Icons? Don't You Mean Logos?

No, I mean icons. There's a big difference between what Substack calls a logo, and what I call a logo. Want to understand it better?

Here are a collection of icons (favicons) that I’ve designed over the years. Favicons are the little images that appear in browser tabs for regular websites. For now, though, an icon is what Substack calls a logo. But Substack’s logo is really an icon, because it must occupy 3-4 different places on the platform. The top left corner of the desktop version of the site AND the Substack app and the browser tab. It also lives in the list of publications you subscribe to, found in your profile. That’s a lot of work for one simple icon. So it has to POP! Simplicity, contrast, and an image with personality are key. They can be initials or some meaningful symbol that only you know the meaning of; a talisman of some kind. A logo, in general, can say more than an icon. Let’s call them what they are, Substack.

You can click on the gallery to view each icon separately.

I’ll design an icon that works and makes you smile!