Elk Logo (First logo I've made from scratch)

[T-ROY]

I recently made this logo for a jersey concept and I wanted to get your guys' opinion on it. I made it with Paint.NET so C&C is appreciated, but it might be a bit difficult to fix it up. I will be accepting other color schemes (three colors at most) if you wish to see some others.

[Stampman]

It kind of looks like a sock puppet as the mouth is indistinct.

Not a bad job on the antlers, but the mouth is so indistinct and the nose area looks like the toes of a wool sock--thus the sock puppet look.

Clean it up--use some smaller lines so it looks like it was drawn with a pencil, not a thick felt marker.

(maybe draw it with a pencil, scan it and try that out.)

[T-ROY]

It kind of looks like a sock puppet as the mouth is indistinct.

Not a bad job on the antlers, but the mouth is so indistinct and the nose area looks like the toes of a wool sock--thus the sock puppet look.

Clean it up--use some smaller lines so it looks like it was drawn with a pencil, not a thick felt marker.

(maybe draw it with a pencil, scan it and try that out.)

I can see how you think it looks like a sock puppet, but unfortunately an elk's mouth area does not really have any distinct features. Although I did add an indent in the mouth.

To create the logo I did scan my reference and trace it with pencil. The only reason there is thicker lines is because I wanted a thick outline.

White outline kind of hurts the logo as you have to have the blue outer outline to help define the white. In addition to that, the logo has a little bit of depth in the antlers, but the head and neck is really flat, there is zero definition. Also the logo just ends abruptly in the neck area, there should be a better way to encapsulate the design there. Look at the Manitoba Moose logo in your signature, it don't just end, but they round it off but it seems like you could see more.

The only reason I have the double outline was there to just make it look nicer on the jersey I did, which is why it has that color scheme. I added some definition and changed the color scheme to better showcase the outline.

[pianoknight]

Downgrade, IMO. It feels clip-arty.

You've got the Manitoba Moose logo in your signature - and that's a good example of how to define a moose/elk/deer face. Clearly, real animals don't look like that, but the Manitoba logo makes good use of "angry eyes" and teeth, etc., to exaggerate the appearance. I'm not saying you have to make yours fully angry, but it's a good example of making a moose look like it has human qualities, while still retaining the "moose-ness"

[Stampman]

Downgrade, IMO. It feels clip-arty.

You've got the Manitoba Moose logo in your signature - and that's a good example of how to define a moose/elk/deer face. Clearly, real animals don't look like that, but the Manitoba logo makes good use of "angry eyes" and teeth, etc., to exaggerate the appearance. I'm not saying you have to make yours fully angry, but it's a good example of making a moose look like it has human qualities, while still retaining the "moose-ness"

Ditto.

The mouth of an actual elk may seem indistinct to you--but as a logo you have some artistic license to make it distinct--and the eye is less clear on the new one

Keep at it--there is a spark there that you need to figure out how to ignite to get it happening.

[jdp]

Pianoknight hit it on the head. The logo looks too much like an elk.

I'm loathe to share this terrible bit of work, but I think it's relevant in this instance: Here's how I butchered an eagle head for a concept from several months ago. I just kept trying to trace/draw it too much and it turned to crap. Commenters told me as much.

Please note I'm not suggesting yours is like mine; your elk is far better off and has a lot more potential than what I did. The snout and eye just need a little character.