Dark Piranhas Logo - 2016 Update - C&C Needed

[Guest darkpiranha]

Updating my logo!  I retired from fantasy football in 2012 after a successful 25 year run, but an unexpected opening in the league I founded in 1988 (I've been out of that league since 1994) has lured me out of retirement.  So that means the Dark Piranhas are back, and I need to get some merch made before the season starts!  And more specifically, that means it's time to update my logo.

I've had the current one since 2006 and it's time for a tweak.   Here's a pictorial history of my logo from its inception in 1988.  While I cringe a little at some of the earlier elements, they are now part of the Dark Piranhas legacy, and while a complete overhaul was an option, tradition wins out, so the new version must pay homage to the history and heritage, no matter how unfortunate some of those earlier choices might have been.  

 

 

A little history to keep in mind before diving too deeply into C&C:

Spoiler

It was created for my fantasy football team and was inspired by watching an incredible highlight of the Raiders defense converging on John Elway.  "Wow... that looked like a school of piranhas taking him down!"  Thus, I changed my team name from the previously winless orange and blue "Killer V's" to the silver and black Dark Piranhas.  (Both color schemes were based on Wayne Gretzky's teams at the time I created each identity, and he'd joined the newly silver and black Kings a couple of months earlier.)  The Dark Piranhas went on a winning streak to get back into playoff contention and then wound up winning our league's first championship.  Two years later, the Dark Piranhas went 16-0 in the league's still only undefeated season.

 

Over time, the Dark Piranhas came to represent me in any sports-related endeavor, either fantasy, or coaching little league or playing intramural.  While the color scheme has been predominantly silver and black, starting in 2006 blood red was added in various capacities (sometimes a dominant color like in the sample helmet, sometimes only as an accent).  

 

The logo itself has evolved from a crude fish-head in 1988, to adding some head spikes and putting it in a roundel in 1990, to a full-body fish with over-exaggerated teeth in 1994, to the sharp, angular style it acquired in 2006.   The one consistent element in all iterations has been the pair of gills.  The eyes started off a more realistic round before becoming more sharp and angular and basically, the shape of a V, which is what my first name starts with (Victor).  In fact, the 2006 version of the logo was reverse-engineered starting with the eye, which was the one element I definitely wanted to keep.

 

I liked the overall look of the 2006 logo, but one consistent problem was my early decision to make the fins and teeth separate elements from the body, almost like paper cutouts.  Looks okay in usage or over any color except black or white, which required me to put a stroke on it,but the black stroke didn't work on the body, and a white stroke didn't work on the teetch.  Plus those cutout shapes made any stroke look really wonky.  It was a mess!  

 

The bottom image of the history graphic shows my Oregon-inspired set of helmets and uniforms for 2012 (my retirement season).  

Spoiler

I knew I was going to retire at the end of the season, so I went all out with the uniforms and helmets, everything from throwback uniforms to each of the major changes to Breast Cancer Awareness weeks, to a mid-season storyline where the "coach" forced the players to splatter blood on their uniforms and helmets to motivate them.  It worked!  The Dark Piranhas retired with a championship!  The final week 17 the champion of my league played the champion of another league in an exhibition, so for that game, I brought back the first-ever logo and uniform combo for the winless Killer V's, and they won that game!  It was a magical, silly season. 

 

 

So here's my first version of the 2016 update:

 

With my latest iteration, I've kept the basic look, but streamlined it and simplified it.  First, I reconnected all the fins and added a couple of head spikes back in honor of the 1990 version of the logo.  The biggest change I made was making the teeth black.  I thought that it would really bug me, but I quickly grew to like it.  I also elongated the body a bit and skewed its angle a bit to give it a more aggressive feeling.  

 

The three versions above differ only in how the teeth are presented.  (A) has them separated as in my 2006 logo.  It still allows for a legible stroke.  This also allows me to color them white in some usages of the logo, such as over a solid color.   (B) has the teeth connected to the 'lips' allowing the entire logo to be self-contained.  (C) moves the 'lips' back to where they are more of a suggestion, making the teeth and jaw a more singular silhouette.   The bottom graphic just shows how the whole thing looks stroked.  

 

I'm more or less happy with it, but I'd very much like to hear any feedback.  Of the three versions above, I have a personal preference, but I'll let you guys weigh in.  

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[sparkychewbarky]

I'm a little late to the party, darkp.

I'd have to go with B. The mouth lines match the gill lines mores than the other 2 options.

That's a clean "edgy" logo. It now gives you a better "1 colour" application if you're doing up some T's and such.

Nice work...enjoyed the history.