Midwest_surfer Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Hello. I am an animator and video editor and I have been working on and off on a logo redesign project for the better part of a year now (with long stretches of inactivity) as a way to get better at illustrator and I thought I would make an account here for some critique. I started really getting in to logo design when I came across a black and white and horribly pixelated design for a Fleur De Lis that I thought could be made into a St. Louis Blues logo, and after contacting the owner of the shop and asking about it and if I could mess with it, I did. I didn't really think it worked well as a main logo, but I did think it worked as a shoulder patch. I did it in a couple other colors as well and took the wordmark from the actual St. Louis Blues sheet music after an idea from the kind folks on the Blues subreddit. Over a year later I thought I decided I needed to get better at illustrator so I started designing alternate/shoulder logos for the rest of the league. I'm "done" with about 1/4 of the league at this point. Please let me know what you think and I would love to hear suggestions on what I need to improve on, but keep in mind I dont really know what I am doing. Also, if there is a better way to format this let me know. St. Louis Original: Wordmark: Colors: Revision: I did Minnesota next, where I thought a roundel logo would look cool. I did two variants of the same logo and one that was a riff on their main logo. 1: 2: 3: Colorado This one I actually think could stand up as a main logo. I got rid of their ugly "Millennium swoops' Winnipeg Classic colors: Modern Colors: Revision: Toronto: based on the city of Toronto's flag Ottowa: I wanted to play off their older logo that everyone loves so much without just making it an exact copy Revision: Buffalo: I took the crossed swords from their red logo days and put them behind the skull I drew. Penguins: I replaced the iconic triangle with a Pennsylvania keystone. Hopefully that doesn't make me a heretic. Revision: I put the penguin in a complete keystone and I like it, but I still think the half keystone looks better. Lightning: Honestly something's missing from this one, but everything I add makes it look worse so I decided to ask you all what you think. the L works pretty good but it seems empty. Again, these aren't really meant to replace the logo front of the jersey, most are meant to be shoulder patches, but this one feels empty. Revision: Wordmark: I thought trying to make it a wordmark would work a little bit better, and it does in some aspects, but it feels really empty still. Canadiens: I took the Fleur from the Montreal flag and tried to turn it in to an "M"which I think works pretty well, but I do think it needs some more polishing. I don't really like this better than their current logo but I think something like it could work as a shoulder patch 1: 2: Stars: I took their old star logo and updated the colors and added a recolored Texas flag. Then I removed the wordmark and had the star go through the middle of a D in the same style as the other letters 1: 2: After a bit of a hiatus, I am back. I took the Spirit of Detroit and added wings to it. I am not sure if I want to add something in his hands but I am pretty proud of this logo My ham-fisted attempt to make the Wings one more Art Deco: I have had this Preds logo in my back pocket for a little while now, its super simple and is kind of a combination of their shoulder patch and chest logo. I plan on doing another one for the Preds as well but I thought I'd post this one just to get an idea of what you guys think Bruins: I changed the black to brown and put a modern style bear logo in the middle of the spokes, I think it could work as an alt shoulder patch. Panthers: In my honest opinion, the Panthers shoulder logo is absolutely perfect, so I can’t do better than that. I’m working on a retro nose art one but if I can’t find any reference images this will be what I work off of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MigratingToast Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I love these! Minnesota especially! I think these would all make great secondary logos! Except for the Avs. Put that right on the front of their sweater. My name is Rod and I like to party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_DietDrPepper_ Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 St. Louis seems busy and cluttered, clean that up and your golden. Otherwise I wouldn't say these are newbie, there all very well done. Follow the NFA, and My Baseball League here: https://ahsports.boardhost.com/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midwest_surfer Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 27 minutes ago, BellaSpurs said: St. Louis seems busy and cluttered, clean that up and your golden. Otherwise I wouldn't say these are newbie, there all very well done. Thanks! What would you suggest on how to go about decluttering? Anything you see that is unnecessary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_DietDrPepper_ Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Music lines and the notes on said lines. And I like color scheme light blue. Follow the NFA, and My Baseball League here: https://ahsports.boardhost.com/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHcreative Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Man I love the fleur-de-lis idea for the Blues but it is a bit cluttered. For starters the treble clef is a little misshapen. I understand that you needed to make room for the petals of the fleur-de-lis, but it looks a bit wonky. I really like the Wild and Senators logos and the Sabres, while clever, reminds me of Dallas because of the skull. Toronto is clever and so is Winnipeg but I can't help but feeling that the Jets' logo looks unfinished. Something about the white space makes it look empty. Colorado is nice but honestly, I like their current logo more. It's not your fault, I've seen many similar concepts but they all fall short in some way or another. I think the problem is the balance, which Ian why the Avalanche use the circle behind the logo. Also, the eyes are immediately drawn to the black puck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krz Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Sens, yes please Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midwest_surfer Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 3 minutes ago, KRZYBDGRZ said: Sens, yes please Yeah I'm pretty proud of the Sens one too, the wave line thing (does anyone know what that's called) under the Mohawk thing could use some work but I made this before I realized you could use lines in other layers as guides to make sure the spacing and angle is even Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulv! Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Really nice work overall! I especially like the Minnesota one! My only concern is about the Sens helmet being too greek. You even added a greek pattern on the mohawk This is a Roman guard helmet (design taken from sculptures) This is a Greek corinthian helmet This is a Roman centurion Gallic helmet I'm not saying that the Romans never wore greek helmets ('cause really wealthy and stylish people did wear them 'till Ceasar's times) but just that they do not represent the average roman soldier, centurion or legatus (fighting senator...). I didn't want to have an history lesson, just help improving the quality of designs around here My Behance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midwest_surfer Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 4 minutes ago, Pulv! said: Really nice work overall! I especially like the Minnesota one! My only concern is about the Sens helmet being too greek. You even added a greek pattern on the mohawk This is a Roman guard helmet (design taken from sculptures) This is a Greek corinthian helmet This is a Roman centurion Gallic helmet I'm not saying that the Romans never wore greek helmets ('cause really wealthy and stylish people did wear them 'till Ceasar's times) but just that they do not represent the average roman soldier, centurion or legatus (fighting senator...). I didn't want to have an history lesson, just help improving the quality of designs around here No, you're fine, thank you, I honestly didn't really know there was that big of a difference. My ancient Mediterranean history is evidentally seriously lacking. It didn't even cross my mind that the Sens were Roman and not Greek but that makes a lot of sense. I'll change that one up in revision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest darkpiranha Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Cool stuff. Agree with most of the comments and suggestions above. On the Blues, one of the things that might help is on the staves, to just make the stroke on the inside fill the space. Keep your outside thickness, but eliminate the tiny strips of white on the stanzas where the strokes don't quite connect. That'll likely make it feel a bit less busy. Possibly fill in the top loop on the clef with a sold background instead of it being transparent. And for the notes, I'd try either adding MORE notes and spreading them out in a wider range on the staff and make them smaller, or go fewer and maybe a bit bigger. Making the notes a different color, perhaps white or black or yellow, might help it be less than just a big blob of blue lines and dots. Finally, outside of all of that, because of the placement of the notes and other elements of the logo, it tends to end up feeling like I'm looking at a face, with the notes as eyes, the curl on the middle of the clef as the nose, with the bottom forming a mouth, and the two curls of the staff on the bottom forming an old-fashioned mustache. Bravo if that's what you were going for, but easy to fix otherwise, I'd think. (This may be an issue only I'm suffering from, lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWonka Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 My issues with the Sabres is more concept base than execution. The only thing I would change is making the horn outlines sharp. As the concept goes i don't think a skull works most of the time as it shows the animal is dead. sometimes it can work if skeletons are apart of your brand or name. I know the Milwaukee admirals use it but I think that can work. With this though, it's a dead Bison and it looks like his head was just chopped off by Sabres, which i don't think bodes well for the overall image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midwest_surfer Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 1 hour ago, darkpiranha said: Cool stuff. Agree with most of the comments and suggestions above. On the Blues, one of the things that might help is on the staves, to just make the stroke on the inside fill the space. Keep your outside thickness, but eliminate the tiny strips of white on the stanzas where the strokes don't quite connect. That'll likely make it feel a bit less busy. Possibly fill in the top loop on the clef with a sold background instead of it being transparent. And for the notes, I'd try either adding MORE notes and spreading them out in a wider range on the staff and make them smaller, or go fewer and maybe a bit bigger. Making the notes a different color, perhaps white or black or yellow, might help it be less than just a big blob of blue lines and dots. Finally, outside of all of that, because of the placement of the notes and other elements of the logo, it tends to end up feeling like I'm looking at a face, with the notes as eyes, the curl on the middle of the clef as the nose, with the bottom forming a mouth, and the two curls of the staff on the bottom forming an old-fashioned mustache. Bravo if that's what you were going for, but easy to fix otherwise, I'd think. (This may be an issue only I'm suffering from, lol). Those are awesome ideas, I'll definitely try them out. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoopsCoach55 Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 I hate, absolutely hate the Senators, nearly as much as the Blackhawks or Kings..... But that is a freaking amazing logo. I agree that historically it's irritating, but the overall concept is perfect for what that team needs to do going forwards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midwest_surfer Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 I took some of your suggestions and added them to the Blues logo. The notes are smaller and are actually the opening notes to the W.C. Handy song that the team is named after. I'm not a huge fan of the layout though, so I will probably just randomly place them around on the next round of revision. I don't know how I feel about the white outline on the notes but without it, you can't really see them. I also made the Sens logo more historically accurate and not greek. I think I like the longer mohawk anyway though. And a new one. I grew up with the robo-penguin logo that Pittsburgh used so thats the one I associate with the team. I decided to update that a little bit by adjusting the iconic triangle and making it in to a Pennsylvania keystone. Hopefully that isn't too sacrilegious to Pens fans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockey week Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Oh man, there is a lot of tremendous ideas in here. The treble-clef fleur de lis is an amazing idea. But it is too busy. I don't think the music bars work at all. There is no way to simplify that so far that it can be shrunk down well. I think you might have to go with basic shapes instead and make a clef-centric fleur de lis, which would on its own be an incredible idea. Perhaps some other idea will come out of those shapes, but I think you're simply trying to do too much. Minnesota Wild idea 1 is the best idea, but it creates a very weird effect with reflecting the M and W like that. The eye struggles to settle anywhere. I think it would work if it had no slant on either letter. Idea 2 is more effective, I think, for that reason. It's certainly easier to digest. I like them both. The Jets logo is the best fauxback I've ever seen. In fact, I think it's better than their 90s logo. Seriously. It's genius. You should run with that. Personally, I like the blue text better, but that could change when it's on a jersey. I think you should pursue a fauxback third jersey based on it and see where that goes. And the Penguin logo - I don't think the keystone is blasphemy, we all consider ourselves Pennsylvanians, too. Whenever we can claim PA and ignore philly, we approve. I think there are some issues with the penguin itself. It seems oddly shaped. I think the sweeping you do with the shape of the Penguin is also odd, because the shape of the Robopen was it's belly sticking out - or at least a stylized version of it. I think if you mimicked such ideas, maybe not the same style, but a similar idea, you could nail it. I think you should keep playing around there. Really, these are amazing. Simply amazing. For these to be your first concepts is astounding. Dabble, play around, try different things and see what works and what doesn't. I'll respect any opinion that you can defend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midwest_surfer Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 13 hours ago, hockey week said: Oh man, there is a lot of tremendous ideas in here. The treble-clef fleur de lis is an amazing idea. But it is too busy. I don't think the music bars work at all. There is no way to simplify that so far that it can be shrunk down well. I think you might have to go with basic shapes instead and make a clef-centric fleur de lis, which would on its own be an incredible idea. Perhaps some other idea will come out of those shapes, but I think you're simply trying to do too much. Thanks! I had an idea a while back about using the stripes/feathers from the current Blue Note as the sides of the Fleur to tie it in with the Blues a bit better but I'm afraid it would fall in to the same type of thing. Being too busy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItDoesntMatter Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 6 minutes ago, Midwest_surfer said: Thanks! I had an idea a while back about using the stripes/feathers from the current Blue Note as the sides of the Fleur to tie it in with the Blues a bit better but I'm afraid it would fall in to the same type of thing. Being too busy What if you used bass clefs? That might work better than the staff lines or the feathers there. (As a violist, I really want to try to work the alto clef in there but I don't think it'll work lol) I will say that on the Pens logo, the wing covers up the keystone and sort of turns it into a half-trapezoid. Not sure how to fix it, and it still carries the idea, just kind of bothered me a little. Other than that, these are all really awesome; keep it up. National Dashball League on AHSports || US Quidditch Redesign on CCSLC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midwest_surfer Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 10 minutes ago, ItDoesntMatter said: What if you used bass clefs? That might work better than the staff lines or the feathers there. (As a violist, I really want to try to work the alto clef in there but I don't think it'll work lol) I will say that on the Pens logo, the wing covers up the keystone and sort of turns it into a half-trapezoid. Not sure how to fix it, and it still carries the idea, just kind of bothered me a little. Other than that, these are all really awesome; keep it up. Not gonna lie I have never seen an alto clef before but sideways it is actually kinda perfect. Bass clefs may work well. I'll give it a shot. I tried to make the whole thing a keystone as opposed to a triangle but it ruined the penguin's wing so I figured doing half of one would get the point across. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockey week Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Bass clef. That might be the answer. Though, I won't lie, looking at it as your avatar picture, it doesn't look all that bad. What if you do it in just blue? Or the just the notes are gold? Or one gold outline around the whole thing, and not each piece? As for the keystone, why not try and make it self-contained? Everything in the keystone. Make the top of the penguin's head touch the top of the keystone and work your design from there.I think you have some weird angles or the penguin is doing weird contortions, I can't really tell. I'll respect any opinion that you can defend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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