We’ve had several different logos for tunelab over the years, and usually they’ve been pretty self-explanatory. This time around, people have asked more than a few times what exactly it is, so we thought we’d do a quick write-up on it.
For this logo, we wanted not only something recognizable as an actual logo (instead of just a TL in a box), but we wanted some meaning behind it too. The name “tunelab” originally was born from wanting to help and support bands to grow their craft any way we could, and we came up with the name as a lab[oratory] for tunes. For the logo, we wanted to play off of that theme, and decided on using some sort of laboratory equipment.
a retort flask (left) in the process of distillation
Thinking your standard beaker or test tube would be too obvious and predictable, we decided on the retort flask. We chose it not only because of it being a little unique and a little more “classic” looking, but the retort flask is used in the process of distillation. Distillation of course is the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors. It’s not like we want to say we’re “purifying” music by any means, but by way of filtering out what music we choose to highlight and post here we thought it fit nicely.
Obviously we simplified the retort flask shape to make it work as a logo. For inside the flask, we wanted something to represent music. We thought of going with a liquid (maybe with music notes bubbling out or something), or a waveform where the fill line would be.
an audio frequency spectrum analyzer showing current and peak levels
After thinking about it some more, we went with a representation of a spectrum analyzer, like those you see in some older digital music players. It took a bit of tweaking with the sizes of the bars, but eventually we settled on what you see now.
Finally, with help from the message board community, we picked a font we thought fit the overall look best, and that was decided just on looks. So if you were curious what the logo was exactly, now you know! For the first time it seems like we have a true logo that fits the site and its purpose, and is now one we can call permanent.