Minotaurs - Fantasy Football Franchise - Cnstr. Crit. Request from Noob

[Ninjorz]

Hello!

I was on a reddit thread speaking with a gentleman that had a Fantasy Football league in which he was able to hire a graphics artist to "franchise" and "brand" all the teams in the league and he was showing off the uniforms and logos in said thread. This really inspired me to take a look at my own league that I run and start work on a new team franchise in order to teach me how to do it. The OP of the thread suggested I come here for help and to kind of show the development of my franchise.

I am looking for some contructive criticism on my logo. It started out great and I think I got much further than I imagined I would, but I feel like I'm stuck and it's taking a turn in the wrong direction.

I only had Photoshop Elements 8, as I just don't have much money to spend on hobbies. Possibly thinking of buying the wife a better PS version for Christmas, but that's neither here nor there.

I researched Minotaurs and found a base image to start with, and went through the following process:

Very pixelated, so I looked for ways to smooth it out and found a vectoring program called Inkscape for free. After converting it to a vector-based image, I smoothed out the lines and curves, and played with some color combinations. I like the foundation of the image but I'm now stuck on the detailes. I'm looking to try to add some detail, but since this is theoretically supposed to go on a helmet, I don't want to go overboard. Nothing I have tried really seems to be working out.

I found some helmet templates, but could only get one to open up all the way in my crappy PSE8, and even then I had to work some magic with the mask since I couldn't access all the tools that a normal PS program can do. That being said, the end test product I made didn't come out too bad, minus the logo not being to my liking yet.

I did come up with an idea for the details to possibly be in the form of maze-like lines on the horns or something, to simulate a play on the minotaur and his famed Labyrinth, though I haven't done anything with that because I can't really picture how to impliment it yet.

I'm not truly stuck on the colors being what they are, but red and green are a very seldom-used combination that I thought I'd play with, being a concept and all, and I felt beige or pewter would kind of bring them together a bit more.

Any helpful advice or ideas on how I can move this forward would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

[Ninjorz]

As well, here are some of the uniform concepts I came up with, using the EA Sports Teambuilder website @ http://www.easports.com/teambuilder#/school/1001108512631:1416301735

I know I didn't technically do these graphics myself, but it helped me come up with the uniform colors I liked, and uniforms will eventually be made in Photoshop once I can figure out how to work the templates.

[Ninjorz]

Thanks for stopping by, Justin! (he's the one who suggested I come here)

That is a very interesting idea to think on, especially with how it relates to the overall image of what a Minotaur actually is.

Hmm ...

I may very well try that out. In the meantime, though, I will still be working on the primary logo for team identity ... but the horns as a secondary logo for helmets is pretty cool. At the very least, an alternative uniform option!

I like it!

[Ninjorz]

As far as colors go, I honestly think red and green make it look like a scary reindeer.

Well ... scary can work ... maybe? lol.

I really wanted to avoid black and red. Tan and red is too reminiscent of the '9ers and Bucs for my liking. I originally went with Navy and Tan, but that's like the modern Rams. Overall, just trying to avoid any current color combinations, and I do think three colors gives me a lot of options for uniform designs.

The color choices, I think, are right up there in importance with the logo itself as far as team identity go. I've tried so many things.

[Ninjorz]

This is the dreaded, overused red and black. I actually like it, just don't want to use it.

[Ninjorz]

Oh, and you can go here to find more templates.

Awesome, great resource!

[FALCON6]

good, fierce logo. look into making the stripe on the horn red.

[Ninjorz]

good, fierce logo. look into making the stripe on the horn red.

Thank you.

I do like the red highlights on the horns, but now I'm having a hard time matching up a good color for the helmet so that the either the horns don't get lost or the head doesn't look bland.

Hmmm ...

[Ninjorz]

As for the wood mark, that's another story altogether, as I keep running myself into cliche walls. Will work more on that next week, I think.

[BrandMooreArt]

i dont know man. i dont think theres anything you can do to really save this one. but it's OK, you should start over with a good sketch as a base to trace over. i drew this one up pretty fast, but feel free to use it if you like.

as for colors, i like where you going with the green and gold. not sure why, but i feel like green goes well with a minotaur.

[TShaw528]

The horns are nice, but the body needs a lot of work. The design on its' neck doesn't really seem to have any rhyme or reason behind it, the eye, chin, and nose need to be more defined (small lines don't work well on logos), and there's no mouth.

[Ninjorz]

i dont know man. i dont think theres anything you can do to really save this one. but it's OK, you should start over with a good sketch as a base to trace over. i drew this one up pretty fast, but feel free to use it if you like.

as for colors, i like where you going with the green and gold. not sure why, but i feel like green goes well with a minotaur.

Thank you for the time you took to respond (and draw!).

The logo is supposed to just be a stylized version of a minotaur, much akin to the bull in the Houston Texans logo. I specifically wanted to avoid a detailed Minotaur head or bust because I've seen a few other fantasy teams or concepts that did basically what you did and I wanted it to be different from what else is out there.

Yeah, I've thinking more and more with going green and gold, as those are my high school colors as well. The problem is that i don't like how the helmet is turning out with either green or gold.

Thank you again for your time.

[Ninjorz]

The horns are nice, but the body needs a lot of work. The design on its' neck doesn't really seem to have any rhyme or reason behind it, the eye, chin, and nose need to be more defined (small lines don't work well on logos), and there's no mouth.

The design was just to fill in, as it felt blank, and I attribute minotaurs to being tribal. I know I didn't hit the mark, still experimenting, but you're right.

Really didn't want to draw a mouth, as it's supposed to be stylized, like the Houston Texans. I rather like the sillouhette rather than getting too detailed, for this particular logo. I do have another version with an open mouth though, and might give that one a go someday. Perhaps this design just isn't meant to be, either, lol.

Thanks.

[New York's Greatest]

Nice idea and the uniforms themselves to go with the helmet design very well

[Ninjorz]

I'll have to think on that one. Def not the direction I wanted to go, but certainly an option as I rethink this.

Currently taking a short break from the Minotaur team as I do some research on another team ... Team Bushido!

I'll circle back to the Minos, maybe a fresh look will inspire me some more.