Looking to start a high school logo proposal on the right foot...

[Roryfan]

My advice would be to work on one logo at a time. Then incorporate that logo into the other pieces. Don't forget that you're creating s sports logo. That means it'll appear on a helmet, a baseball hat, and other things. None of the ones you've presented so far would work very well on them.

As for the logo itself, you're typeface isn't very readable. Your logo has to be easily read and recognized in order for it to be fully effective and, in this case, represent a large organization. I would suggest you contact Conrad about using one of his fonts at fontsbyconrad.com.

Also, you need outlines if you want the appearance of a professionally done sports logo. Look at all the great examples on this board, they all have a thick outline that connects the object with the text and gives a very coherent feel. I would also suggest you removing a lot of detail in the logo and replacing it with shading.

As for the presentation appearance, I would check out the Boston Celtics rebrand that was added to the concept section of this board not too long ago. The user created a small booklet that detailed every aspect of his design. It might cost a little extra to get this printed and what not, but the effect will show that you went above and beyond to present the best possible identity you could have made.

With that being said, i applaud your creativity. You have some really good ideas and if you're patient, this board will help you expand that idea into a masterpiece and you'll have a ton of more knowledge on the subject than before. I hope this doesn't sound too harsh, I see the potential of a great logo there, and if you'd like, I'd be more than happy to continue helping you out and show you examples of what I'm talking about as well as giving you some presentation items to use. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions. Keep up the great work and don't give up on your designs!

[FFWally]

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.

I coach football at Hanford, despise Richland, in a way that isn't healthy!

When I think Cadets, I think West Point, and something simple like this, though I'm not a huge fan of the Spartan helmet...

But clean like this is nice, and Davis's pirate ship is pretty bad, but not as bad as what West Valley did with the Rams this year... just god awful.

And remember it is going on a football helmet, which presents its own challenges.

I redesigned both Hanford and Pasco and it was a process, for both.

Pasco took a good 5 months to get it where I am happy with it, and it wont be adopted til at least 2016 school year.

Hanford was a full 2 year process, and then we still did a redesign for the helmets.

Allen

[mark_lavis]

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!

I was thinking about having a version with a white outline around the logo for those occasions, in the same way the Patriots put their logo on a small white background when they put in on navy blue parts of their uniform.

[mark_lavis]

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.

I coach football at Hanford, despise Richland, in a way that isn't healthy!

When I think Cadets, I think West Point, and something simple like this, though I'm not a huge fan of the Spartan helmet...

But clean like this is nice, and Davis's pirate ship is pretty bad, but not as bad as what West Valley did with the Rams this year... just god awful.

And remember it is going on a football helmet, which presents its own challenges.

I redesigned both Hanford and Pasco and it was a process, for both.

Pasco took a good 5 months to get it where I am happy with it, and it wont be adopted til at least 2016 school year.

Hanford was a full 2 year process, and then we still did a redesign for the helmets.

Allen

I never thought I'd see the West Virginia logo and the Fordham logo on the same helmet but man, they just had to try.

[mark_lavis]

Before I tackle the wordmark, here are some edits I did to the C logo which I think might be my new primary.

1) I took into consideration the suggestion to give the logo more height so I squished the grip (which I've now turned red), the blade, and the C horizontally. I also initially made the C a bit thinner.

2) I added an outline as many of you have suggested. With the school's third white I opted for that over black. I've put the logo on top of the blue and red so you can see how it'd look.

3) Tackling a logo that'd appear on a baseball cap or even helmet, I made a version of the C logo, detaching the hilt from the blade. I like it directly connects with the main C logo with little to no editing and still keeps the "E" and "C" imagery.

Also, my father suggested making the blade bevelled with a darker shade of red on the bottom half. Only reason I'm hesitant toward that is because it'd look weird in contrast to the solid colored grip since they're very similar shapes although I'd like to get your thoughts on that idea.

[KittSmith_95]

The red blade just isn't working here. It looks like a kid's toy like that. However, you have a great idea here. I enjoyed the sword with the "IKE" going through it. Try to play around with that a bit more....

Also, maybe multiple marks are needed here, but slight ones. Kinda partial-primaries if you will.

[FFWally]

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.

I coach football at Hanford, despise Richland, in a way that isn't healthy!

When I think Cadets, I think West Point, and something simple like this, though I'm not a huge fan of the Spartan helmet...

But clean like this is nice, and Davis's pirate ship is pretty bad, but not as bad as what West Valley did with the Rams this year... just god awful.

And remember it is going on a football helmet, which presents its own challenges.

I redesigned both Hanford and Pasco and it was a process, for both.

Pasco took a good 5 months to get it where I am happy with it, and it wont be adopted til at least 2016 school year.

Hanford was a full 2 year process, and then we still did a redesign for the helmets.

Allen

I never thought I'd see the West Virginia logo and the Fordham logo on the same helmet but man, they just had to try.

It is just horendous... and chrome makes it barely visible. Bold and gaudy are not mutually exclusive!

[wquarton]

Before I tackle the wordmark, here are some edits I did to the C logo which I think might be my new primary.

1) I took into consideration the suggestion to give the logo more height so I squished the grip (which I've now turned red), the blade, and the C horizontally. I also initially made the C a bit thinner.

2) I added an outline as many of you have suggested. With the school's third white I opted for that over black. I've put the logo on top of the blue and red so you can see how it'd look.

3) Tackling a logo that'd appear on a baseball cap or even helmet, I made a version of the C logo, detaching the hilt from the blade. I like it directly connects with the main C logo with little to no editing and still keeps the "E" and "C" imagery.

Also, my father suggested making the blade bevelled with a darker shade of red on the bottom half. Only reason I'm hesitant toward that is because it'd look weird in contrast to the solid colored grip since they're very similar shapes although I'd like to get your thoughts on that idea.

I actually like the Simple E with the blade(two on the right), its the first one that I can honestly say feels geometrically balanced( although the blade feels a bit long to me).

Its pretty simple but simple is often good. The other things(ike with the sword) would work as secondarys(along the sleeve comes to mind) but yea these are the first that I can honestly say feel like a primary. Keep refining, you're heading in the right direction

[mark_lavis]

Added bevels just for the hell of it and I think it really improved the logo. Thoughts?

[Jabel777]

Bevels improve the logo a lot. You've made great strides, and fast. Good job.

[davidmiller5]

The serifs on the E/C and the sword being so long, do not make me think letters. They merge together too much.

Also, the red blade makes me think "tongue" when it is separated from the handle, although the bevel helps with that.

[SydniT23]

This is just a random suggestion/idea but what if you tried to make the "C" BE kinda like the hand guard thingy of the sword handle? It would have a similar effect as to what you have now with the "E"/"C" while blending the "C" a little better with the sword. But great job so far it looks great!

[mark_lavis]

This is just a random suggestion/idea but what if you tried to make the "C" BE kinda like the hand guard thingy of the sword handle? It would have a similar effect as to what you have now with the "E"/"C" while blending the "C" a little better with the sword. But great job so far it looks great!

The main focal point of the logo is that the sword is a replica to the West Point Cadet sword in shape which is why I don't want to alter the hilt or grip that much if at all.

[mark_lavis]

Taking a cue from the latest logo rendition, I've drastically overhauled the wordmark.

1) Extended the sword blade to stretch the length of the word Eisenhower.

2) Decided it would make the most sense to put school name on the top and nickname on the bottom of the sword to even it out.

3) Continued the bevelled letters look and, as you'll see in my last update of the night just below, I've removed the serifs since literally no one likes them lol. Plus serif-less font for this part is much better looking.

4) All these letters are hand drawn though I found a bevel font to sketch over before I made minor tweaks.

5) The reason I opted for one white background instead of outlining each letter is because where "Cadets" currently is, I plan on utilizing that space for the specific sports wordmark (ie "Football" or "Basketball") which will allow the white background on the bottom to fluidly extend however wide I need it.

Lastly, here's updated primary logos minus the serifs.

[Frenchie]

I love seeing the creative process in action and seeing true constructive criticism, and someone who can take feedback and turn it into action.

I absolutely love this last version with the bevel, especially on the blue background.

One thnig I'd like to see (very simple): a much shorter blade that is just slithly longer than the E.

[mark_lavis]

I love seeing the creative process in action and seeing true constructive criticism, and someone who can take feedback and turn it into action.

I absolutely love this last version with the bevel, especially on the blue background.

One thnig I'd like to see (very simple): a much shorter blade that is just slithly longer than the E.

Thanks. All I care about is making a great logo for my alma mater. Plus there are a couple of things I'll admit I'm an amateur at and one of which is graphic design (on the other hand, criticize a floorplan I made for a house and you're in the doghouse).

Yeah I wanted it so the edge of the C would run perpendicular with the last point of the blade before it sharpens out, though I can look and see how it'd looked if it were at say the 1/2 mark.

[Whitefoot]

Adding the bevel and subtracting the serifs has made a huge improvement. Good job.

Here is something to think about, the lettering and the blade have very sharp straight edges (which look great), but the grip, hand guard, and outline have curves that make inconsistent line elements. I would suggest changing the grip and hand guard to a more straight line/sharp corner element (a straight grip handle and maybe a square diamond shape at the ends of the grip and hand guard). I also think the outline should match the lettering (no rounded corners).

[wquarton]

Taking a cue from the latest logo rendition, I've drastically overhauled the wordmark.

1) Extended the sword blade to stretch the length of the word Eisenhower.

2) Decided it would make the most sense to put school name on the top and nickname on the bottom of the sword to even it out.

3) Continued the bevelled letters look and, as you'll see in my last update of the night just below, I've removed the serifs since literally no one likes them lol. Plus serif-less font for this part is much better looking.

4) All these letters are hand drawn though I found a bevel font to sketch over before I made minor tweaks.

5) The reason I opted for one white background instead of outlining each letter is because where "Cadets" currently is, I plan on utilizing that space for the specific sports wordmark (ie "Football" or "Basketball") which will allow the white background on the bottom to fluidly extend however wide I need it.

Lastly, here's updated primary logos minus the serifs.

Yeah the only thing now is to shorten the blade a tad on the ones on the right. I think it's okay for the other two but it still feels a little long to me, and I think it's been mentioned by others as well. I see what you're saying about the wordmark and the white. If it does just say cadets ever i'd advise stretching it out so that its symetrical. Looks awesome, you're almost done IMO

[mark_lavis]

Adding the bevel and subtracting the serifs has made a huge improvement. Good job.

Here is something to think about, the lettering and the blade have very sharp straight edges (which look great), but the grip, hand guard, and outline have curves that make inconsistent line elements. I would suggest changing the grip and hand guard to a more straight line/sharp corner element (a straight grip handle and maybe a square diamond shape at the ends of the grip and hand guard). I also think the outline should match the lettering (no rounded corners).

The main selling point for this is the fact that the sword is a replica of the West Point cadet sword. That is why the objects in the hilt and grip are the way they are (excluding the star that I have to insert into the logo somewhere according to the school). Here is an image of the sword in question so you can see where I'm coming from.

[mark_lavis]

Taking a cue from the latest logo rendition, I've drastically overhauled the wordmark.

1) Extended the sword blade to stretch the length of the word Eisenhower.

2) Decided it would make the most sense to put school name on the top and nickname on the bottom of the sword to even it out.

3) Continued the bevelled letters look and, as you'll see in my last update of the night just below, I've removed the serifs since literally no one likes them lol. Plus serif-less font for this part is much better looking.

4) All these letters are hand drawn though I found a bevel font to sketch over before I made minor tweaks.

5) The reason I opted for one white background instead of outlining each letter is because where "Cadets" currently is, I plan on utilizing that space for the specific sports wordmark (ie "Football" or "Basketball") which will allow the white background on the bottom to fluidly extend however wide I need it.

Lastly, here's updated primary logos minus the serifs.

Yeah the only thing now is to shorten the blade a tad on the ones on the right. I think it's okay for the other two but it still feels a little long to me, and I think it's been mentioned by others as well. I see what you're saying about the wordmark and the white. If it does just say cadets ever i'd advise stretching it out so that its symetrical. Looks awesome, you're almost done IMO

Like this? I shortened the blade so the edge of the C lines up with the 1/2 point of the curve in the blade instead of at the end of it. Also extended "Cadets" to make it the same length as "Eisenhower" by stretching horizontally.