Just don’t do it!
Does the size of your logo on your site matter? It matters a little…in that your logo should be there. But it shouldn’t be the focus on the page. Do you want me to come to your website and just stare at your logo and not read any content? No, doubt it…the point of your website is to drive me to an action, to pick up the phone, to learn more about you or to buy something. Not to be hypnotized by your logo!
I’m only going to say this once…please, listen! YOUR LOGO IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON YOUR WEBSITE! If you didn’t catch it the first time, re-read that…and again…and again…and again.
Why am I harping on this enough that I’m writing an entire blog dedicated to it? Because one of the most common requests we hear as web designers is, “Can you make my logo bigger?” Yep, we can. No, you shouldn’t. It does not “need to stand out,” in fact, it shouldn’t—at least not as the most important thing on the page. It does not “need to draw extra attention,” again, it shouldn’t. A giant logo on the page does not need to re-reinforce “who you are,” they already know who you are. They came to you, remember?
Who is your logo most important to? You. That being said—your logo IS important. A good solid logo goes a long way to good solid branding. A few tips on logos:
- It should be on your website. It does not need to be the focus on your website, nor repeated over and over again on your website, other than in places like the header and footer.
- It should be on everything else—your business cards, marketing pieces, company clothing, etc. (on that note, if you do have a website, your website address should also be on every piece of marketing, emails, business cards and clothing—you name it, as well)
- It should always be the same. The colors shouldn’t change with the seasons. You should not re-brand every other quarter because you’re bored with your logo and you just want to spruce it up. It should always be the same aspect ratio…meaning your logo proportions should be consistent. You will obviously have different sized logos; that is fine as long as the shape is the same. You should not size a logo down for something and decide to reshape it to make it fit somewhere better than its normal shape would. If you saw the Nike logo and it was a really short, fat swoosh, you’d probably wonder if you were buying Nike or a knock-off Niko.
- If you do rebrand, because let’s face it, it does happen: be consistent. Don’t keep some things with the old logo and some with the new.
- Your logo should be visible. Don’t tuck it into a corner and make it invisible–it SHOULD be seen because it is important.
Moral of the story? You need to have a logo on your website. It is not the focus of your site. Think about even going to Google and doing a search. You probably barely acknowledge the logo there—you already know who they are—you went to THEIR site…so the logo just kind of blends in as part of the page. You would probably notice if it wasn’t there, but the size of it would not be a big deal…their logo is not what makes you go back to their site…and a bigger logo is unlikely to convert your site users into “business.”
I’ll stop you on the argument you’re probably posing already, “Yeah, exactly Google does it! They change their logo with holidays and seasons and days of the week and colors, etc.” Are you Google? When you have the brand recognition of Google, go to town. We won’t stop you. In fact, do you want us to help design the different logo versions? Otherwise, until you have the kind of brand power (or budget) Google or Nike has, “just don’t do it.”
If you have six minutes of your life to waste…watch this video on YouTube—at least the beginning! Make My Logo Bigger Cream. It’s a spoof sales video, exaggerating a common misconception that the bigger the logo, the better.
