How to Evaluate a Logo: A 6-Point Checklist Tested on Real Logos

A logo gets judged at its smallest and plainest: a browser tab icon, a one-color stamp, a white print on a dark shirt. To evaluate one, put it in those places and look. This checklist does that with three real logos from the Logo Diffusion gallery, each shown with the prompt that made it and a test strip you can repeat in any image editor.

The logo checklist

Run the checks in this order. The first three need only an image editor.

1. Shrink it to 128, 64, 32 and 16 pixels wide, and note where each part stops reading.
2. Take the color out: every color in the logo turns black and the background white. The logo should still read.
3. Reverse that version to white on black. A dark logo in full color disappears on a dark background, so this is the version a dark shirt or a dark-mode screen will use.
4. Read the name and any tagline at the sizes the logo will really be used.
5. Count the colors and give each one a job you can name. Our guide to logo color combinations covers choosing them.
6. Check the fit: the subject should say something about the business, and the logo should not pass for a competitor's.

How to test a logo in five minutes

Crop the logo to its edges so empty background does not count. Resize it to 128 pixels wide, then 64, 32 and 16, and enlarge each copy again with nearest-neighbor resizing, which adds no smoothing and shows the real pixels. For one color, turn every color in the logo black and leave the background white: in most editors, select the background, invert the selection and fill it black. Leave out any soft drop shadow, since one ink cannot print it. Invert that for the reversed version. Each strip below was made this way from the gallery file, and each logo appears unedited above its strip.

A line drawing that is already one color

A logo drawn in one color and one line weight has the color checks built in, and this prompt asked for a simple drawing.

A playful cat batting at a ball of yarn, depicted with a simplistic design.

The color checks pass before they start. The logo is one dark green on peach, so the one-color version is the same drawing in black, and the reversed version keeps every line, the face and the spokes of the yarn ball included.

Size is where a line drawing meets its limit. In the gallery file the line is about 19 pixels thick on a drawing 430 pixels wide. Shrunk to 64 pixels wide, the line is about 3 pixels and the cat is crisp. At 32 it is under 1.5 pixels, and the ears, the paw and the yarn ball still read. At 16 it is under one pixel and the drawing fades to a pale blur. A line logo meant for a browser tab needs a heavier line or a filled version.

Where an outline mascot stops reading

This prompt describes a pose, and the logo draws it with a heavy black outline, black shadow shapes and orange on the ears and lower legs.

Rhino mascot, head down, charging forward aggressively, flared nostrils, determined expression, looking ahead, powerful stance.

In one color the orange turns black with everything else, so the ears fill in solid and the lower legs join the black shadow shapes in one dark base. The rhino still reads, because the black outline does the drawing and the orange only decorates it. Reversed, it holds up just as well.

Size is the limit here too. The outline is about a thirtieth of the logo's width, thinner for its size than the cat's line: one pixel thick at 32 pixels wide, where the horn, head and legs still read, and half a pixel at 16, where the drawing breaks into gray dots. For a browser tab, this logo needs a smaller companion, such as the head and horn alone with a heavier line.

Type, tagline and color in a wordmark

A wordmark puts the most weight on the type check, and this one adds a tagline and a small symbol.

A hop cone intertwines within the bold serif text, a vintage emblem enhancing the brewery's heritage, with rustic accents.

Each part has its own floor. At 128 pixels wide the tagline's capitals are about 5 pixels tall and just readable. At 64 they are under 3 pixels and turn to noise, while the name, about 11 pixels tall, still reads. At 32 only the green cone stands out. The tagline is about a quarter of the name's height, so it goes first. If the lettering itself needs to change, our guide to types of fonts compares the families.

The color check passes, and the reason is worth copying. The cone is one light green, but its scales are split by thin pale lines, so in black the scales stay apart and the cone still reads as a hop. The soft gray shadow beside the letters and the cone drops out, as it should, since one ink cannot print it. Reversed, the cone keeps its scales too.

Fit and originality, judged by eye

The last check has no strip. The hop cone says beer before anyone reads the name, which is the job of a brewery symbol. A cat or a rhino sets a mood but names no trade, so each needs the business name beside it, as in a combination logo. Originality comes from the drawing: plenty of logos use a cat, and this one is its own because of the yarn ball drawn as a wheel of curved spokes in the same line as the cat. Set your logo next to three competitors' logos at the same size and check that it still looks like yours.

When a check fails

None of these results means starting over.

• A part that stops reading at small sizes needs a simpler version for icons. Logo System, one of the Elements in the Magic Editor, turns one logo into a wordmark, a lettermark, an emblem and a symbol.
• Colors that touch merge into one shape in one ink, as the rhino's orange legs join its black shadows. A thin gap of background between them, like the lines between the cone's scales, keeps the shapes apart. The Magic Editor edits a logo from a text instruction, so you can describe the change, such as a thin gap between two colors, and run the strip again. An edit at the default Base setting costs 5 credits.
• Lines that vanish at 16 pixels need a heavier line, which you can ask for the same way.
• If no option passes, make more in Text to Logo and test each one.

File formats are a separate list, covered in our checklist for exporting production-ready logos.

FAQ

How do I test a logo before I use it?

Run the screen checks first. Then print it at its real size, such as on a business card, and look at it from arm's length. Mockups in Logo Diffusion generate a fresh scene around your uploaded logo, so you can see it in a real setting before anything is printed.

Does every logo need a one-color version?

Yes. Embroidery, rubber stamps, engraving and single-color printing allow one ink, and an automatic conversion makes none of a designer's choices. If the one-color test breaks your logo, draw that version on purpose and keep its reversed twin for dark backgrounds.

What makes a logo look professional?

Decisions you can explain: a few flat colors, each with a job, one line weight throughout, lettering drawn for the name and clear space on every side. The strips test the colors and the line weight, and the rest you judge by eye.

Can I evaluate an AI-generated logo the same way?

Yes. The checks look at shapes and pixels, whatever made them. The difference is volume: Text to Logo costs 2 credits per image and a paid generation returns 4 options for 8 credits, so run the strip on every option and keep the one that passes the most checks.