The most common design question we hear from agents is also the one with the clearest answer in the rules: how big does the brokerage name have to be? The answer is not a single measurement. The Illinois rule gives three alternative tests, and a flyer that passes any one of them is considered in compliance.
This article takes the three tests one at a time, shows how each looks on a real flyer, and suggests a layout that makes the question disappear.
This is not legal advice. Rules change, and your brokerage may have stricter policies of its own. Confirm anything that matters with your managing broker before you rely on it.
Where the tests come from
Section 1450.715 of the Illinois Administrative Code, Title 68, Part 1450 is titled Advertising. Subsection (b) begins: "All advertising must include the sponsoring broker's name and conform to the following requirements." Its first requirement concerns logos. Its second gives the three tests. The wider list of requirements sits in Illinois real estate advertising rules.
The first requirement is easy to miss. A logo, emblem, label, trademarked image or similar identification used by the sponsoring broker "is not considered a part of the sponsoring broker's name unless it contains the sponsoring broker's name." A brokerage symbol with no name in it does not put the name on the flyer. The name has to appear, whether as text or inside a logo that spells it.
The three tests
Subsection (b)(2) says that advertising meeting one of the following "shall be considered in compliance with this Part":
Test one: font size
"The font size used for the letters in the sponsoring broker's name is as large or larger than the letters used in the team name or individual licensee name."
This compares letters. The brokerage name must be set at a size equal to or larger than the type used for your name or the team name.
Test two: area
"The area, in terms of the height and width containing the sponsoring broker's name, is as large or larger than the area, in terms of height and width, than that of the team name or individual licensee name."
This compares the space each name occupies. Picture a box drawn around the brokerage name and a box drawn around your name. The brokerage box should be as large or larger.
Test three: logo
"Any logo, emblem, label, trademarked image, or similar identification incorporating the sponsoring broker's name, is as large or larger than that of the team name or individual licensee name."
This applies when the brokerage name sits inside a logo or similar mark. The mark, as a whole, must be as large or larger than the team or individual name.
Which test fits which flyer
Each test suits a different kind of layout.
- A text-only footer is easiest to judge by the font test. Set the brokerage name in the same size as your name, or larger.
- A stacked lockup with the brokerage name above or below the agent name is usually judged by area, since type of different weights and widths takes up different space.
- A flyer using the brokerage's own logo is checked against the logo test. The logo has to include the brokerage name, and it has to be at least as large as your name or team name.
The tests are alternatives. You only need one, but a design that satisfies more than one has margin. The same question comes up on a sign rider, where the brokerage identification still has to read from the curb.
Where the tests get tricky in practice
The rule says "font size," but typefaces of the same nominal size do not look the same size. A condensed face at one size looks smaller than a wide face at that same size. A name set in capitals looks larger than the same name in lowercase. If the brokerage name is in a compact typeface and your name is set in an elegant wide serif at the same point size, a reasonable person looking at the page may feel yours is bigger, even if the point sizes match.
That is a judgment about appearance rather than a statement from the rule, and it is the reason we design with margin. Our practice is to hold the brokerage name at least as large as the agent name in point size and to keep its overall footprint, by height and width, at least as large as well. That way two of the three tests are met together, and the page does not depend on how any single reviewer reads a typeface.
In practice
On a one-page flyer, we usually build the identification as a single band across the foot of the page:
- The brokerage name, in the largest type in the band.
- The agent or team name beside it, in a size no larger.
- The office city and state, in smaller supporting type.
- Any required equal housing mark, in line with the band.
Because the band is a fixed component, the same proportions repeat on every flyer, brochure and graphic. Nobody has to measure anything on a Friday afternoon.
What people get wrong
The agent photo and name take over the page
A large portrait with the agent's name over it is a legitimate design choice. It is also the layout most likely to put the agent name in bigger type than the brokerage name. If the portrait is the point of the page, put the brokerage lockup directly beside or below it, scaled to match.
The brokerage appears only as a symbol
A brokerage that uses a symbol with its name set elsewhere may supply two files. The symbol alone does not meet the rule, so check that the file you place carries the name.
The team name is displayed in a larger version of the brokerage's font
When a team lockup is created from the brokerage's typeface, the team name often ends up larger than the brokerage name in the footer. Compare them before the file goes out.
The brokerage name is reversed out in pale type on a photograph
The rule concerns size, not contrast, but a name nobody can read does not help anyone. Place the identification band on a solid ground rather than on a photograph.
The digital version loses the band
A flyer that is sent as a PDF or posted online is also governed by the digital advertising rule, Section 1450.720. For a licensee advertising a property, that rule lists additional required information: the licensee's name, the city or geographic area and state of the property, the sponsoring broker's name, and the office city and state or a direct link. A PDF exported from the print flyer should carry all of it. We cover those requirements in the article on Instagram and social posts.
A worked example
Imagine a flyer for a home in Evanston. The footer band reads, left to right:
- The brokerage name, in the largest size on the band.
- The team name, in a size that does not exceed it.
- "Evanston, Illinois" for the property, set in the supporting size.
- The brokerage's office city and state.
The brokerage name is at least as large by font size, and the box around it is at least as large by area. The band repeats unchanged on the open house card, the sign rider and the social graphic. The agent's face can be as large as the layout needs, because the identification does not depend on how big the portrait is. For setting the lockup once so every piece follows it, see co-branding with your brokerage.
Questions to ask your managing broker
- Does the brokerage supply a lockup with the agent name already scaled to its rules?
- Is there a required position for the brokerage logo?
- Does the brokerage need to approve flyers before they are used?
- Are there rules about how the brokerage name may appear that are stricter than the state rule?
Many brokerages answer all four in a written brand standard. Get it, and build the band from it.
A short checklist
- Is the sponsoring broker's name spelled out, not only symbolized?
- Is the brokerage name at least as large as the agent or team name by font size, by area, or through a name-bearing logo?
- Is the identification in a fixed band that repeats on every piece?
- Does the digital version carry the extra lines required online?
- Has the brokerage approved the layout, if it requires approval?
A layout that passes by construction is better than one that passes by inspection. If you want your listing flyers built that way, with the identification band set once and reused on every listing, that is a large part of what we design.
Sources: Illinois Administrative Code, Title 68, Part 1450, Sections 1450.715 and 1450.720, as published on the Illinois General Assembly website (ilga.gov) and read on October 30, 2026.