Favicon vs Logo: What's the Difference?
A logo is your complete brand mark (often a wordmark plus a symbol) designed to be seen at size. A favicon is a tiny square icon, as small as 16 pixels, shown in a browser tab. You rarely use the logo as-is: text and fine detail vanish at favicon size, so a good favicon is usually just the logo's symbol, or a single letter, simplified until it reads in a few hundred pixels of space.
Why you can't just shrink the logo
A full logo often carries a wordmark and fine detail that reads at size and turns to mush at 16 pixels. Dropping it into a favicon slot gives you an illegible smear that identifies nothing.
The favicon is a derivative, not a copy. Take the most recognisable element (the symbol, or the brand's initial) and rebuild it to read at the smallest size, then scale up. Design at the bottom, not the top.
Favicon vs logo FAQ
Can I use my logo as a favicon?
Usually only the symbol part of it. A full logo with text becomes unreadable at favicon size, so extract the mark or an initial and simplify it.
What makes a good favicon compared to a logo?
Extreme simplicity. A logo can afford detail; a favicon has a few hundred pixels to work with, so it needs one clear shape or letter that survives at 16 pixels.
Should the favicon match the logo?
It should share the brand (the symbol, the colours), not reproduce the full lockup. Recognition matters more than literal sameness at that size.