Designing the Favicon

The goal was simple: a favicon with two brackets. The kind of thing that should take ten minutes. It didn’t.

First attempt: Affinity Designer + ChatGPT

I’d always wanted to learn a proper vector design tool. This seemed like the perfect excuse. I fired up Affinity Designer for the first time, fed ChatGPT my requirements, and followed its step-by-step instructions.

Roughly an hour later, I had this:

It worked. Two brackets, recognizable at small sizes. But something about it felt off - too heavy, too geometric, not quite the look I was after. An hour of effort for something I wasn’t thrilled with.

Second attempt: Gemini Nano Banana

Different approach this time. I asked Gemini to generate a favicon image first. Once I was happy with the shape, I asked it to produce a concise SVG version.

These were the two prompts I used:

Design a favicon that includes two brackets.

Now give me the raw SVG content for the image above. No need for rounded corners, so the final SVG should be very simple I suppose. And the fill color should be #0060DF.

The result:

Clean. Minimal. White brackets on a blue background. This is the one that shipped.

What I learned

For simple shapes like a logo or favicon, AI tools are genuinely useful. The second attempt took minutes instead of an hour, and the output was better. Not because AI is magic, but because the task was constrained enough that a quick feedback loop beats fumbling through unfamiliar design software.

That said, I also downloaded Inkscape. Relying on AI for every visual task isn’t a long-term plan. For anything beyond basic shapes, knowing your tools matters. Hoping to pick up some real vector skills when the next excuse comes along.