Salem Squirrels - Logo Concept

[VolsBoy]

Hi!

After a long time of trying, and failing . I have made my first logo concept!

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to make and I figured I'd go with something I see all the time. Squirrels! They're everywhere in my backyard!



I want to know what you guys think of it! I hope you like it!

[GriffinM6]

There needs to be some more shading on it. Somewhere around the belly especially.

[VolsBoy]

I added some shading. What do you guys think of the color scheme? I'm kind of unsure if I like it or not. Any color scheme ideas?

[altosax29b]

The ear could also use more definition.

[abqryan]

In reality squirrels are most often brown/tan or sometimes black I believe. There's obviously no need to use those colors but if you're looking for other options those could be a good starting point.

Other than that I think it's a good start and would be interested to see what other secondary or wordmark or so forth might accompany it.

[JCRGraphix]

That's pretty good for a first logo concept. Keep it up.

[GriffinM6]

I would use brown and red.

[VolsBoy]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll try to play around with it, and post some updates later!

[VolsBoy]

Here is a new color scheme. I actually really like it. What do you guys think?

[abqryan]

I like the new color very much, but the logo seems to primarily be one color and it makes me wonder if the team would end up looking a bit boring with just one primary color. I'd assume they'd end up using a bunch of white and black as well and that could work but I'm not sure if you were wanting to go that route or find a way to bring in more colors with this logo.

All that being said I could very much dig a team using that orange/brown you've got with black as their two primary colors.

[VolsBoy]

Thanks! The colors are Orange, Black, and White. I would try to integrate more colors, but I feel it would be to complicated. Is there anything else you guys think I should add? If not, I am going to move on to a secondary logo, and a wordmark.

[thepjguy]

Are you going to use words in the logo?? Lovin it so far though!

[1clkgtramg]

I actually really loved the double blue colour. maybe have the lines on the stomach continue a bit longer to make up for the left over space in the middle. Is this for baseball? I'm really getting a baseball feel here.

[VolsBoy]

I made the white space in the middle bigger. I think it may be to big though.

[drdougfresh]

I would try to deviate this a lot further from your "inspiration."

[VolsBoy]

I personally feel like while they are similar. I think that there are differences in our designs.

@thepjguy - I am not planning on incorporating words into the squirrel logo, I am wanting to make a separate wordmark.

[drdougfresh]

Sure there are differences, but when you can look at something and immediately recognize someone else's work, it's not different enough. The small details are almost identical (eyes, mouth, paws).

Not buying it for a second. Don't throw someone else's work into a program, modify a some things so it's "different enough" and call it a logo design.

[VolsBoy]

]I used this as my reference picture.


I sketched it on a piece of paper. Then scanned it, and traced it on photoshop. Yes, I did use that logo as one of my references because I was stuck on some parts of it (as this is my first logo), but I did not trace it by no means.

[drdougfresh]

Thanks for sharing the process -- I see you did sketch it out. Sorry for jumping to conclusions (it happens often around here to begin with, hence the eagerness).

That being said, I do think that you're a bit too close to Matt's logo, and the areas where you were "unsure" are blatant copies. Try and stylize it a little more, and clean up the line work, and you'll be well on your way.

[mattwillcox]

I used this as my reference picture.

I sketched it on a piece of paper. Then scanned it, and traced it on photoshop. Yes, I did use that logo as one of my references because I was stuck on some parts of it (as this is my first logo), but I did not trace it by no means.

I'm going to cut you some slack because you're new to this, but from here on out I'd rather not hear it used as an excuse.

Trust me, Doug and I have seen this type of thing way too often to not recognize it right away. I can almost guarantee that you first you went out and found a logo you liked (mine) and then went searching for reference images to match. It really doesn't even matter that the pose is the same though, if that was the only similarity I wouldn't be saying anything. The two main portions of the logo however, the face and the tail, are very closely "inspired" by my work. I'm going to give you some advice here and I really hope you take it. Admit that you've made a mistake, and try to understand what it is you did wrong. It's really going to be the best thing for you going forward.

And for whatever reason I'm in a good mood today so I'm going to give you some tips on getting started designing logos.

1. For your first few logos try not to look at any other sports logos for help. It's definitely going to be frustrating, but if you can work through a few designs without getting any help from the work of others its going to help you develop a unique style and make you an overall better designer.

2. This doesn't mean you can never look at the work of others for inspiration. When I started I seriously spent at least an hour a day combing through the portfolios of my favourite designers. It helped to give me a really good understanding of the different ways that shapes, curves and colours could be utilized in a design.

3. Be creative. The best way to get people to notice your designs is to do something different. Your end goal shouldn't be to have a logo that looks like every other one you've seen before. If you're struggling on a certain portion of a logo, instead of looking to another logo to copy something that's been done before, be creative and find a solution of your own. I can guarantee you'll be more proud of the end product if you do this.

4. And finally, practice and utilize this community. Your first logos certainly aren't going to be your best. Keep at it and the process will just keep getting easier. Seriously, my dribbble page is proof of that.