Making Your Logo And Favicon

Do you have a custom logo or favicon for your website? Well, you really should because they add a nice finishing touch to your branding and your site’s overall design.

I see a lot of sites that are still using the default favicon that comes with WordPress. Some don’t even have one at all. If you’re one of those people who don’t have a custom logo and/or favicon, follow this simple tutorial on making your own logo and favicon.

 

Creating the Graphic

Use an image editor like Photoshop. Some of us don’t have Photoshop but don’t worry because there are many other great alternatives out there, one of which is Canva.com. It’s kind of like Photoshop and comes with a lot of tools and features for image editing. You can sign up using your Facebook account or using your email. You can also use PicMonkey or Pixlr if you want to create a square version of your favicon (which you should, by the way).

Remember that a good favicon should capture the essence of your brand and get across your branding in a very small space. The best way to make a favicon is to first create a square PNG image. PNGs support transparency. Make sure to keep your favicon simple as it will be displayed in the 16 x 16px format in most browsers. Use your brand’s logo or main symbol if you can. And if your logo does have a symbol, consider using the first letter of your business name (instead of the full logo with text and trademarks). After all, favicons are too small for words to be legible, so make every pixel count.

If you want to downscale a full-sized logo, it could create pixel artifacts that can make it look blurry. You should edit your favicon at the pixel level to make it look crisp and sharp.

Don’t have time to make your own logo and favicon? Don’t worry. GraphicRiver.net has some really nice premade stuff, like logos and favicons. This can help you speed up the design process without compromising quality.

Editing Your Favicon

You can use Photoshop for editing your favicon. You can start by resizing your larger logo down to your desired image size (144px is the standard size for favicons). By using the pencil tool, you can edit the pixel one by one until your favicon looks crisp and sharp. It can be a pretty arduous process (especially if you’re a perfectionist like me), but it produces the best results.

Remember that you can now include alpha transparency in your images if you like. This used to be a problem but almost all browsers these days support transparency in a favicon.

Adding a Favicon and Logo to your Website Using the Authority Pro Theme

Uploading your new logo and favicon is easy. From the WordPress dashboard, simply click on Authority Pro, and then on General Settings. The first part of the theme options is to upload your logo and favicon. Here, you can click the Upload Image button to upload your logo and favicon.

Once you’re done uploading your images and filling in the necessary details, click on the Save Changes button to automatically input your favicon and logo images into the settings box.

That’s it, you’re done!