Before&After Design Tip: Use a Ghosted Logo to Make a Great Notepad
This small notepad shows off your logo and lets your reader interact with it slowly.
Here’s a quick design tip on collateral from issue 41 of Before&After Magazine.
We’re not big fans of ghosted logos, which are normally overlaid by text, weakening (or obscuring) the image and complicating reading. But here’s a great exception: a 3½ in. × 7 in. notepad that shows off your logo and lets the reader cover it up—s-l-o-w-l-y spending time literally atop your image!

For branding integrity, run the logo normally at full strength, and make the ghost a duplicate.

CreativePro members can download original content from Before&After Magazine, a beloved resource that taught a generation of newly minted digital designers how to design and communicate effectively with the written word. See our archive here.
© John McWade/Before&After Magazine, courtesy of Gaye Anne McWade.
This article was last modified on March 30, 2026
This article was first published on December 15, 2025
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