Logolympiad Body of Work

[nas1787]

So apparently I was the only one to compete in all 10 events of the Logolympiad (which says something about the state of my social life). Completing all 10 events certainly played a large part in me finishing at the top alongside two great designers.

The entire competition was a lot of fun to compete in. It was a great challenge to work within such tight constraints. Despite being short on time for a few events, and lacking inspiration for a few others, I’m pretty happy with how most came out.

Given that there was not much chance for explanation, or for C&C, I thought I would post all 10 of my concepts here with a few comments. I would love to hear what you think.

First up, the KHL to basketball crossover. I don’t have much knowledge of basketball design, but I just went looking for a nice wordmark that I could work from. As soon as I saw the slightly quirky Lev Praha mark, I knew all it need was a few angled lines with a simply designed uniform.

The Revolution’s secondary logo is one event where I really lacked inspiration. I thought that a classic roundel would work well with the Rev’s tradition. St. George’s Cross and the 6 star circle were taken from previous versions of the New England flag, while the trees came from the current flag. I knew it was missing something to really make it pop, but had to settle.

Event 3 was my first medal, a gold (thanks for the votes). I thought that given a name like Aces many would choose to base the team in Las Vegas. Niagara Falls is probably the closest thing to Canada’s Vegas with a few casinos and other tacky tourist destinations, so I went that direction. Then, instead of using gambling imagery in the wordmark, I thought it would be a bit more unique to use the Falls instead. Looking back, I think I missed an opportunity to turn the cloud of mist at the bottom of the A into a baseball, but oh well.

I wasn’t sure how an all black uniform would go over for the Roughriders (answer: not great). For a different upcoming concept (keep your eyes peeled) I had made my own version of the wheat pattern from the Riders actual signature uniform. I really wanted to incorporate it in some way. In the end, I wasn’t super happy with how I went about doing it. As soon as I saw eRay’s concept using the wheat as a line rather than a full pattern, I knew he had hit the nail on the head (and was rightfully awarded gold).

There was some controversy that I had Palmeiras celebrating 100 Anuses, rather than 100 years, but I’m happy to say that was not actually the case. I kept this pretty simple, using their original crest on the bottom, and current look on the top. I incorporated the stars from the current crest, and added a banner across the whole thing. Ultimately I think it suffered from a bit too much green, it ended up being too flat.

[nas1787]

The race logo is one I wish I had more time to play with to find a way to better incorporate all the necessary wording. I like the overall idea, but feel as if some of the additional wording looks tacked on. I took inspiration here from so-called hipster branding.

The Hound logo is one I took a stab at a while ago and was sitting on my computer unused. It was inspired by a hound logo I found on Pinterest, not sure of the company. I like the retro feel of the logo, perfect for hockey. I placed the team in Huntsville because 1) I liked the alliteration, and 2) it just makes sense for hounds to be in a town called Huntsville. The colour scheme was just an attempt to come up with something I haven’t seen used in hockey before. With a retro logo I went with traditional striping as well.

I spent a lot of time on the league logo making a basketball logo. After re-reading the event thread, I went back and updated my logo for baseball (just changing the stitching). I took inspiration here from the NASL logo which has the continent inside a soccer ball. I wasn’t sure where to put the league name in. Another banner seemed like a cop-out, but after trying it I felt it added nice balance to the entire logo. Here I received my only silver medal.

For the hockey fauxback, I knew the logo and design was not what was going to win the competition, as staying true to 1917 meant a fairly boring and uninspired look. So instead I spent most of my time working on a template that looked old and game-worn. I originally had an interlocking B and sabre logo, but felt it was not true to 1917, so switched it up for the Buffalo underlined with a sabre instead. I do think the template won me this event (shared with Geaux’s excellent Edmonton look).

For the final event, it was a breath of fresh air to step outside the sports logo realm to do a company. Using a chain as a C came to me fairly early on, and when I saw the large number of colours available for use in the colour schemes, I thought the overlapping, translucent look could work really well. I think it works better with the lighter colour scheme. Interestingly enough, I think the one-colour version actually conveys the chain best of all, and may be the best version of the logo.

So that’s all of them. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Can’t wait for next year’s competition!

[kewp80]

Wow. That Cranked mark is really, really nice! I would agree that the colorless one is the best.

[officeglenn]

#1: I don't think the Lev Praha logo was the best to begin with, and the uniforms wound up being a bit blah for my tastes. Even the funky stripe motif needed to be carried further throughout the uniform. It just wound up kinda boring.

#2: Again, kinda boring. And no real connection to the primary logo. I couldn't see a team using both logos in the same set at the same time.

#3: Well done, but I didn't get the connection between 'Aces' and Niagara Falls, and thus I don't think I voted for you. I get it now that you explain it, but I didn't at the time of voting.

#4: Yeah, the all-black look kinda went over like a lead balloon. Maybe if the green was a bit brighter and popped more against the black, that would help. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the number font.

#5: Agreed that it ended up looking a little flat, and a little monotone. There were also a few large expanses of blank space that took away from the overall look.

#6: There are some good ideas here — chiefly the path cutting through the date like it does — but it felt a little too simplistic. And again there were areas of blank space that detracted from it.

#7: The hound looks good except for the mouth, which overall makes him look worried or nervous. And I know colours don't always have to be literal or true to life, but a dog with baby-blue markings was a bit too much of a stretch for me. You could have gone with a burnt orange or something like that and still given us a colour scheme we rarely see in hockey.

#8: Very nice work. It's a fresh, imaginative way to render the ball-and-map concept that we've all seen before. Nice work on the stitching, too.

#9: The template was excellent, but for me, the overall design fit 1917 very well. Two colours, and a simple yet effective design. At one point, I was planning on doing a concept series taking that prompt and doing all the teams, but what you did was exactly what I had in mind for Buffalo and I figured I couldn't top it.

#10: Fantastic work. I was worried that my design was going to take the gold medal when I thought yours was leaps and bounds ahead of mine. You're right, it does work better with the lighter colour scheme, but that one is so colourful and vibrant that it more than makes up for the darker one. Plus both really were able to utilize the entire schemes, which was a big challenge.

[nas1787]

Thanks for all the C&C Glenn, much appreciated. You make some great points.

[sparkychewbarky]

Nice idea, putting all of your concepts up. It's a really good body of work.

I agree with officeglenn, that the last three entries were your best.

The ball-world NABA is very clean.

The time-warp sweater was very "timely" and well-done, and your decision to put some work into a template was a great decision, resulting in a winning combo of content AND presentation.

...And that "Cranked" logo is ver-r-ry nice.

Well done nas.

[pollux]

My 2 cents

Event 3 - Bold choice to go with Niagara Falls, but the obvious casino connection works here. I really liked your rendering of the fall in the A. A clean and nice touch. To me, it was the clear cut winner as soon as I saw it. Apparently, members thought the same thing too.

Event 5 - Loved the choice to go with a Brazilian team. But the comment about "anos" not meaning years didn't help (I commented to rectify this...). I really liked its simplicity and conveyed a monumental anniversary cleanly. Maybe a little more red would've helped, but it looked solid in green anyway.

Event 6 - The logo looks like a badge to win. I'm a sucker for the clean lines and symetric elements in it.

Event 8 - Nice stitching! The only thing I thought could've been improved is the location of the continent. I felt it was too high on the logo and would've brought it just about the NABA sash. The choice of colors was bold - I like that you went away from the regular blue/red/white combo.

Event 9 - Nailed it perfectly. The template helped, but I could picture the Sabres wearing that in 1917.

Event 10 - Your logo is awesome with the first palette. Simple, yet very effective for the company.

I could clearly see your progression as each event went by. It is no small feat to be able to participate in all events, so kudos to you!

Now go play outside!