Design Time! Kotatsu Corner

While I was working with Tobias and Bill on A Grand Line Reborn, Austin from Third Impact Anime was also in need a refresh of a logo for another podcast offshoot. In this case, it was Third Impact Anime’s podcast series called Kotatsu Corner. Here is how he describes it on their website:

Kotatsu Corner is our mini-series where we talk about whatever we’ve been up to that wouldn’t fit into a normal episode of Third Impact Anime. The conversations are mostly loose and un-focused, just friends hangin’ out.

Third Impact Anime

So now we know it’s a more casual kind of podcast, but that doesn’t really help in figuring out how to theme the logo. But it does have that name: Kotatsu Corner. And a kotatsu gives me plenty to work with! Anyway, here’s the logo:

Now at this point you may be wondering, “Just what IS a totatsu, anyway?” Well I’m glad you asked! I’ll let Wikipedia do the heaving lifting this time.

A kotatsu is a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, formerly a charcoal brazier but now electric, often built into the table itself. Kotatsu are used almost exclusively in Japan, although similar devices for the same purpose of heating are used elsewhere, e.g. the Spanish brasero or Iranian korsi.

Wikipedia

And perhaps more importantly, this is what one looks like:

So, I took the idea of the actual table, as the rectangle that the text sits upon. Something I also noticed when looking up images of kotatsu, is how so many had oranges on them? Turns out those are Mandarin Oranges, and they are a common stable to have at kotatsu in Japan. Here are some reasons why, as according to JPsalon:

Mandarin orange!! Japanese do love to eat Mandarin oranges in kotatsu. It is said that there are some reasons for this. First, winter is the Mandarin orange season. Second, Mandarin orange is such a fruit that you don’t need any tool to eat. You can just sit in kotatsu and eat it with your hands anytime you want. Third, you can rehydrate with Mandarins.

JPsalon

Since Kotatsu Corner features some o’s hanging out in those works, I went ahead and made them into a oranges! Cute, comfy, AND still read as o’s! Just like the table they usually are set upon. And that’s the story on how Austin got a new logo. The End.