Logo Size Matters: Best Practices for Websites, Social Media Platforms, and Print
Your logo is the face of your brand, so it’s crucial to ensure that it looks visually appealing across all platforms.
But having a beautiful design is not enough—it also needs to be the right size.
Why? Because incorrect logo size can lead to a distorted, pixelated, or awkwardly cropped logo. It makes your brand look unprofessional and sloppy, not to mention wasting all your hard work on creating a beautiful logo design that is not displayed properly!
The right logo size will vary depending on the platform you use. That’s why we’ve prepared this logo size guideline for your reference, so that you know the dimensions to use, whether it’s for your website or your company shirt.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Why is the right logo size important?
Different platforms have their own size requirements. For example, Instagram is only 110 x 110 pixels, while YouTube is 800 x 800 pixels. If you upload your Instagram logo for YouTube, it’ll be too small, making it blurry or pixelated.
The reverse is also a problem. If you upload your bigger YouTube logo to Instagram, it will be too zoomed in and have the ends cut off.
Using the right logo size will solve all this. It will ensure that your logo will be displayed properly and won’t get awkwardly placed. It will also maintain the quality and readability of your logo.
Best Logo Size for Websites
Let’s now move on to finding the right logo sizes for different platforms. We’ll start with the website, as it is one of the most common places where your logo appears.
They are usually displayed in the header, footer, or favicon (the small icon on the browser tab).
Wherever you display your logo, keep the file size to 200kb. This ensures that your logo won’t slow down your website.
Website header logo size
The size and positioning of your logo will depend on the website builder and theme you are using.
However, as a general rule of thumb, keeping the size to 250 px x 150 px is best. This size ensures that your design will look good in most cases.
Keep in mind that some people will also view your website on their mobile devices. The smaller screen and vertical layout will affect your web design, so your logo should be able to adapt as well.
- Recommended Dimensions: 250 x 150 pixels for horizontal layouts and 160 x 160 pixels for vertical layouts.
- File Format: SVG files are preferred for scalability without quality loss, but PNG is acceptable as well
- Placement: Left-aligned logos are standard. Link the logo to your homepage to enhance user navigation as well.
- Color: Consider the color of your header or footer. Use a white version of your logo if the background color is dark, and vice versa.
Favicon logo size
Favicons make your website look recognizable even among a sea of browser tabs.
As the size is smaller, you’ll need to create a simplified icon version of your logo. However, they should still look distinct, clear, and aligned with your branding.
- Recommended Dimensions: 16 x 16 (most common), or 32 x 32 pixels; 48 x 48 pixels (for higher resolution displays)
- File Format: JPEG or PNG
Optimal Logo Sizes for Social Media Platforms
Your brand logo is typically used as a profile photo on social media platforms, as it’s the easiest way to let people know they’re in the right place.
However, each platform has its own size requirements. What works for Facebook might not work for TikTok. So brush up below on the right size to ensure your logo will be displayed properly everywhere!
Facebook logo size
- Recommended Dimensions: 180 x 180 pixels
- File Format: JPEG or PNG
- Tip: Your profile photo is displayed at 170 x 170 pixels on computers and 128 x 128 pixels on mobile. Keep your logo centered and leave enough space for any possible cropping.
Instagram logo size
- Recommended Dimensions: 110 x 110 pixels
- File Format: JPEG, as Instagram converts all files to JPEG
- Tip: Instagram profile photos are circular. Keep important elements in the center, or consider using a simplified or icon logo version.
Twitter/X logo size
- Recommended Dimensions: 400 x 400 pixels
- File Format: JPEG, PNG, or GIF
- File Size: Max of 2MB
- Tip: Twitter/X also displays the profile photos as circular.
TikTok logo size
- Recommended Dimensions: 400 x 400 pixels
- File Format: JPEG, PNG, or GIF
- File Size: Max of 2MB
- Tip: TikTok also displays the profile photos as circular.
YouTube logo size
- Recommended Dimensions: 800 x 800 pixels
- File Format: JPEG, PNG, GIF, or BMP
- File Size: Max of 2MB
- Tip: YouTube also displays the profile photos as circular.
- Note: If your channel is connected to your Google Account, any changes in your profile picture will also change your Google Account image.
LinkedIn logo size
- Recommended Dimensions: 400 x 400 pixels
- File Format: JPEG, PNG, or GIF
- File Size: Max of 10MB.
Bluesky logo size
- Recommended Dimensions: 400 x 400 pixels
- File Format: JPEG or PNG
Threads logo size
- Recommended Dimensions: 320 x 320 pixels
- File Format: JPEG or PNG
Ideal Logo Sizes for Print Materials
Print files are measured in inches instead of pixels. They also require the highest image resolution to maintain the design’s color, crispness, and quality. The right size will vary depending on your print material, but the general rule is 300 DPI (dots per inch) or higher.
Don’t forget to use the CMYK color mode instead of RGB to ensure color accuracy.
Lastly, save your logo in vector file formats like AI, EPS, or SVG. This is because vector files can be resized without losing quality. It’s ideal for print materials, from small business cards to huge banners, as the scale is across the board.
Here are the basic size requirements:
- Business cards: 3.5 x 2 inches
- Letterheads: 2 x 2 inches
- Brochures and flyers: 1.5 x 2 inches, will depend on the design
- Posters: 3.5 x 5 inches for large posters, but will still vary depending on design
- Tote bags: will depend on the design and size of the bag, but the maximum print area is around 14 x 16 inches
- T-shirt: This will depend on the design and size of the shirt, but the maximum print area is around 14 x 15 inches. If you’re placing it on the chest pocket, the size is around 4 x 5 inches.
Best Practices for Getting the Right Logo Size
Here are a few logo sizing basics to help you create a logo that will look stunning no matter where you put it:
Have logo variations
Creating different versions of your logo helps ensure you have the right logo for the occasion.
An example is Starbucks. Their icon logo features their siren. Since the design is circular and smaller, they use this logo for smaller spaces like favicons, app icons, stickers, and social media profile photos.
Then, their longer wordmark logo is used in bigger materials like their planner, paper bags, storefronts, billboards, and posters.
You can have as many logo versions as you want as long as they remain cohesive. That said, you should ideally at least have one that is fit for a long horizontal space, one fit for a circular space, and one for a horizontally stacked one.
Use the right formats
As mentioned above, vector files are ideal especially for print as they can be resized without losing quality. Having rasterized files like PNG is also important as they are transparent and can be used for nearly all of your digital platforms.
Use tools and templates
If you’re worried about getting the right size, why not use our logo maker tool? The logo templates are already sized to fit the requirements of the platform you’ll use it for. So you don’t need to worry about the sizing, you can just focus on the design!
But if you already have a finished design, you can also look at image resizers online. Here, you’ll just need to input the dimensions you need, and the tool will automatically resize them for you. You can then use an image compressor tool to ensure that the file size is small enough for upload.
Master Your Logo Sizes With BrandCrowd Today!
There you have it! We hope you found this guide useful. You can also bookmark this article so that you can have a quick reference the next time you think, “What size should a logo be?”
If you’re ready to start designing your logo, head on to our logo maker tool or our AI logo generator to get started. You can also check out our templates for business cards, t-shirts, and flyers for all your marketing needs.
Good luck, and happy designing!
