Found a simple trick to test logo readability without fancy software

I was designing a logo for my buddy's lawn care business last Tuesday. I kept second-guessing if the font worked at small sizes. Then I remembered a tip from a graphic design forum I saw 3 years ago - just squint your eyes until the logo gets blurry. I tried it on 4 different font options and suddenly it was Obvious which one lost its shape. Has anyone else used this trick or do you have a better method for checking readability?

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thomas_johnson3525m ago

I initially thought the squint trick was just some old wives tale for designers, but a few years back I changed my mind after struggling with a logo for a local diner. I had been staring at it on my monitor zoomed in and everything looked sharp, but when I printed it out small on a test page it was a blurry mess. So I remembered the squint method, tried it, and sure enough the problem areas jumped right out at me. Now I use it as a quick sanity check before I even bother printing anything. It's not a perfect substitute for testing at actual size, but it's a good first step that has saved me from making some bad choices. The main thing it does for me is force my eyes to stop seeing the fine details and focus on the overall shape and weight of the letters.