Introducing: Grace Football League (Edmond added! 5/8)

[ramsjetsthunder]

I ran a fictional football league outside the boards from 2009 all the way through 2017 and I have decided to try my hand at it again. Beginning in the fall of 2019, I will launch the newest fictional football league the "Grace Football League." The GFL is composed of fictional post-college players who were not good enough for the pros. The league will have a focus on Christian Conservative values and will be based primarily in the southern United States. I am currently in the process of making each team's logos and will attempt to refine them will your feedback. But for now, here is both the league logo and slogan logo:

 

[ramsjetsthunder]

I will try to get some teams out within the next few days.

[Bomba Tomba]

Who's the commissioner? Tebow?

[JerseyJimmy]

Congratulations, you've turned me off just by the concept alone.

[n312rb]

Mod Edit

[C-Squared]

One thing I've learned about design is that I don't need to be interested in the actual subject to appreciate quality design. Based on the quality of the league logo, I will be checking back in on this thread... there are lots of cool religious-themed sports logos at the college level, should be a cool project!

[stumpygremlin]

Concerning the league logo, I think that it needs work. I think that the text would get lost and muddled in that logo, given its placement and color. It doesn't really stand out that much from the cross/shield thing. I'd also try to work in a football of some sort in this league logo, to make it perfectly clear that you have football in mind here. 

[Atomic]

Gentlemen - please keep the commentary to the concept at hand. Thank you. 

[MJWalker45]

6 hours ago, stumpygremlin said:

Concerning the league logo, I think that it needs work. I think that the text would get lost and muddled in that logo, given its placement and color. It doesn't really stand out that much from the cross/shield thing. I'd also try to work in a football of some sort in this league logo, to make it perfectly clear that you have football in mind here. 

I think adding a plain white area in the middle similar to the FC Barcelona crest could accommodate the initials as they are right now. 

[Dan O'Mac]

1 hour ago, MJWalker45 said:

I think adding a plain white area in the middle similar to the FC Barcelona crest could accommodate the initials as they are right now. 

On the flip side, that is clearly a shield with a cross on it, so adding white space would eliminate that. I feel the best option would be moving the letters off the shield to preserve the design, or change the design so the cross didn't take up as much room.

[MJWalker45]

1 minute ago, Dan O'Mac said:

On the flip side, that is clearly a shield with a cross on it, so adding white space would eliminate that. I feel the best option would be moving the letters off the shield to preserve the design, or change the design so the cross didn't take up as much room.

Good point, placing them above the shield might work better.

[ramsjetsthunder]

21 hours ago, Bomba Tomba said:

Who's the commissioner? Tebow?

Lol I wish!

 

Here I tried the white inside the shield but I think I prefer the original.

 

Here is the first team from Lynchburg, VA. I forgot to mention, the team names in this league will just be the city name. Lynchburg has a purple and orange color scheme reflecting the "purple mountains majesty" seen in the city's geography and orange representing the town's famous sunsets. The logos reflect the city's Christian heritage. The primary logo is a lion, which I tried to do some highlights on but i think it needs work so I'd definitely appreciate suggestions there. The alternate features the mountains and sunset in the circle with the overlayed cross. Inside the cross is an L for Lynchburg and a 7 for the city's nickname "the city of seven hills." The wordmark is a simple script font.

 

[stumpygremlin]

I want to see uniforms. That said, that logo is pure sex. 

[Guest darkpiranha]

Looking forward to this!  I'm a Christian, so I'm really curious to see how you incorporate traditional iconography and concepts on purely a branding/team/city level.  We've seen endless threads with Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc, and you don't need to know the lore or even like any of those franchises (or by extension, be a Christian or believe in any of it) to be able to appreciate the integration between that concept and sports.  

 

So far, I like the league logo, but feel you can probably take it another few steps towards making it more football-y looking.  Feels like there's a natural visual connection between the laces of a football and a cross that could be explored.  Compared to the more professional logo-ish look of Lynchburg, the league logo looks a bit underworked. 

 

Lynchburg is a solid start, although I always find it odd when a logo is facing left, but that's just presentation.  For the secondary, I know it would probably muddy up the simplicity, but did you try a version with seven actual hills?  

 

But so far, I'm digging it! 

[n312rb]

Wow!  I am impressed by Lynchburg, my gut reaction was to say get rid of the cross, but the symbolism you have added into it makes it excellent.

 

That being said, the league logo and the Lynchburg logo are worlds apart in execution.  The league logo is a few design sessions away from being just as good.

[C-Squared]

I always struggle with highlights, but it looks like you kept the light source consistent throughout, which is great... I might "smush" the lion head to be a little less tall, but the color scheme and balance is nice! I'd personally like that logo on an orange helmet.

[ramsjetsthunder]

Thanks for the commentary on Lynchburg. I'm still not completely happy with the Lion logo but I think I can work on that later.

 

For now here's team two, Oklahoma City. First off, I did not include a wordmark and left the 3rd column blank simply to match the rest of the presentations. The primary OKC will also serve as the wordmark. The primary mark features an arrow to pay homage to the state's Native American roots. The alternate is the shield seen on the state's flag.

 

[Guest darkpiranha]

3 hours ago, ramsjetsthunder said:

Thanks for the commentary on Lynchburg. I'm still not completely happy with the Lion logo but I think I can work on that later.

 

For now here's team two, Oklahoma City. First off, I did not include a wordmark and left the 3rd column blank simply to match the rest of the presentations. The primary OKC will also serve as the wordmark. The primary mark features an arrow to pay homage to the state's Native American roots. The alternate is the shield seen on the state's flag.

 

Did you decide not to have any Christian tie-in with this team?  Just trying to gauge the overarching branding goals of the league.

[Dan O'Mac]

19 hours ago, ramsjetsthunder said:

Thanks for the commentary on Lynchburg. I'm still not completely happy with the Lion logo but I think I can work on that later.

 

For now here's team two, Oklahoma City. First off, I did not include a wordmark and left the 3rd column blank simply to match the rest of the presentations. The primary OKC will also serve as the wordmark. The primary mark features an arrow to pay homage to the state's Native American roots. The alternate is the shield seen on the state's flag.

 

This logo set just seems so... off, compared to the league logo and Lynchburg. Both of the first two logos released featured a cross in a prominent role, which makes sense for the league. Then we get Oklahoma City, which, to me, doesn't look like it has any religious imagery. 

[ramsjetsthunder]

15 hours ago, darkpiranha said:

Did you decide not to have any Christian tie-in with this team?  Just trying to gauge the overarching branding goals of the league.

 

33 minutes ago, Dan O'Mac said:

Both of the first two logos released featured a cross in a prominent role, which makes sense for the league. Then we get Oklahoma City, which, to me, doesn't look like it has any religious imagery. 

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Perhaps putting Lynchburg first skewed the logo goal of the league. Not every logo will have Christian imagery tied in. That aspect will be most prominent in the league logo, with the rest of the teams standard. Lynchburg simply had a cross because I couldn't think of much else to do for the city, along with the opportunity presented with the L and 7.