Why your logo looks rubbish, and how to fix it.

Ok rubbish is a bit clickbait, but have you ever wondered why it looks pixellated sometimes? It’s probably because you’re using the wrong file type.

You need an SVG

SVGs (Scalable Vector Graphics) are like the James Bond of the graphic world, always sharp, endlessly flexible, and here to save your designs from a pixelated martini (shaken not stirred).

SVGs Look Great at Any Size

Whether you’re blowing up (ha) your logo for a billboard or shrinking it down for a favicon, SVGs keep it classy. They don’t pixelate, blur, or panic needlessly when resized.

They’re the graphics equivalent of the perfect dinner guest—always polished and ready to impress.

How do they do it? Magic.

Actually it’s just maths. Vectors use maths to ensure they always look sharper than James Bond on a night out. If you resize or stretch a pixel-based image, it will pixelate. Not very 007 of them.

Compatibility and Utility

You don’t even need design software to check them like you do with other vector based file types, you can open SVG files in any web browser, which feels very “Bond hacking the system”.

They’re also surprisingly cool with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, making your presentations look like they were designed by a pro.

Using PNGs as a Backup

Bond always has a backup plan. Enter PNGs: the trusty sidekick. PNGs are widely accepted (even on Google Slides, seriously Google get your act together), and they offer transparency, which is always a nice touch.

But beware, PNG files are a bit diva, they look great at their original size but will pixelate faster than a bad 90s video game if you try to stretch them too much.

Make sure you have a large version, but this also has a caveat, larger images take longer to load.

Avoiding JPGs for Logos and Graphics

JPGs fine for photographs but terrible for logos. They slap a white background on everything and pixelate so badly when resized that your logo ends up looking like a low-res Goldfinger hitting up Fort Knox

(we regret the theme now to be honest, but did find out “Spectre” (2015) holds the record for the largest film explosion ever, which is pretty cool).

Need some help?

If you can’t get hold of the vector version of your logo and need some help recreating it, send us a message, we can help.