Best Logo Refreshes

[CLEstones 496]

Not trying to derail this thread, but can I just say that college mascot logos is one of my favorite things in all of sports.

[hettinger_rl 1,137]

I did my own lil update of the TCU Horned Frog as illustrated in this GIF:

 

http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/112910-tcu-horned-frog/

[oldschoolvikings 10,618]

27 minutes ago, CLEstones said:

Not trying to derail this thread, but can I just say that college mascot logos is one of my favorite things in all of sports.

 

I'm with you... Show me a random cartoon goat, ram, or bison wearing a jaunty sailor hat, and I get all giddy inside.

[hettinger_rl 1,137]

57 minutes ago, oldschoolvikings said:

 

I'm with you... Show me a random cartoon goat, ram, or bison wearing a jaunty sailor hat, and I get all giddy inside.

So..... you're saying you like my avatar/display image. 

[oldschoolvikings 10,618]

12 minutes ago, hettinger_rl said:

So..... you're saying you like my avatar/display image. 

Yes, I most certainly do.

[1991 83]

1 hour ago, hettinger_rl said:

I did my own lil update of the TCU Horned Frog as illustrated in this GIF:

 

http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/112910-tcu-horned-frog/

Very nice! I like how you kept that retro vibe .

[Kaz 1,369]

15 hours ago, Survival79 said:

 

The black logo is more square than the blue logo.

 

 

The old logo being more square proportion-wise is what makes it better than the update.  I like many of the individual updates of the new logo such as the skinnier N and the tape stripes, but in the vast majority of cases a hockey crest simply looks better and fits a sweater when proportionally square.

[Survival79 1,067]

6 minutes ago, Kaz said:

The old logo being more square proportion-wise is what makes it better than the update.  I like many of the individual updates of the new logo such as the skinnier N and the tape stripes, but in the vast majority of cases a hockey crest simply looks better and fits a sweater when proportionally square.

 

Problem solved!

 

 

 

[Gothamite 17,156]

35 minutes ago, Survival79 said:

 

Problem solved!

 

 

 

 

That's actually better.

[CLEstones 496]

3 hours ago, oldschoolvikings said:

 

I'm with you... Show me a random cartoon goat, ram, or bison wearing a jaunty sailor hat, and I get all giddy inside.

 

Honestly, are they not fantastic though?  There is something about seeing animals walking on 2 legs, with a letter sweater on, that just make me feel warm inside.

[Red Wolf 4,146]

9 hours ago, CLEstones said:

Not trying to derail this thread, but can I just say that college mascot logos is one of my favorite things in all of sports.

Honestly, anybody who disagrees is somebody I wouldn't trust.

[andrewharrington 3,310]

15 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

Yes, and that’s why it works better. I’ve argued before that squares are the best overall shapes for cap logos, the same could be said for the front of sweaters. 

 

I meant more squared-off, for want of a better term, bringing the angle of the stick parallel with the bottom of the letters.

 

Squares do offer a nice proportion on hockey jerseys, but this one’s a good example of a unique case. While the old mark is nearly square, it doesn’t fill up the square evenly and, in my opinion, the way it sits in the center of the chest is a touch on the awkward side. The new one is wider (more of a golden rectangle) so that the meat of it can spread across the chest a little farther and carry the same visual weight and presence as a mark that fills the “chest square” evenly. This is an optical correction similar to how a triangle mark needs to be wider than a square or circle logo in order to make up for the surface area inherently lost due to the nature of the shape itself.

 

This image pair is also a good one to show how the new N isn’t actually more squat. It’s the same footprint as the old N, but it’s been thinned out, particularly through the diagonal, to create better harmony between the two letters.

 

I can buy the charm in the angled blade (maybe even the elegance if it were done better), but I'm really curious what you like about the tapered handle. It doesn’t show realistic or functional perspective, and to me it comes across 100% as a sloppy mistake.

[SFGiants58 9,055]

This thread got me thinking, the A’s really need to update their elephant logo to something less-1955/1988 (white variant used, per its origin story - John McGraw didn’t call the team a green elephant):

 

 

 

A lot of the linework, detailing, and the “A’s” insignia should be overhauled/made more consistent.

[Morgo 3,405]

15 hours ago, andrewharrington said:

 

Squares do offer a nice proportion on hockey jerseys, but this one’s a good example of a unique case.

 

It's always a  "unique case" when you've had a hand in the design.  The more square version works better as a crest no matter how much you talk up fixing what wasn't broken.

[Mingjai 697]

I know a lot of BYU fans like this logo and would consider this a great logo refresh, but I've never been a fan of the updated rendering of the "Sailor Cougar" logo. To me it feels like the designer ran the original logo, which was nothing special in the first place, through Illustrator's trace feature and took whatever the program spit out. The lack of any sense of furriness in the updated logo makes me think of a hairless sphynx cat.

 

[Red Wolf 4,146]

2 hours ago, Mingjai said:

I know a lot of BYU fans like this logo and would consider this a great logo refresh, but I've never been a fan of the updated rendering of the "Sailor Cougar" logo. To me it feels like the designer ran the original logo, which was nothing special in the first place, through Illustrator's trace feature and took whatever the program spit out. The lack of any sense of furriness in the updated logo makes me think of a hairless sphynx cat.

 

The new one loses whatever character the old one had. Compare this to how NC State updated theirs for instance. It cleaned things up without losing what made it interesting in the first place. This is like when Spongebob decided to be normal.

[andrewharrington 3,310]

5 hours ago, Morgo said:

 

It's always a  "unique case" when you've had a hand in the design.  The more square version works better as a crest no matter how much you talk up fixing what wasn't broken.

 

The principles of design transcend personal attachment, my friend.

 

Also, who decides whether something’s broken or needs fixed?

[SFGiants58 9,055]

56 minutes ago, andrewharrington said:

 

The principles of design transcend personal attachment, my friend.

 

Also, who decides whether something’s broken or needs fixed?

 

Aren’t you forgetting? No matter how much you explain your design to people, they will dislike it (for some legitimate reasons, others not as much). I like it, even though I’d rather the team adopt a lighthouse/seafaring look (albeit not as cheesy as the fisherman set). 

 

Sometimes, I get the sense that you and @BrandMooreArt like “talking down” to the posters here, like we don’t know anything about design and are just a bunch of bumpkins. There’s also the sense that both of you “tow the company line” when it comes to performance materials, defending them to the extreme despite board members complaining about them. I agree with you guys on a lot of your theory and research points, but there’s still that sense of defending your employer.

 

You haven’t acted in the combative and unproductive/unprofessional manner with which Tom O’Grady verbally assaulted the board (which should have lost him a contract), but it can come off as elitism. It’s just something to keep in mind when posting here (and I often find myself agreeing with you on a lot of topics).

[BrandMooreArt 3,375]

16 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Sometimes, I get the sense that you and @BrandMooreArt like “talking down” to the posters here, like we don’t know anything about design and are just a bunch of bumpkins. There’s also the sense that both of you “tow the company line” when it comes to performance materials, defending them to the extreme despite board members complaining about them. I agree with you guys on a lot of your theory and research points, but there’s still that sense of defending your employer.

 

well, that's certainly not the intention. im not here for an argument; i like the discussion as long as its a discussion. thats the whole reason i come here, to get the outside perspective from y'all. though i will say when i do feel strongly about something, ill let it be known and not back down from that. i try not to do it often because when i do, i hope it carries a little weight, you know?. sorry if i come across as crass but i suppose i dont mind it if im directing it at the work, not the people (Panthers logo). 

 

and one of those things i feel strongly about is (or, is not) "towing a company line". its a shame if ive come across that way, sorry for that if i have as well. but ive certainly never defended the Dolphins (or anything) that i didnt believe. i have no issues with tearing apart the teams uniform numbers or logos; they're :censored:ing awful. but there's a lot of stuff im pretty proud to have had a hand in as well. we've done a lot of great stuff in Miami.

i really dont want to derail the thread on this topic, i think this has been a really good one. it's gone well considering....well, things can go off the rails here sometimes but those people havent shown up yet. since you wanted my attention on the matter, those are my thoughts. but one more point to make: its not very often someone defends the Designers here but other Designers and i think some like taking shots at them, for whatever reason. i try not to be preachy and certainly not holier-than-thou, my intention is to teach if i can. sometimes people are wrong. i dont know, maybe its the nature of the internet? these kinds of discussions have always been better in person and over drinks. 

 

let's carry on   

 

[SFGiants58 9,055]

13 minutes ago, BrandMooreArt said:

Snip   

 

 

No worries, man. You’ve produced a lot of fantastic stuff over the years and I really like hearing your opinions on logos, design, and branding. It’s nice to have that “insider” perspective on the matter as well, especially when it comes to the client-designer relationship. If I know anything from my time learning about historiography and book publishing, the publisher/client can do a lot to steer a piece of media in the right, wrong, or lateral direction.

 

I have never seen you “talk down” to a disrespectful point, as you’ve always been good about admitting your biases and having a sense of humor about your work. The sense can maybe be there (from some interpretations) is all I’m arguing. (e.g., “objectively better” can be a problematic phrase, I’ve found).

 

I like having these discussions, especially as they help us tease out different parts of design theory that we may not normally find.