Big legit project-poss. paying gig

[creativelysain]

I would have to go with (besides the original, which is the best) the gold, blue, and black one because of the way it makes the soldier look a little more intimidating. Of all of them, I would use one that had a dark outline, although they all look good, the lighter color draws away from the inside part of the logo. Just my .02, I hope I was a little bit helpful. If not, disregard the post.

As a sidenote, I have been working on the Central Spitfires logo. I used the Spitfire airplane from the WW II era and added a little bit to it (although, I feel I may have overdone it).

http://www.geocities.com/lightbluevale/spitfires.html

Comments/critiques are welcome.

[fiasco!]

i, too, like the original martians logo. if i were to have to go with one of the others, i'd pick the one on the top right or bottom right.....that spitfires logo is pretty damn sweet, lightbluenc. good job.

[umlegend]

Zealot, I will show a lot of color combos if they are good and yours are. The red is a good idea, I just think they'll say $$ is too much of a factor there. With a logo change, you can gradually usher it in. With color change, you'd almost have to do it across the board. I like the white outline and the top right.

That Spitfires logo is sweet.  Is there a way to use some white and maybe drop some gray?  Not necessary, just wouldn't mind seeing it.  I like the fire coming out the back too.  That's a good touch.  The propeller looks like it could be a C with some tweaking.

[hockeyzealot]

Having worked with my high school to change their logo (I'll see if I can dig up some photos sometime) I understand that adding a color can make people nervous.  Ultimately I don't think it would be necissary for the school to  add red to their uniforms for the original design to be effective.  They certainly wouldn't be the first team (high school or otherwise) to have a design featuring colors that weren't part of the uniform.  Personally I think the original logo would be just as effective on a strictly gold and blue uniform as it would be on a uniform that included red.  Also, would it be prohibitively expensive to gradually phase in a small amount of red as new uniforms are made?  

Anyway...I know this is your baby...so its really your call...it just seems like the concensus on this board is that the original is definately the most sound design, and as a designer I like to see good designs implamented.

Perhaps some of you guys out there could do me the favor of testing my theory and seeing if in fact the original design works with navy and gold uniforms?  As always, feed back is greatly apreciated.

[umlegend]

Like I said, I will take it to them for sure.  I just wanted to have the other options and to give you the heads up on what I expect they will say in regard to the red.

[CDunn]

The outline needs to be dark.  Looks wierd otherwise.  therefore, the bottom right oe with blue/gold/black is the best.  Black you could claim is an accent color and can just be used is logos, not unis.  Unless they want black in the unis.  Good work.

[Phil]

Okay, I may sound a little critical, but only because I think that all of these ideas have a lot of promise. I think you all have done admirable jobs, and hope you take my words as encouragement and suggestions as opposed to demeaning condescension.

Chri's Bobcats logo

Good idea, but I think the timing is a little off, what with Charlotte recently coming out with a profile Bobcats logo.

-the neck area reminds me of the AFL's Grand Rapids Rampage logo (the triceratops' neck-shield thing), but I digress...

-the inconsistency in outlining hurts this logo

-it's missing some of the features that separates a bobcat from some other predators like wildcats and wolverines... it has been suggested that using an actual photo of a bobcat might help, and I couldn't agree more.

hockeyzealot's Martians logo

As much as the red adds to the logo, I'd have to say that for these purposes, the white, navy, and gold version works the best. They're the martians, not the centurions, and for that reason I think that the Roman soldier imagery should obviously be included, but the variation of the white comb and white eyes differentiates it a bit from the traditional legionary.

-I love that great Ottawa Sens-esque angle

-my one suggestion would be to incorporate a G or an M (for Goodrich or Martians) into the logo, most likely utilizing what is now the cape as part of the letter. High schools like it to be a little more obvious who the logo belongs to, because of the smaller recognition factor as opposed to, say, the Carolina Hurricanes, where no letters are required to associate the team with the logo.

shiznit1083's Condors logo

There's quite obviously a difference between the logo in the background and the logo that is featured. Unless my colours are seriously screwed up, the foreground logo looks like a black blob with a head. The background logo depicts a well-detailed, very nicely executed Condors concept. Is there some kind of error...? More to come, once I get a good look at the real thing...

The wordmark is classy and nice... I don't know if you added this in after, or if it came stock with the font, but the angled ends of the C and S really add something to it. Well done.

lightbluenc's Spitfires logo

Good start, but the logo is far too vague. Express the idea with clarity. The shadow effect is cool, but then make sure that it is unmistakeably recognizable. Some issues include

-the perspective of the propeller (the side that's actually closest to the viewer is made to look like it's behind the nose)

-the positioning of the wings (the plane's right wing looks like a fin sticking out of the plane's hood), and

-the lack of vertical and horizontal stabilizers (the tail fins and mini-wings). I know the fire is there instead, which leads me to my next point.

-I don't understand why, when the team is s'posed to be the Spitfires, does it look like it's being shot out of the sky, and burning up? The fire is supposed to represent the speed of the plane? Nice idea that works better with other things, but if you insist on using it with the plane, make sure the tail fins etc are there so that it doesn't look like they've already been blown off.

-A different font is definitely in order. Don't have enough cool ones? There's some good font sites suggested in the TFAQ, if that's your cup o' tea.

Personally, I'd love to give the Spitfires identity (as well as a couple of other different concepts) a try (I have some thoughts somewhat similar to the plane portion of my Portland Pilots logo from a while back), but a week ago I was at my doctor's, and although he said I could forget the sling, the back-slab-cast/tensor band combo I've been using stays for at least 3 more weeks. I may try some minimal designing, but we'll see what degree of success I meet.

[creativelysain]

Thanks for the comments SyPhi. Do you think it would be best if I just lose the fire altogether, and have just the flying plane? If thats the case, that shouldn't be to difficult, I just don't know how to get the back wing to look better. I'll try to fix it up though. I'll also try to find some more fonts, I didn't know of a good place to get them without paying for them though, but now I have found a few.

[chri]

updated my bobcat logo...

reworked ears, mouth, and some small things...

[Phil]

Thanks for the comments SyPhi. Do you think it would be best if I just lose the fire altogether, and have just the flying plane? If thats the case, that shouldn't be to difficult, I just don't know how to get the back wing to look better.

If you lose the fire, you lose much of the flare that sets this logo apart. If you can figure out a different way of working it in, try it; if you find an alternative method of giving it some character, try that... the back wing could be improved by adding some highlights along the top edge of the plane's body, thus separating the body and the wing... and maybe some highlights along the leading edges of both wings would be cool.

updated my bobcat logo...

reworked ears, mouth, and some small things...

I think it's a step in the right direction, but it still doesn't scream bobcat at me... this link will take you to a pic of a bobcat in a pose quite similar to yours. Hopefully it'll help... it looks in a lot of respects close to yours, but some of the elements yours is missing (such as the 'beard', the nose, the depth in general but specifically in the ears, etc) show up nicely on this image.

Way to stick with it chri... if you see this through to the end, I'll guarantee you you'll be proud of what you end up with.

*remember... these are only suggestions, and I am only one opinion... if you see things differently, don't hesitate to disagree.

[GMac]

Just throwing ideas out there till something sticks...lol

[creativelysain]

Here is my altered Spitifres logo with the tail on and a different propeller:

http://www.geocities.com/lightbluevale/spitfires.html

By, the way GMac, thats pretty awesome! I love the sword, but maybe, you could reverse the swoosh, and make a stylistic "C" out of it. Just a suggestion, you don't have to.

[mikeb7]

ok, I've worked a bit on chri's bobcat..

I've completely dropped the black accents and worked on a few parts of it...

any c&c?

also I'm working on a stampede project, which I'll post in the next few hours.

Nice work Gmac! I love the rebel wordmark and the sword.. but maybe you can come up with a rebel as well?! the sword is just so "secondarish" that it screams for a primary if you know what I'm sayin'.

[umlegend]

Nice work GMac.  I like it.

Mike, I like what you have done with chri's bobcat.  However, I think it does need some black.  Another thing about it is the back/neck area.  It kinda seems wierd.  If you take the first accent line from the back and extend it up to the head and eliminate what's behind it, it will be better.  Did you understand all that? ???  If not, I will post a pic of what I mean.

[GMac]

yeah I love my rebels word mark.... if you havent noticed its the same as my IHL Rebels wordmark, well the rebels part anyway... i love that font...lol... though the fist holding a hockey stick wouldnt work for a school... hence the sword... not sure what to do for a primary though... kinda scared to get in an Ole Miss rut...lol

[mikeb7]

umlegend:

is that what you had in mind?

btw. I don't think black accents will work.. It just doesn't look right to me.. but if you reeeeally want that black in there then I could add a black outline.

[Phil]

Excellent work Mike, GMac, and lightbluenc. All improvements.

GMac's Rebels

-Did you design the sword, or is that Buffalo's sabre? If you didn't design it, I don't think it will fly... but nice use of it, especially if you did create it yourself.

-A little too much empty space. Compact the long sweeping swipe a little. Or enlarge the wordmark quite a bit. Or both.

-The R looks rather diminutive in size compared to the rest of the letters. I think it would look better if you increased its size with respect to the rest of the letters.

lightbluenc's Spitfires, take 2

-Much improved. Looks sleeker, sharper, and more recognizeable.

-The more I see it, the less I think you need the fire, but that's your call. Some speed lines from the wing tips and tail would do just as well if not better IMHO.

-The propeller still isn't right. The way I'm reading the perspective, the right side of the propeller (from our point of view) should cover up the nose of the plane, rather than the other way around.

mikeb7's take on chri's Bobcats

-Looks much improved. That's what I was talking about.

-Seeing as umlegend and the schools are what this is specifically for, I think the black accents are a reasonable request. One thing I really liked about chri's bobcat was the black around the eye... almost giving it that bandit look. The black could help give it depth (I know you may feel strongly about the sanctity of your logo's bicoloured nature, which is definitely a feat to be praised, but I also believe that the black could add some dimension and depth, especially around the eye, the ear, and perhaps a bit around the mouth.

Well done, logoholics! Keep it up!

[GMac]

Yeah its my sword... i was worried it cameout looking buffalos... sigh... i may modify a bit to lose the "buffalo-esque" look...  but i really like the way it came out besides that... yeah ill look into fixing the word mark... any ideas on a primary that dont involve a "southerner"....lol....thanks for the suggestions Sy.... hows the arm?

[umlegend]

Yes, Mike that is what I had in mind regarding the neck. I would like some black like Sy is sayin. I can show both if you'd like.

The plane is much improved. I like the fire. The propeller does need to be full circle though.

GMac, the only rebel I can think of that would use a sword, is some sort of pirate. Maybe a skeleton one like Nitro's Mutiny logo (which happens to be my fantasy team's logo and name). If you do a pirate like character that's human, try to mix old school pirate with new school. Keep him cool.

edit add on:

Mike, I think when the features of cats are thought of, the eyes are one of the first one that comes to mind.  So, as long as you're adding black, would it be asking to much for an eyeball?

[Phil]

thanks for the suggestions Sy.... hows the arm?

Because you asked...

I scanned my backslab half-cast/tensor bandage combination. To answer the question, I go get X-rayed at the start of December to see if it can come off.

Hey, what can I say... my fans have always been, and always will be, my third priority.

To make this post actually useful, I will needlessly cloud the thread with conflicting views regarding the neck-length of the mikeb7/chri's bobcat collaboration, by saying I prefer the longer neck.

And GMac, take it as a compliment man. That sword looks too pro. I did think it was the Sabres, but hopefully the rest of my suggestion will end up being useful.