Looking for design help

[OrangeCrush]

Below is my concept of a saber-tooth tiger. I am going for a "Memphis Grizzlies" style look. I would like suggestions and/or help on how to make it "pop" and look cleaner and sharper. Thank you for your time.

[vicfurth]

First step is to make sure you're drawing the right animal. Right now, it looks very little like a tiger and very much like a beaver. Your concept's style is light-years away from the Grizzlies, who have a very sleek design.

It's hard for me to see potential here. You may need to start from scratch. Sorry.

[JamieRose]

First step is to make sure you're drawing the right animal. Right now, it looks very little like a tiger and very much like a beaver. Your concept's style is light-years away from the Grizzlies, who have a very sleek design.

It's hard for me to see potential here. You may need to start from scratch. Sorry.

...a rabid beaver....

anyway, this could have potential, but it need a LOT of cleaning up and redefining.

[Epiphanic]

For a fantasy team, Sabertooth Beavers would be pretty funny and cool. To make it a tiger I think you need to lengthen the face a bit horizontally. Look at some pictures of saberooth tigers and you'll get the idea. Lengthen the snout and streamline the rest of the head and you'll be on your way. Keep hackin' at it.

[OrangeCrush]

Thanks for the input so far. I actually looked at pictures/scientific renderings from an academic website when making this draft but, I will work on making it look more like a tiger. Any other tips besides fixing the snout and lengthening the face?

Also, I know it is light-years from having the sleek Grizzlies look. That is why I came here to get tips. Any suggestions on where to start "trimming" to streamline, clean, and define?

Thanks again for your time and help.

[eRay]

ok, first off i think you need new colors, maybe a maroon like color, with a cream/tan, orange, and white. those are just suggestions, and those colors arent used too much together, and they can look nice. the design so far looks like it has way too much detail to get that sleek look you are going for. i dont know what you made this logo in, but if it is in illustrator it shouldnt be that hard. where there is currently hard edge after hard edge, keep only some hard edges, and add more rounded curves that elude to the shape that really happens. it is a hard thing for me to explain, but its almost like the lines have too much detail in them, they need to be smoother, and more rounded without losing the feeling of the saber tooth tiger. i personally think this has lots of potential.

[vicfurth]

First off, just in case I came off like an a-hole, I was just helping.

If you're wanting to keep with this logo so far, first thing you probably need to do is shape the head like a tiger, paying attention to every detail, including nose, ears, tongue, eyes, etc. That alone will really help. After the head's shaped correctly, move on to your angles, making them sleeker if that's the look you're going for. Colors needn't be worried about until you're nearly done, anyway, but I would suggest that three shades of tan with neon green is a no-no...

Again, I didn't want to come across as harsh, I was just providing my opinion.

[creativelysain]

Simplify your outlines.

Simplify your colors to a maximum of three, this will help clarify the shapes. Once you have done this, add any highlight(s), as you see fit.

Have a primary color, a base color, and a secondary color. In the Grizzlies logo, you have the light blue as a primary color, the navy as a dark base/shadow color, and the yellow as a secondary.

Instead of thinking of doing logos as working with lines, think of it as working with shapes, and putting all the shapes together to create one image.

Hope this helps a little bit, I try and go by these "rules" with most of the work I do.

[OrangeCrush]

Thanks to everyone for the help. I have taken a little of what everyone suggested and come up with version 2. Again, I ask for everyone's comments and criticism. As always, thank you for your time and help.... For those who asked, I am working in Photoshop.

[eRay]

looks alot better IMO, the colors still look a little off to me, but they are a lot better than last time. great improvement, but i dont know where you should go from here, i will leave that up to others, i just wanted to say nice work on this one.

[Kit]

I think you should up the contrast between the two shades of brown (if you insist on using two shades of brown).

Furthermore, I notice that a lot of the points are mitred off rather than coming to a sharp point (which is the first thing that I'd do with sabre teeth).

Look at the proportions of the Nashville Predators logo; I think you're making it overly hard on yourself designing at three-quarters instead of side or front on (look at the Preds third-jersey logo for proof that sabre-tooth tigers are bloody difficult to draw at that perspective).

Also echoing what lightbluenc said; don't put so many lines in to add detail; work layers up with shapes instead (referring specifically to the left side).

But damn, that was a quick improvement .

[GameCock82]

I just now looking at this for the first time. Your second version is a great improvement but you still are far from finished. I will assist you in what could be done to pull this work together:

1. First as the others said try to use shapes to form the logo instead of lines, it gives the logo form and dimensions. Take the bengals logo for example:

2. Now that you have the basic "blue print" set now you can go back and smooth out your lines and shapes. One thing on yours that I see that needs some work is the eye. Try making it white like an eyeball and adding a pupil. I think eyes really have a drastic effect on how the final product looks.

3. Once the logo is 100% complete and you feel you can not do anything else to it you can adjust the colors.

Good luck...

[LEWJ]

Thanks to everyone for the help. I have taken a little of what everyone suggested and come up with version 2. Again, I ask for everyone's comments and criticism. As always, thank you for your time and help.... For those who asked, I am working in Photoshop.

much, much more of an improvement, great job.

[OrangeCrush]

While I don't have a third version ready, I need some help in Illustrator. I just purchased AI and I cannot get the hang of the pen tool. Whenever I try to make consecutive curves (like forehead to mouth), I keep getting "s" shapes. Can someone please explain this or point me in the direction of a good tutorial on using the pen tool? Thanks again for your time and help.

[pcgd]

www.pcgdstudios.com/tutorials

[OrangeCrush]

pcqd, thanks for the tutorial, it was perfect.

I am now working on version 3.

[L-Train33]

The second version of the Sabretooth logo is really good. If youre working on a 3rd version, Ill look forward to seeing the improvement on it.

[spillpronecanvas]

Looks drastically better, good work. However, may i suggest there be a more brighter color somewhere in the logo? Olive doesnt seem to look good as a team color imo. Also, if u really want ur logo to look similar to the grizzlies logo (best logo in the nba, but one of the worst typeface also), make the image symmetrical. But dnt think im ripping into u, the logo is quite good, i'm glad to c that uve tackled a manual method.