Idea behind the TastyTuts logo
A good logo is always one that has meaning, so what is this logo all about?
Some have said that the logo for TastyTuts looks very similar to that of The Verge. Well they are not wrong and perhaps it's no coincidence.
The inspiration for the TastyTuts logo was taken from the Penrose triangle, and for good reason, which I’ll be getting into shortly.
To quote Wikipedia:
“The Penrose triangle, also known as the Penrose tribar, is an impossible object. It was first created by the Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd in 1934. The psychologist Lionel Penrose and his mathematician son Roger Penroseindependently devised and popularised it in the 1950s, describing it as "impossibility in its purest form". It is featured prominently in the works of artist M. C. Escher, whose earlier depictions of impossible objects partly inspired it.”
I have always liked this image, It has always stimulated me to think, with its abstract yet iconic form.
So when thinking of a brand icon for TastyTuts, I wanted something that would embody the philosophy I had for the TastyTuts experience, something with meaning.
"impossibility in its purest form", something very thought provoking about this notion.
I like how education is infinite, how we can never stop learning, there is always something to be learnt, a strive to enlightenment, purity.
Ok... All serious stuff, but what better icon to embody TastyTuts than the Penrose triangle right?
So that was it, I was set to use this icon, but on further thought my conclusion was that I did not want to out right use the icon, I liked the idea of the association with the Penrose triangle and what it meant, but not necessarily use it entirely.
Like any great logo it has to be unique and memorable. I also wanted something I could call my own and claim ownership for this brand.
In doing so, and to make the over all icon a more simple form, I set about adding points to the corners. This made the icon a more literal triangle shape.
Application of the logo
How would it function and be applied. It soon occurred to me that the logo would need a frame.
Having an interest and remembering platonic solids I drew inspiration from this particular platonic solid:
This suggested the triangle would work perfectly placed centre in a hexagon.
The colour scheme
So I was satisfied that the icon justified the philosophy of the brand and that framing the icon would make a more finished, complete and practical logo but what about the colours.
Well coincidentally the logo is made of 4 parts. With all the serious sentiments I thought I would tie it to what it's all about, design.
So what better than CMYK, a simple yet effective application.
At TastyTuts there is a broad range of content, Tutorials, Vlogs, Reviews and Speed art videos. The 4 colours work well to categories these. You may notice that the thumbnails of each video work to categories these visually.
Yellow - Tutorials
Magenta - Reviews
K [Black, in my case a dark grey] - Vlogs
Cyan - Speed art
Predominantly the logo sits on the main colour Yellow, I felt this is the most unique and bold approach for the brand.
Tho with any modern brand it has flexibility, In some instances can easily sit on what I like to call the other sub brand colours such as the Magenta, dark grey and Cyan in the categories mentioned above.
Recently the font has been introduced to be used in more formal instances. This is the brand font, a combination of Museo and Museo Sans.
So thats the idea behind the logo, whether I/you like it or not, at least it has meaning and that's something I often priorities in my design.
As with the entire TastyTuts brand, like with the content and its experience, its constantly evolving. Will the logo evolve in future? Chances are it will.
Article by Gareth David - TastyTuts presenter