Favicon Design Tips: Mastering the art of Designing a Memorable and Standout Favicon
By following these tips, you can create a favicon that not only stands out but also leaves a lasting impression on your audience.
Favicon should be vivid and having full contrast with background color of browser toolbar. An appealing view of favicon relative to other favicons in tabs, can also be achieved by selecting a unique symbol which is easy to distinguish from other favicons in other tabs.
A highly visible favicon tremendously benefits your website even it can boost the SEO of your site because a user can easily locate your website among heaps of opened tabs in the browser and can return to spend more time on your webpage.
→ Watch Video Tutorial below.
Favicons with poor contrast and visibility include the websites of Ferrari, Bosch and Adidas – I would recommend their respective design team to have a background element under the favicon.
Use Appropriate Colors for Designing a Favicon
Use colors that stand out and are consistent with your brand's identity. High contrast colors can help your favicon be more noticeable.
The default background color of toolbar (top of window) is same in Chrome and Edge browsers. However, a user can change the background color of toolbar by applying some dark or light theme in ‘Appearance’ settings of the browser.
Therefore, it is better to create a favicon in some medium color that suits best on both light background and dark background – such as colors used in following favicons.
Simplot brand uses a medium color for website icon.
McDonald’s also uses moderate color for favicon.
3M uses middle colors.
IBM also uses a medium color for favicon which maintains distinctiveness on most background colors.
In my opinion, best color for favicon will be any medium color such as blue, golden or orange color.
For better visibility, another option is to create favicons in multiple colors such as in favicons of Microsoft and Google Meet.
Apply Background to Favicon
Some websites use a transparent favicon such as Squarespace, Quora and Trustpilot.
However, I recommend that you should not design transparent favicon because it reduces contrast with browser toolbar background especially when user selects some different browser theme.
Design your favicon with a background to achieve consistent strong visibility on any browser toolbar color selected by the end user. For example, the websites of Wikipedia, Facebook, Cigna, Lenovo, DuckDuckGo, Vimeo, Google Search, Verizon, Canva, Toyota, Honda, Samsung, Reebok, Sanofi, Amazon, Boeing, and Wix have background under favicon.
In my opinion, square background for website icon does not look good. So, create favicon with rounded or shaped background. For example, the favicons of Facebook, Zillow, Samsung, Google Search, Canva, and DuckDuckGo have rounded or shaped background.
What if You Do Not Want to design Favicon with Background?
Background under graphic icon boosts visibility. However, if you want to create a website favicon without background, then you should design favicon in multiple colors. Because if one color fades, the other colors in the favicon will maintain the visible contrast.
Following websites are examples of having multiple color favicons.
Google One use favicon in many colors.
Bing favicon is designed in multiple colors.
Google Drive has a beautiful favicon in different colors.
Statcounter is also multi-colored.
Google Meet features an awesome multi-color browser icon.
Google TV boasts a multiple colored favicon.
Altria favorite icon is also in multiple colors.
Though Cigna favicon is multi-colored, even then it has background. By the way, the design of Cigna website is among my most favorite designs.
Please remember that when a tab sleeps in Edge browser, the brightness of the website icon, automatically fades. The brightness of icon resumes when the user hovers the mouse over favicon. So, try to create some bright favicons.
More Tips for Designing an Awesome Favicon
A favicon is typically small, so simplicity is key. Avoid cramming too many elements into the design. A clean, minimalistic design often works best.
Your favicon should be a natural extension of your brand’s visual identity. Consistency helps in reinforcing brand recognition and trust.
Show your favicon to others and get their feedback. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can catch details you may have missed.
More Resources
Please also check following useful resources.
Favicon Display Locations: Where Does Website Favicon Appear other than browser tab.
Best Favicon Image Format – ICO, PNG, JPG, SVG?
Favicon – why it Loads late? Do Favicon Affect SEO?
Favicon Ideal Size – the Best Size for a Website Favicon.
Examples of Best Favicon Designs.
FAVICON Design Ideas and Examples.
What is the best size for a website logo?
Guidance about designing an ideal logo for your website.
Check our Charges for Designing a Custom Favicon for your Website.
Optimal Favicon Size for display in Google Search.
Optimal Placement of Logo Icon and Logo Text in Website Logos Illustrated with Examples.
Recommended Size for Website Logos. .
Pros and Cons of Designing Square Logo vs horizontal Logo.
Learn more Website Creation and Web Design Tips.
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