Methods to Determine Needed Logo Size – Rendered in Browser and Visual Physical Size
Please note that to establish the Ideal Size or appropriate size of logo, first, you must determine ‘Needed’ size of logo. I can define the needed size of logo as the rendered logo size in browser on most popular screen resolution.
Decide Visual Physical Size of Logo
Initially create and upload a test logo in large dimensions. You can create logo in any higher pixels; for example, for Dozro website I created 1500 × 414 px size logo.
Now open your website on computer, preferably on a screen with resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels - because it is most popular screen. Upload the logo to your website and test it by shrinking and enlarging it again and again. Decide where it looks best – alternatively, you can follow my formula that the height of logo should be double than the size of navigation text.
My Formula for Determining the Height of Logo on Website
If width and height values are locked, then you can control the size of logo (or any image) through single dimension of either height or width. So, in this case, we are controlling size through height.
So, my formula is simple; double the size (height) of logo from that of navigation text. I reiterate that this formula works only for text based horizontal logos.
Please do not worry if your navigation menu text is in rem or em values and not available in pixels. According to Microsoft, the 1 em displayed is equal to 16 pixels. [RD]
Text size of my navigation menu is 1.2rem which is equal to around 20px. So, our logo should have a height of around 40 pixels. (RD)
If you cannot calculate the pixel height, you can compare the physical height of logo with navigation text.
Please note that you can slightly make variations in this formula according to the actual dimensions of your logo.
After deciding the visual physical size, note down the exact numerical pixel size of the logo.
Method to Check Rendered Size of Logo Image in Browser
If pixel sizes of width and height are not visible in your website editor, then publish the site, open your site in browser, right click on the logo, click ‘Inspect’ on context menu to see rendered logo dimensions in dev tools. The rendered size is your needed and appropriate size of the logo.
The rendered size of logo in browser for Dozro logo is 145 × 40 px – so this rendered size on most used screen resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) is in fact the needed size for Dozro logo.
Needed Size Cannot be Ideal Logo Size
Though needed size of logo is a better option but it is not an ideal or best option. Several factors may prove my point that the size of website logo should not be exact needed size. Some of these factors are as follows.
People will open your website on multifarious screen resolutions, even larger than the most popular screen resolution.
Some low vision people require zooming-in your website page for accessibility.
Therefore, after determining the needed size, go back to your logo creation software and download your logo again in slightly more than the needed size – for example, the needed size for Dozro logo was 145 × 40 px but I downloaded it in 210 x 58 pixels. Upload it to your website as final logo.
More Resources
I recommend you check other articles about logo.
Standard Logo Size Commonly Used on Popular Websites
Logo Size Recommendations by Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy
Logo Resizing Feature after uploading on Squarespace and GoDaddy
Create a Responsive Logo according to Resolution Size of Most Popular User Screen
Ideal Logo Size Recommendations for Website
Comparison of Horizontal logo vs Square Logo Design for Website | Pros and Cons
Website Logo Best Image Format – PNG, JPG, SVG?
Dozro Services for designing a brand logo.
