Orlando Owls Concept

[Fjm]

You should consider changing the color scheme, since they are very similar to that of the Temple Owls. Since owls aren't red/cherry/burgandy anyway, I would recommend using a different primary color to distinguish your team, or at least a more definitive secondary color that would stand out. Possibly yellow-gold would go nice as a secondary color, since you could use it in your logo for the owl's eyes.

[AAO]

Thanks for your input guys.

[gashouser27]

actually this would be a good logo change for the temple owls

[buckeyes1]

This is an excellent design.

Is it football, baseball or basketball?

[AAO]

I was thinking either hockey or baseball.

[OB33]

Great work as always AAO, my only gripe with the concept is that the Owl looks feminine to me. Maybe it's the eyebrows but it just seems like the owl is female.

But regardless of gender this is still an awesome concept.

[andrewharrington]

The more I examine this, the more I feel the way in which you've rendered certain elements, particularly the horns and beak, along with the omission of key details, like the face patch, are keeping this logo from ever taking off. I'm going to post an owl I've been working on when I finish it, and try to show you what I mean. (I'm not fond of head on points of view all that much, so my image is a 3/4 view, but you will get the idea. Look for it later. It's an all-night project.)

[AAO]

sweet deal, andrew.

[andrewharrington]

Here's my owl. I had to freehand this in Illustrator, which is a very bad habit under normal circumstances. I did sketch it first, but I have no way to hook my scanner up to this computer because there are no Apple drivers available for it.

I'm not happy with this logo because it's far from perfect. You can't really freehand something and expect it to be exactly the same as your reference. Close, but not identical. Also, it definitely needs a body and I have to play with some of the other ideas I drew in my sketch. If I can scan it, I will trace my sketch so I can render it exactly how I drew it. The nuances created with the hand really make the sketch better than what you see here.

I started this at about 8 PM and finished around 2 AM. I t was created rather hastily, hence the rushed appearance and relatively lackluster color selection. It's very bad to do something in such a small window of time, so do not follow that behavior. Anyway, the point is to see how much more it looks like an owl with nothing more than a good reference picture and some careful attention to the characteristics that visually define a great horned owl.

1. The parallelogram-shaped horns

2. The big, gold eyes

3. The small, sharp beak

4. The orange face patch.

[Hat Boy]

That is a sweet lookin' owl. Dignified and aggressive.

This may have been addressed in the original sketch, but the "horns" need a little more detail to make them look like feathers. These sort of look like ears, which gives the owl a "cat" or "chipmunk" look. No one wants to be on a team named the chipmunks.

I'd love to see the original sketch if you find a way to post it.

[AAO]

nice job. but yea i agree about the time you were alotted. I actually freehand all the time, i sketch, but i never sketch and trace, i usually just look at my sketch and do it in illustrator accordingly. haha love how you jacked my wordmark more or less

[VitaminD]

That is a sweet lookin' owl. Dignified and aggressive.

This may have been addressed in the original sketch, but the "horns" need a little more detail to make them look like feathers. These sort of look like ears, which gives the owl a "cat" or "chipmunk" look. No one wants to be on a team named the chipmunks.

Awesome work, tempest.

I also see the feline aspects of the owl - mostly in the eyes. This could be fixed easily with greater attention focused toward the beak (probably the easiest way to make it look less feline) and upper lid of the owl. Make the upper lid shaggier looking (for the hooded feathering) and the beak more prominent (with this 3/4 profile, the beak's small triangular profile does look like a cat more than it perhaps should), and you're set. You're 98% of the way there after this "hasty" drawing; we should all do such quick work!

[ltravisjr]

AAO, I think its all in the eyes here. On your concept, they are squinted to the point they aren't characteristic owl eyes. Owl eyes are big, round, and piercing, just like in tempest's reference photo. In his photo, the lids do partially obscure the eyeball, but not nearly to the degree they do on your drawing. Therefore, your owl looks like it is, I don't know, smirking or something. Also, the eyelid lines are more flattened then on the reference. What I mean is that if you look at the photo, the lines from horn to horn to beak to the beak form a nearly perfect equilateral triangle, whereas on yours it is a flatter triangle. See what I mean:

I think that also plays into the "squintiness" of the eyes. I think if you can open up the eyes and correct the geometry, that may well solve most all of your problems.

LT

[andrewharrington]

Well said.

[AAO]

whoa sweet, good crit there LT. im gonna revisit the concept soon, and make the necessary tweaks. thanks guys.