How Yelp Got its Look
Apple has a look. Google has a look. Review Party Dot Com has a look. And most of these companies have been around long enough that it just seems like it’s always been that way, that these bits of branding and copyright and lovely logos have always been there. But they had to come from somewhere.
So where does a review-based website with a funky name get an equally funky logo?
If you want the quick downlow, head to this link. But if you’re game to hang, let’s dive in.
Yelp was founded in 2004, actually becoming Yelp after founder Jeremy Stoppelman decided against using the name “Yocal,” and the original logo was a cartoon speech bubble (we know the kind), which was designed by YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. But this didn’t last long, as Stoppelman tasked Michael Ernst with designing a logo more in line with what Yelp was to be.
Here’s how Ernst described the process:
Our team wanted something fun that captured the spirit of writing reviews, something more unique than just a simple exclamation mark. I set out sketching about 100 different ideas for the logo. I expanded on speech balloons, abstract shapes and even a dog in attempt to "own" the yelping noise that a dog makes — despite the fact yelping dogs really don’t have anything to do with where the name Yelp came from.
Ernst took inspiration from comic books, a symbol not dissimilar from a asterisk-esque *pop* of discovery, a eureka moment, something that wouldn’t look out of place in anime, either.
While the burst seemed the most popular, he also iterated on various designs featuring a dog, a speech bubble, and other abstract shapes:
You can see that Hurley’s original design was very comic-booky, but also very rough, not optimized or memorable. And while some of Ernst’s diversions were attractive, the right choice was made in settling on the burst.
However, that’s not the way it’d stay. Just like other brands embracing more minimalist design, Yelp’s logo and font were updated in 2021, adding more balance to the burst and more space in the Yelp name:
Not too terribly different, but you can see that it’s a bit more spaced out, and that’s not a bad thing. If you hate it, give it time, it’ll probably change again. But it’ll still be the same old Yelp.
