mark_lavis Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Hello. I have been a long-time sports logo enthusiast and long-time lurker of this website and I'm looking to start out on the right foot with my first ever official logo proposal.My former high school announced it is looking for a new logo after having used an exact copy (no changes to the color scheme) of the New England Patriots logo for its sports teams for as long as I can remember. I have dabbled in creating just basic logos, usually taking 2-3 letters and morphing them into an image of an animal ala Washington State, but I've never presented a logo to someone else before let alone competing against anyone else. While the school has been simply asking for a new primary logo for free, I want to treat this as professional job and put the a lot of effort into this not caring I wont be compensated because its my former school after all. I'm looking for help right now with regards to creating a checklist of every little thing a could possibly need on top of the basics like the primary logo, alternate logo, wordmark, and one-tone logo. I'm also looking for inspiration with regards to how my pdf presentation should look as well if any of you have links to logo proposal presentations. A little background on my school. The name of the school is Dwight D. Eisenhower HS (IKE in conversation) and the school's nickname is Cadets. The colors are red, blue, and white. I'll be sharing my progress regarding the logos and would very much appreciate your constructive criticism along the way. I'm a bit over zealous right now to the point of wanting to create 3-4 separate logo proposals lol. The deadline for submission is in mid-December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrcollis714 Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Interesting, can't wait to see it. Favorites: Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, New York Rangers, New York Knicks, Cam Newton ND Irish Least Favorites: New York Giants, New York Mets, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Eagles, OBJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_lavis Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Here are my first drafts for the "West Point" primary logo and wordmark. The sword is a replica of the West Point Cadet sword. The font is handmade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silence of the Rams Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Um image ain't working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YelichGraphics Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 you know the ranking patches.. what if you tried to incorperate ehs from that or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabel777 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 you know the ranking patches.. what if you tried to incorperate ehs from that or somethingThat's a great idea. Interesting concept. I like the idea you have here, but, like GoNordiques said, the execution is a bit off. I actually like your typeface, but you need stronger outlines and that "a" doesn't really look like an "a" at first glance. It looks like an "o". The sword is a little bit too thin and the details won't show up on small version. I think it would be really nice if you slanted the sword through the "E" (or the "C" on Cadets) and made the sword thicker with thicker outlines. This is a good start, and can turn out to be a really good design with some changes. It'll be interesting to see where you go from here. Â Â Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FFWally Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Finally, cant wait to see the final. Eisenhower was in our Conference for a few years... and just keep at it.My first draft for Hanford's new logo was rough, really rough, but we now have a primary, an athletic and football specific log that all came form that draft.Keep grinding... Fictional History of the SFAF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wquarton Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Not a huge fan of the typeface, but I think the sword isn't terrible. At the very least its miles better than the first few things I did. Couple of thoughtsSee if you can figure out a way to get rid of the black outline, it just looks very low-rent, and you'll rarely see it in pro logosMaybe try having two swords crossed behind the E? It just feels to long vertically and not wide enough horizontally to me. Or perhaps a sword and a musket(might be too many colours) also the "a" on cadets looks like an "o" to meKeep at it. This is miles better than the first few things I posted, and as much as there are problems with it, there is lots of potential here. I'm excited to monitor your progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YelichGraphics Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 i dont want to take over here but i did a little bit of a rough idea on what im talking about.Obviousily this is your concept so you can do what you want, if you want to make this logo better, add bevels, change up the lettering a little bit go ahead.Like i said not tryiing to take over, but giving you another vision to this high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_lavis Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 Before I respond to your advice, here are two alternate logos I just finishedGoNordiques: Umm...thanks for being brutal lol (I'm a journalist and I'm the only one of my colleague friends whose ever touched Illustrator so sometimes I realize they're a bit too easy to please than actual graphic artists). Will focus on bold outlines from now on with this logo proposal, hence the removal of all the black borders except from the blade and the small black lines I used for detailing. Thanks for being honest, I really want to design a great original logo set for my alma mater after seeing them use an exact copy of the New England Patriots logo for so long (and that's coming from a Patriots fan SINCE 1999 so you can't call me a Brady bandwagon fan). llfhockey: Thanks for the advice on a logo. I'll definitely consider using the ranking patch outline for either "EHS" or "IKE" for either this group of logos or a group I want to do with Dwight Eisenhower as the focal point; along the same lines as the Frisco Roughriders have done with Teddy. Jabel77: Thanks for the advice. I recognized the small details and simply removed them from these two logos. Will for sure rework my font a bit when I do my next draft of the wordmark, especially the lowercase a. FFWally: Good to see another Columbia Basin League member who enjoys logos. Don't know if you were a Bomber or Falcon but when I was on the golf team a few years ago, I hated playing against both of you lol (we were last in the league). I'm definitely taking into consideration what the rest of the schools around Central Washington have so I don't clash with anyone. Looking to design a logo the same lines in terms of simplicity to Richland or Kennewick or even Hanford. As long as it's better in the end than Davis's logo, I'm happy. wquarton: Removing the black border for every object except the blade was the first change I made for these two logos. Making the red and blue a shade darker definitely helped that decision. Will for sure fixed the "a" as others have suggested when I do my next draft for the wordmark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_grateful_ted Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 HUGE improvement. The simplified sword looks much better, and the sword facing horizontally looks better as well IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_lavis Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 Thanks sleuthpanther. Just made a version where the sword blade and lettering are solid colors to see how it'd look with solid objects and no outlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whittier S Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 The blade looks bloody. :\ Was it just not working with a grey blade sans outline? I didn't see that you'd tried that yet. I suppose it might force you into a darker shade of grey, which the school might not be cool with, but it's worth experimenting with. Â Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumpygremlin Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 One thing that hasn't been said:Why not try to make the "A" in "Cadets" a two-tiered letter, like the one below. That'll help differentiate it from a letter "o" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_lavis Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 Like this stumpygremlin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabel777 Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Huge improvement so far. I'd like to see what the new "a" looks like in the rest of the word. I like both versions of the alternate logo, but the sword looks a little uncentered, but not by much. Â Â Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_lavis Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 The blade looks bloody. :\ Was it just not working with a grey blade sans outline? I didn't see that you'd tried that yet. I suppose it might force you into a darker shade of grey, which the school might not be cool with, but it's worth experimenting with.At least when I went there, they used grey helmets and still do to this day because they wear blue uniforms. Obviously could change with the new brand but just keeping my options open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_lavis Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 Huge improvement so far. I'd like to see what the new "a" looks like in the rest of the word. I like both versions of the alternate logo, but the sword looks a little uncentered, but not by much.I'll post the new wordmark going off of the alternate logos tomorrow along with an update to the E logo to see whether or not it should remain in this proposal or not. If not then that'd probably make the C logo the new primary since I think it'll look better on a helmet/uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wquarton Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Thanks sleuthpanther. Just made a version where the sword blade and lettering are solid colors to see how it'd look with solid objects and no outlines.Well hot damn that is definitely better. I'd still like to see you experiment with placement and location for the primary(not sure which that is, like that you have quite a few different versions). I'm not sure if these are meant to be the primary but they still feel a little bit geometrically unbalanced if they are(these are too long width wise, not tall enough, but again, if these aren't the primary that's fine) I think I'd like to see the sword diagonal behind the E for the primary, but overall props are due. Good start and its come along nicely with each update. Keep it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WavePunter Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 one thing to keep in mind, you've got ALL the colors PLUS grey in your logo.. i'm not sure what applications this logo will be used on, but if you want a logo witout outlines, it will be hard to have all the elements show up (for example, your logo, on a silver helmet, would hide the sword handle).. outlines aren't bad and simplicity isn't bad.. perhaps limit your logo to 3 of the 4 colors, which would always allow 1 color to be swapped out depending on background color - or go with a solid outline (perhaps same color outline on all elements - making logo 3 colors, using 4th as outline).. just my 2 cents, but otherwise i like the progression of your logo thus far.. keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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