    | ...  | 4    | 5      | 4     | 5     | 4     | 22    | Strong wordmark, clean lines |
| 2    | ...  | 3    | 4      | 5     | 4     | 4     | 20    | Great colors, text slightly off |

Recommend the top 2-3 candidates for refinement. Explain why each was selected and what could be improved with better prompting.

Stage 5: Refinement

For the selected concepts, refine the prompts based on evaluation notes. Show cost estimate:

Refining {N} concepts at 2K resolution
Estimated cost: ~${N * 0.02} (~$0.02/image)

Generate refined versions:

for i in ...; do
    scripts/generate-image.sh \
        --prompt "..." \
        --output "./logo-output/{brand}/stage2-refined/refined-${i}.png" \
        --aspect-ratio "1:1" \
        --image-size 2K &
done
wait

Generate 2-3 variations per winning concept (prompt tweaks for color, weight, spacing).

Stage 6: Final Selection

Re-evaluate refined images using the same rubric. Present comparison between initial concepts and refined versions.

Let the user pick the winner. If they want changes, iterate (go back to Stage 5 with modified prompts).

Once the user confirms, copy the winning image to stage3-final/ and upscale it.

Important: Do NOT re-generate the final image with generate-image.sh. Generative models produce a new image each time, so re-generation will not match the selected design. Instead, upscale the exact winning file.

# Copy the winner
mkdir -p "./logo-output/{brand}/stage3-final"
cp "./logo-output/{brand}/stage2-refined/refined-5b.png" "./logo-output/{brand}/stage3-final/final.png"

# Upscale to 4K using realesrgan (if available)
realesrgan-ncnn-vulkan -i "./logo-output/{brand}/stage3-final/final.png" \
    -o "./logo-output/{brand}/stage3-final/final-4k.png" \
    -s 4 -n realesrgan-x4plus

If realesrgan-ncnn-vulkan is not installed, check for alternatives:

• realcugan-ncnn-vulkan (better for illustrations)
• ImageMagick: magick convert input.png -resize 400% -filter Lanczos output.png (basic but always available)
• Inform the user and suggest installing Real-ESRGAN for best results

SVG conversion (optional): If vtracer is installed, convert the final logo to SVG. The key is remapping to the exact brand palette first, because Gemini returns JPEG data with compression artifacts that create hundreds of near-duplicate colors.

FINAL="./logo-output/{brand}/stage3-final/final.png"

# 1. Create a palette image with exact brand colors (white + logo colors)
#    Extract the actual hex values from the winning design
magick xc:"#FEFEFE" xc:"#65BCAE" xc:"#D43C55" xc:"#44444A" +append /tmp/palette.png

# 2. Remap to exact palette (removes all anti-alias and JPEG artifact colors)
magick "$FINAL" +dither -remap /tmp/palette.png -type TrueColor /tmp/logo-remapped.png

# 3. Trace to SVG (expect ~10 paths for a geometric logo)
vtracer -i /tmp/logo-remapped.png \
    -o "./logo-output/{brand}/stage3-final/final.svg" \
    --colormode color --hierarchical stacked --mode spline \
    -f 16 -p 6 -c 60 -l 4 -s 45

rm /tmp/palette.png /tmp/logo-remapped.png

The palette colors must match the actual logo. Read the final image and extract the dominant colors, or use the hex values from the brand guidelines. A clean geometric logo should produce 10-15 paths and under 25K.

Stage 7: Brand Kit

After the user confirms a winner, create a complete brand kit. Save everything to ./logo-output/{brand-slug}/stage4-brand-kit/.

Critical: The final image (stage3-final/final.png) is the source of truth. Never generate brand assets from text prompts alone, because the model will produce a different logo every time. Always pass the final image via --input-image so the model works from the actual logo.

Show cost estimate before running:

Generating 7 brand kit variants
Estimated cost: ~$0.14 (~$0.02/image)

Set variables for convenience:

FINAL="./logo-output/{brand}/stage3-final/final.png"
KIT="./logo-output/{brand}/stage4-brand-kit"
SCRIPT="scripts/generate-image.sh"
mkdir -p "$KIT"

Generate all assets in parallel using --input-image:

$SCRIPT --input-image "$FINAL" \
    --prompt "Place this exact logo on a dark navy background (#1a1a2e). Keep the logo colors exactly as they are. Clean, centered, professional." \
    --output "$KIT/dark-bg.png" --aspect-ratio "1:1" &

$SCRIPT --input-image "$FINAL" \
    --prompt "Convert this logo to a single-color pure white version on a solid black background. Every element (all colored shapes and all text) must become pure white. No colors, no grays, only white on black." \
    --output "$KIT/mono-white.png" --aspect-ratio "1:1" &

$SCRIPT --input-image "$FINAL" \
    --prompt "Convert this logo to a single-color pure black version on a solid white background. Every element (all colored shapes and all text) must become pure black. No colors, no grays, only black on white." \
    --output "$KIT/mono-dark.png" --aspect-ratio "1:1" &

$SCRIPT --input-image "$FINAL" \
    --prompt "Show only the icon mark from this logo, without any text. Just the symbol, tightly cropped with small even padding on all sides. White background." \
    --output "$KIT/favicon.png" --aspect-ratio "1:1" &

$SCRIPT --input-image "$FINAL" \
    --prompt "Show only the icon mark from this logo, without any text. Center the symbol with generous padding around it. White background. Suitable for a social media profile picture." \
    --output "$KIT/social-profile.png" --aspect-ratio "1:1" &

$SCRIPT --input-image "$FINAL" \
    --prompt "Show only the icon mark from this logo as a mobile app icon. No text. Center the symbol with even padding. Rounded corners suitable for iOS/Android app icons. White background." \
    --output "$KIT/app-icon.png" --aspect-ratio "1:1" &

$SCRIPT --input-image "$FINAL" \
    --prompt "Place the icon mark from this logo on the left side of a clean horizontal banner. Add the brand name in matching typography to the right. White background, professional layout, generous spacing between mark and text." \
    --output "$KIT/social-banner.png" --aspect-ratio "16:9" &

wait

Prompt tips for better results:

• Be explicit about what "monochrome" means: "pure white" or "pure black", not just "single color"
• For app icons, mention "rounded corners" to get mobile-ready output
• For favicon, say "tightly cropped" to maximize the icon area
• Describe the logo elements by their visual properties (colors, shapes) rather than abstract terms
• The model understands "icon mark" to mean the symbol without text

Valid aspect ratios: 1:1, 1:4, 1:8, 2:3, 3:2, 3:4, 4:1, 4:3, 4:5, 5:4, 8:1, 9:16, 16:9, 21:9. Use 16:9 for social banners (not 3:1).

Review results and retry any that don't match expectations with refined prompts.

After creating assets, produce a brand guidelines summary (as text, not an image). Write a brand-guidelines.md file to the brand kit directory covering:

• Brand name and correct usage
• Primary colors (hex values extracted from the winning design)
• Typography notes (describe the font style, recommend similar Google Fonts)
• Logo clear space rules (approximate from the design)
• Do's and don'ts (based on the design's characteristics)
• Asset inventory (list all generated files with their intended use)

Iteration

The user can intervene at any point:

• "Try more vintage style" = regenerate with adjusted prompts (Stage 2-3)
• "I like concept 3 but in blue" = refine that specific prompt (Stage 5)
• "Combine the icon from 2 with the text from 5" = create a new composite prompt (Stage 5)
• "Start over" = back to Stage 2 with new direction

Always confirm before spending API credits on a new batch.

Output Structure

./logo-output/{brand-slug}/
    stage1-flash/
        concept-1.png
        concept-2.png
        ...
    stage2-refined/
        refined-1.png
        refined-1b.png
        refined-2.png
        ...
    stage3-final/
        final.png
    stage4-brand-kit/
        dark-bg.png
        mono-white.png
        mono-dark.png
        favicon.png
        social-profile.png
        social-banner.png
        app-icon.png
        brand-guidelines.md

Gallery Viewer

Start the gallery server before generating any images so the user can browse results in real time. The gallery auto-refreshes every 3 seconds, so newly generated images appear without reloading. Re-running the script on the same port automatically kills the previous instance.

Start it after the brief, before the first generation:

# Serve all projects (index with brand cards, click to browse stages)
scripts/serve-gallery.sh --dir ./logo-output

# Or a specific brand
scripts/serve-gallery.sh --dir ./logo-output/{brand-slug}

Options:

• --dir <path> (required) path to logo-output parent or a specific brand directory
• --port <N> (default 8420)

Tips for Better Results

• Include "vector style" or "flat design" to avoid photorealistic outputs
• Specify "on pure white background" to get clean, extractable logos
• For text, spell out the exact characters you want rendered
• Mentioning "SVG-like" or "print ready" can improve cleanliness
• Avoid prompts that are too long; 2-3 focused sentences work best