A post on Quora has led to a detailed explanation of the Yelp logo’s history by the designer, Michael Ernst, with a wide selection of concept art.
What do you see in the Yelp logo? A Quora user thought it looked like “ambiguous pizza slices”, and took to the question-and-answer service in search of a better explanation. As luck would have it, the original designer Michael Ernst jumped in to provide a detailed response, complete with a wide selection of concept art outlining the thought process that led to the final idea. It turns out that the abstract asterisk design is inspired by comics such as Calvin and Hobbes, and is supposed to capture the “unique spirit of writing reviews” in a burst mark. So not pizza, then.
