Why do you need a square logo for your favicon, apps, and social media? Well, The shape of logos is changing. Some companies are revamping their logo to fit the industry’s new need for uniform shapes, while others have tackled the change by making a separate, complementary logo. Take a look:
Square Logo For Your Social Media
Social media profiles like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, have all adopted a square-dimension profile picture. Of course, they’re being displayed in many cases as a circle, but what’s important is that they’re equal in height and width. Here are two examples of what different-sized logos look like on social media:
These both look fine to you at this size, right? Well, keep this thought in mind as we see even smaller examples than these.
Square Logo For Your Apps
Look at your phone’s home screen and you’ll see the same is true here, though not every business will have their own app. In this example, let’s look at two businesses that use one size of logo for their larger branding like website pages and ads, and a different size for apps, social media, and favicons:
Do you have any apps on your phone that are trying to cram a wide logo into a square space? They’re generally few and far between these days.
Square Logo For Your Favicon
Oh, the favicon. Almost too small to matter, but just large enough to matter more than anyone would have expected. You will see that you’ll need a square logo for your favicon to fit the tiny image on the left side of your tabs at the top of your browser. They help people immediately identify which tabs are which and give instant brand recognition.
Mike and I talk a little more about favicons in the video located in the article: [Video] Is Your Website Out Of Date? Here Are 9 Things That Say Yes!
Look at this screenshot of my tabs. Notice all of my pinned tabs on the left? Like these examples, you’ll need a square logo for your favicon so your website is instantly recognizable without the use of any text.
It doesn’t stop there. As of now, Google has rolled out a new feature on their mobile search, which displays websites’ favicons next to their organic search results. This feature is also planned to eventually launch on desktop, too.
Here’s a video I worked on when Google announced these changes: [Video] Here’s What Google’s New Icon Update Means For Your Business
Would that “Company Name” Logo from the top of this article still work here?
In all of these cases, you can see why the giants of the business world have been adapting their brands. You might think the most important part of your brand is your business’ name, but do you think it’s just as important when it’s so distorted and small that it can’t be read? Probably not.
Start creating an association between a square logo for your favicon and the rest of your brand; this trend isn’t going away any time soon.
Additional Reading:
https://www.theverge.com/2015/9/1/9239769/new-google-logo-announced
https://brand.netflix.com/en/assets/
https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/22/18635774/google-mobile-search-redesign-favicons-website-names
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-image-sizes-guide/
