Need Help

[LimeGuy]

What the hell is wrong with this logo? I am too close to the project and I am having a devil of a time making this thing look right.

The team nickname is "Emperors" and that is an emperor penguin. I am hesitant to add a wordmark, but that is all I can think of to do.

Help?

[oddball]

Nothing is wrong with it per se. You have a nice balance there. I know a lot of people would say add the name in the gold above the head and maybe like an "E" upper or lowercase inside the shield on the white. But I say it's fine as is. You can go with the two ideas, but it works as is for me.

[Anemic_Royaltea]

looks pretty close to me,

if i were to change anything, i'd try to minimize the amount of empty space inside the shield (i dunno, make the penguin taller) and maybe even make the penguin big enough to have the beak falling outside of the shield.

[LimeGuy]

looks pretty close to me,

if i were to change anything, i'd try to minimize the amount of empty space inside the shield (i dunno, make the penguin taller) and maybe even make the penguin big enough to have the beak falling outside of the shield.

I like the size of the penguin.

The space is my issue, though. I tried something a little different and it seems to look a little better to me. Here is a side by side comparison of the original and the change I made:

I like the second one better, personally. The shield doesn't look so empty and the color scheme remains the same.

Comments?

[gordie_delini]

looks pretty close to me,

if i were to change anything, i'd try to minimize the amount of empty space inside the shield (i dunno, make the penguin taller) and maybe even make the penguin big enough to have the beak falling outside of the shield.

I like the size of the penguin.

The space is my issue, though. I tried something a little different and it seems to look a little better to me. Here is a side by side comparison of the original and the change I made:

I like the second one better, personally. The shield doesn't look so empty and the color scheme remains the same.

Comments?

Thicken up the lines inside and around the penguin - it will help give it more definition, especially around the eye. You may also want to give the penguin's eye an iris. Also, match the gold and yellow - you don't want to have conflicting colors in the design - either make the gold in the shield yellow like on the penguin or make the yellow on the penguin the vegas gold. Nice work so far

[eRay]

looks pretty close to me,

if i were to change anything, i'd try to minimize the amount of empty space inside the shield (i dunno, make the penguin taller) and maybe even make the penguin big enough to have the beak falling outside of the shield.

I like the size of the penguin.

The space is my issue, though. I tried something a little different and it seems to look a little better to me. Here is a side by side comparison of the original and the change I made:

I like the second one better, personally. The shield doesn't look so empty and the color scheme remains the same.

Comments?

Thicken up the lines inside and around the penguin - it will help give it more definition, especially around the eye. You may also want to give the penguin's eye an iris. Also, match the gold and yellow - you don't want to have conflicting colors in the design - either make the gold in the shield yellow like on the penguin or make the yellow on the penguin the vegas gold. Nice work so far

the colors were the thing that bothered me too, i think the yellow and gold are similar, but different enough so they clash. i think the same can be said about the maroon and black, but it isnt as big of a problem, especially in the second one. maybe match the yellow and gold, or get another color to replace the gold, and then let us see it.

[LimeGuy]

Ok, so the lines inside got some more definition, an iris was added, and the "goldenrod" was replaced by gold.

THIS is why I love this place. I would have toiled over that for days before figuring anything out on my own.

And, it is also why I am going to be running my other concepts by you all, too. There will be an identity package being released as soon as this logo is finalized, which I feel is pretty good at this point.

[eRay]

what if the red and gold were switched in the background, so the gold on the penguin doesnt look like a hole in the penguin, but a color spot?

[LimeGuy]

I played around a little with that idea. Here are 3 different variants I came up with:

Of the three, I like the 2nd or 3rd one best. The plain background doesn't look too shabby.

Oh, and the red/maroon I am calling "cranberry," since it has a tinge of purple in it. It's almost identical to the color the Rhein Fire use.

[eRay]

yeah i like either #1 or 3, the angle in #2 makes me think its part of the penguin or something, like a mohawk. i think i like 3 the best, that plain background does look nice, and its a good way to incorporate gold and cranberry in the logo, but still keep it simple.

[LimeGuy]

Any other feedback I need to take into consideration? Anyone else want to comment?

I've made the uniform and am just waiting to finalize the logo in order to finish the identity package and move on to the 2nd team I'm working on. There are 16 in all. (which will also be accompanied by a contest, if that ever gets approved... not that anyone is slow about it, I'm just hoping)

[meetthemets]

I assume you are working in Illustrator? The border around the whole thing looks uneven. It looks like you started with the outside black and then scaled a new one inside it. I would suggest adding another on top with a thick black stroke and no fill to make a smooth line around the whole thing. Maybe even add a gold border around that. It just looks sloppy right now. The corners are not smooth.

Also the black strokes in the face could be thicker. Either that or just remove them altogether. I would actually just remove the black from under the gold in the face.

[LimeGuy]

Actually, I am using Paint Shop Pro X.

The shield is based off of the UPS logo... in fact, it IS the UPS logo. I have always loved that shape and I wanted to use it, so I hollowed it out and made it the border of the penguin head. Previously, the original penguin head was a modified version of the old Pittsburgh Penguins logo without the triangle (mine looked MUCH better) but I decided I wanted to go in the direction of the shield instead.

I think this was the original image I used to get the shield from:

I am not entirely sure I understand what you're saying with the stroke of black and the gold...

The border around the whole thing looks uneven. It looks like you started with the outside black and then scaled a new one inside it.

The black was put in after the border was made, so that is actually the truth. I don't know if I can smooth it out anymore than it is... but I can try.

I would suggest adding another on top with a thick black stroke and no fill to make a smooth line around the whole thing. Maybe even add a gold border around that. It just looks sloppy right now. The corners are not smooth.

This is the part that confuses me. I should make another black border separated by a thin gold one?

Also the black strokes in the face could be thicker. Either that or just remove them altogether. I would actually just remove the black from under the gold in the face.

I had that particular line thicker, but it overpowered the gold highlight, so I scaled it back. I wouldn't mind removing it.

Clarify that confusing part for me and I'll put out the next look!

Thanks!

[Anemic_Royaltea]

golly that third one looks good.

[p.stic]

I say add shadow so the penguin looks like it's in front of the sheild, kind of adds the look of some distance from the body and the sheild.

[meetthemets]

Like this

[gueman]

Like this

The thing that bothers me is the straight line that represents the chest. It should arch outward. A real penguin doesn't have a straight line. Also adding a word mark along the top outside the shield would help finish the look.

[LimeGuy]

I like that gold part on the outer edge.

The penguin chest will arc slightly...

[LimeGuy]

The final image:

Thanks for all the help and I will begin working on the uniforms to post!

Whooo hoo!

[BCBoy]

Great update man, this is awesome.