Examination record. Prints to A4.
Examination record
Sheet 1 of 5
Fictional sample

Which is better:
one, or two?

38out of 100
Wheat badge
16 px
One colour
Reversed
Wheat badge
Fails even at 96 px
0/8 tests passed
Not ready to ship
91out of 100
PICK
Oven door
16 px
One colour
Reversed
Oven door
Reads to 16 px
6/8 tests passed
Fit to ship
Our pick: two

Choose two. It still reads in a 16 px browser tab, on a receipt in one colour and on a van door, which is where a neighbourhood bakery actually lives. One carries more charm at poster size but fails all of those. If you love the wheat, keep it for packaging and shop signs, as a second drawing.

Test by test1. Wheat badge2. Oven door
16 px tab iconFAILPASS
32 px iconFAILPASS
One colourFAILPASS
InvertedFAILWATCH
GreyscaleFAILPASS
Blurred at a distanceFAILPASS
Busy backgroundWATCHPASS
As supplied, on blackWATCHFAIL
Examination record
Sheet 2 of 5
Fictional sample

Sight chart

196 px96 px
264 px64 px
348 px48 px
432 px32 px
524 px24 px
616 px16 px
Line 6, enlarged16 × 16 px
16 × 16 px
Marrowby Bakehouse
← actual size
Overall score
/100
Fit to ship
Plain, sturdy, readable at every size we tried. Ship after small fixes.
Oven door
Reads down to 16 px
PatientMarrowby Bakehouse
Seen byNeighbourhood regulars who order on their phones
File examinedmarrowby-b-oven.svg
Date2026-11-02

Scorecard

What we looked atHowWeightScore
Small sizesReads down to 16 px.measured30100
Without its colours94% of drawn edges survive one colour, 100% survive grey.measured20100
Reversed and on backgrounds10% of its colours show on black; 89% stands clear of a busy picture.measured1582
From a distanceKeeps a shape of its own when blurred.measured1091
Fit for brand and audienceAn oven door and an M at once. Warmer than most logos in a shop window.judged1580
Clarity of the ideaOne idea, read once. The orange loaf takes a second look to read as bread.judged1075
Weighted total10091
Biggest problem

It has no version for dark backgrounds yet.

Navy on a dark page almost disappears, and only 10% of its colour area shows on black. The reversed version tests well, so this is a missing file, not a flawed drawing. Without it someone will improvise one.

Reversal keeps 94% of edges. As supplied on black: 10% visible.
Do not use this file below 16 px.
16 px tab iconPASS
32 px iconPASS
One colourPASS
InvertedWATCH
GreyscalePASS
Blurred at a distancePASS
Busy backgroundPASS
As supplied, on blackFAIL
Examination record
Sheet 3 of 5
Fictional sample

Stress tests: Oven door

Carried out by script on the actual file, not imagined. Pictures are the results, unretouched.

16 px tab iconPASS
16 px tab icon
actual size
Still reads as the same mark in a browser tab.
32 px iconPASS
32 px icon
actual size
Holds at phone-icon and bookmark size.
One colourPASS
One colour
94% of drawn edges survive. Safe on a stamp or a receipt.
InvertedWATCH
Inverted
Reverses cleanly, but you need a separate white version on file.
GreyscalePASS
Greyscale
Colours stay apart in grey. 100% of edges kept.
Blurred at a distancePASS
Blurred at a distance
Keeps a shape you could pick out across a street.
Busy backgroundPASS
Busy background
Stands clear of a cluttered picture.
As supplied, on blackFAIL
As supplied, on black
Nearly vanishes on a dark page. A white version is required.

Prescription

1
Export a cream-on-navy reversed version with the orange loaf kept.
The file on black nearly vanished, and the reversed test shows the drawing can take it.
2
Widen the two arches' centre notch by about a tenth.
The notch is the only thing that says M, and in the 16 px enlargement it is the first thing to soften.
3
Check the wordmark beside it at 24 px tall before signing off.
Only the mark was examined here. The name set next to it is a separate test.
Repeat the exam after treatment. No appointment needed.
Examination record
Sheet 4 of 5
Fictional sample

Sight chart

196 px96 px
264 px64 px
348 px48 px
432 px32 px
524 px24 px
616 px16 px
Line 6, enlarged16 × 16 px
16 × 16 px
Marrowby Bakehouse
← actual size
Overall score
/100
Not ready to ship
A shop sign trying to be an icon. At phone size it is a green dot.
Wheat badge
Fails from line 1
PatientMarrowby Bakehouse
Seen byNeighbourhood regulars who order on their phones
File examinedmarrowby-a-badge.png
Date2026-11-02

Scorecard

What we looked atHowWeightScore
Small sizesBreaks up even at 96 px.measured3010
Without its colours61% of drawn edges survive one colour, 61% survive grey.measured2039
Reversed and on backgrounds100% of its colours show on black; 88% stands clear of a busy picture.measured1563
From a distanceBlurs to a plain shape, 99% match to a bare disc or box.measured1040
Fit for brand and audienceSays bakery at once, in the same way many bakeries already do.judged1560
Clarity of the ideaRing, wheat, tagline and two typefaces all ask to be read first.judged1045
Weighted total10038
Biggest problem

All the detail lives in lines too thin to survive.

The wheat, the ring and the tagline are drawn in hairlines. At 16 px the thinnest is 0.06 of a pixel wide, so only the green disc is left. In one colour the wheat disappears completely, because red and green print the same grey.

The red and green differ by 1.7 in lightness, out of 100. Thinnest line: 0.39% of the width.
As it stands, this file needs more than 96 px everywhere.
16 px tab iconFAIL
32 px iconFAIL
One colourFAIL
InvertedFAIL
GreyscaleFAIL
Blurred at a distanceFAIL
Busy backgroundWATCH
As supplied, on blackWATCH
Examination record
Sheet 5 of 5
Fictional sample

Stress tests: Wheat badge

Carried out by script on the actual file, not imagined. Pictures are the results, unretouched.

16 px tab iconFAIL
16 px tab icon
actual size
Becomes a smudge. Thinnest line is 0.06 px wide; under about 1 px it fades away.
32 px iconFAIL
32 px icon
actual size
Detail is already lost: only 0 of 3 inner spaces stay open.
One colourFAIL
One colour
Only 61% of edges survive. Parts merge into one solid.
InvertedFAIL
Inverted
Reversal loses 39% of the drawing.
GreyscaleFAIL
Greyscale
Two colours that look different turn the same grey. 61% of edges kept.
Blurred at a distanceFAIL
Blurred at a distance
Turns into a plain shape: 99% match to a bare disc or box.
Busy backgroundWATCH
Busy background
File has a solid background, so it brings a box with it (left). Cut out, right.
As supplied, on blackWATCH
As supplied, on black
File brings a box onto a dark page. Export with a clear background.

Prescription

1
Cut the wheat to three solid ears, each at least 8% of the mark's width.
That width is what it takes to stay above one pixel at 16 px. The favicon test failed.
2
Make the wheat cream, not red, so it lifts off the green by lightness.
Red on this green turns into one grey. The one-colour and greyscale tests both failed.
3
Remove the outer ring text from the small version, and keep the name beside it.
The chart loses it from the first line, 96 px. It adds nothing in a tab or on an app icon.
4
Drop the two hairline rings around the disc.
They vanish at every size in the chart and only make the disc look fuzzy at a distance.
5
Ask for new files with a clear background instead of white.
This file brings a white box onto photos and dark pages, as the last two tests show.
Repeat the exam after treatment. No appointment needed.