Apprentice Challenge 3 - OPTIMUS

[Cola]

Also, I'll ask again. Does anyone have any non-traditional templates, for things like training shorts, shoes/cleats, etc?

I don't, but I will look around online for some online...I've already looked for cleat templates and found nothing.

[Cola]

Alright, one more post with David Price logo with baseball addition...again, just say "ColaCock, stop with David Price- it isn't going to happen" if the general consensus is that it won't work.

I'm surprised more people don't know who David Price is...but maybe it is because I live in the South. We don't really care much about professional sports or hockey at all...so we are really big on college athletics for the most part (more exciting to watch imo). Anyhow, he was one hell of a pitcher.

[leggman01]

I'm surprised more people don't know who David Price is...but maybe it is because I live in the South. We don't really care much about professional sports or hockey at all...so we are really big on college athletics for the most part (more exciting to watch imo). Anyhow, he was one hell of a pitcher.

i'm not a contestant, but i'll give you guys a word of caution on price...

brien taylor

if you don't know who he is, look him up

i could also give you a more recognizable name

mark prior

these guys were can't miss guys...who missed

and regarding the lebron/price comparison...comparing any nba #1 pick with any mlb #1 pick is comparing apples and oranges

[mania]

Prior, in this situation, I'd consider more of a hit.

Sure, he didn't have a lasting impact, but I bet they sold an assload of Prior jerseys.

[Cola]

I'm surprised more people don't know who David Price is...but maybe it is because I live in the South. We don't really care much about professional sports or hockey at all...so we are really big on college athletics for the most part (more exciting to watch imo). Anyhow, he was one hell of a pitcher.

i'm not a contestant, but i'll give you guys a word of caution on price...

brien taylor

if you don't know who he is, look him up

i could also give you a more recognizable name

mark prior

these guys were can't miss guys...who missed

and regarding the lebron/price comparison...comparing any nba #1 pick with any mlb #1 pick is comparing apples and oranges

Mark Prior is a different situation...when he was healthy, he certainly lived up to his hype...he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the MLB the year the Cubs made it to the NLCS. Also, while I see your point in regards to MLB vs NBA picks...most #1 picks in the MLB quickly enter the majors from the minors and have been pretty successful. NBA has Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi in recent years to compare to Brien Taylor.

Anyways, like I said, I can see the argument against using Price for the challenge- but I can also see a side where we would be taking the same risk as Nike took with Lebron. Alas, I didn't see a requirement that the player had to be a proven success but rather a rising star.

[gingerbreadmann]

Mark Prior is a different situation...when he was healthy, he certainly lived up to his hype...he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the MLB the year the Cubs made it to the NLCS. Also, while I see your point in regards to MLB vs NBA picks...most #1 picks in the MLB quickly enter the majors from the minors and have been pretty successful. NBA has Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi in recent years to compare to Brien Taylor.

Anyways, like I said, I can see the argument against using Price for the challenge- but I can also see a side where we would be taking the same risk as Nike took with Lebron. Alas, I didn't see a requirement that the player had to be a proven success but rather a rising star.

No, (I think) he means that everybody knows who the 1st NBA pick is but nobody knows the MLB 1st pick. the NBA and NFL drafts are infinitely higher-profile than MLB's, and therefore why Nike didn't take much of a risk at all and using Price would be dumb simply because he is a Major League Baseball draft pick and nothing more.

If I'm a small kid, I'm not telling my mother to buy me David Price shoes or even a David Price Baseball Glove, or David Price anything because for all I know David Price is the CEO of Cisco. I'm telling my mother to buy me a Josh Hamilton Glove or a LeBron James pair of sneaks, even if this is before the 2003 NBA draft. Because everyone knows LeBron is the next big thing already.

[leggman01]

Prior, in this situation, I'd consider more of a hit.

more of a hit than brien taylor, certainly...but 42-29 career and more days on the dl than off isn't exactly what anyone expected of him when he was drafted...

it's your challenge, though...run with a guy who has never pitched above AA if you want

[leggman01]

...most #1 picks in the MLB quickly enter the majors from the minors and have been pretty successful. NBA has Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi in recent years to compare to Brien Taylor.

this is exactly why it's comparing apples to oranges...a #1 nba pick is immediately on an nba roster (and usually starting) and typically sticks with the club for at least a few years...a #1 nfl pick is usually on an nfl roster and most of the time starting and typically sticks with the club for at least a few years- the number of mlb draft picks who have never toiled in obscurity in the minors can be counted on your hands (maybe even one hand, as i can only think of 2...jim abbott and dave winfield) - a very high percentage of 1st round mlb picks (including #1 overall picks) never make the big leagues

again, it's your challenge and i will bow out gracefully...sorry if i've side-tracked your progress...that was not my intention at all

[Cola]

Alright, taking another route...with Justin Upton...nicknamed J-Up. Thoughts?

[mania]

get rid of the stroke seperating the U from the arrows, and bring the baseball down so it and the rest of the shape share an outline.

[Brian in Boston]

...most #1 picks in the MLB quickly enter the majors from the minors and have been pretty successful.

That would depend upon how you define "most" and "quickly".

If we define "most" as the majority of MLB First-Year Player Draftees and "quickly" as making their MLB debuts in less than two calendar years, than "most #1-picks" in the MLB Draft don't "quickly enter the majors from the minors". Just 19 MLB First-Year Player Draftees have done so to date.

By contrast, 19 MLB First-Year Player Draftees have taken longer than two calendar years to make their MLB debuts after being drafted, with 2 #1 MLB Draftees never making it to the Majors at all.

[Cola]

Update:

[mania]

design-wise, I like it a lot. I'm not sure if he's the right athlete, but I like the idea.

[mania]

Was browsing last year's pro bowl selections... and was thinking about the following guys.

Ben Roethlisberger - (Big Ben, maybe working something with a BB and a 7?)

Braylon Edwards - (lots of talent, no real nickname to work with, though)

Kellen Winslow - (The Soldier, surely something cool could come out of that... maybe faux-camouflage)

Tony Romo - (I've seen him referred to as T-Mobile, maybe something could be worked out of that)

[ShinyHubCaps]

Was browsing last year's pro bowl selections... and was thinking about the following guys.

Ben Roethlisberger - (Big Ben, maybe working something with a BB and a 7?)

Braylon Edwards - (lots of talent, no real nickname to work with, though)

Kellen Winslow - (The Soldier, surely something cool could come out of that... maybe faux-camouflage)

Tony Romo - (I've seen him referred to as T-Mobile, maybe something could be worked out of that)

I think the NFL would be a better way to go than MLB.

First off, any MLB marketing is mostly towards teams, not players. Even star players succumb to the emphasis of team within the marketing structure. In this instance, you don't see many (or any at all?) MLB players sporting personalized logos or merchandising such to the fans. NFL is similar, but they have more marketable stars. People like Ladanian Tomlinson, for example, supersede the emphasis on team. People would buy LT, Adrian Peterson, or Reggie Bush apparel regardless of what team they play for, and while personal logos, like MLB, are largely untapped, there would be more of a market for them.

I still maintain that the largest untapped market is soccer, due mostly to its international appeal. As is the case with basketball, golf, and tennis (the main contributors to individual athlete logos), soccer is a sport where star players supersede the ideals of a team. Such is not the case in baseball, so I would avoid MLB as much as possible, and NFL is somewhere in between.

As for the list you provided, I wouldn't think too much of nicknames now. Tony Romo would be good as a rising star, but since this will likely be a smaller logo used for apparel, etc., a nickname might not resonate well in small images.

[Cola]

Guys, in the nicest way possible...we need to start spitting out concepts instead of debating on which league is the best option to go for. Right now, there has been too much talk about that and not enough designs being shown and while I LOVE criticism and feedback...I've spit out about 5 logos for different players that don't seem to fit the bill to the rest of the team after I've posted. I'm putting as much effort as I can into them with the time I have and tomorrow will be Thursday...and I am going out of town all weekend long. We still have to make a logo decision, color decisions, apparel decisions, design templates, etc...lots of work even though the requirement list was short. I hate that I used the "I" so much above, because the team effort in this competition is what makes it fun...but we've gone almost 4 pages with 90% discussion on off-topic issues or worrying over little details. We can work them out later.

Honestly, I don't REALLY think it is going to matter what sport the athlete comes from. What is important is the creativity we put into the logo and our success at proving there is marketability in the design. There aren't lots of players with their own personal logos...regardless of the sport. It is important to understand how little of a factor this is and how important it is to spit out concepts...do some sketches...or at least submit ideas for others to put down on paper.

/rant

[ShinyHubCaps]

Guys, in the nicest way possible...we need to start spitting out concepts instead of debating on which league is the best option to go for. Right now, there has been too much talk about that and not enough designs being shown and while I LOVE criticism and feedback...I've spit out about 5 logos for different players that don't seem to fit the bill to the rest of the team after I've posted. I'm putting as much effort as I can into them with the time I have and tomorrow will be Thursday...and I am going out of town all weekend long. We still have to make a logo decision, color decisions, apparel decisions, design templates, etc...lots of work even though the requirement list was short. I hate that I used the "I" so much above, because the team effort in this competition is what makes it fun...but we've gone almost 4 pages with 90% discussion on off-topic issues or worrying over little details. We can work them out later.

Honestly, I don't REALLY think it is going to matter what sport the athlete comes from. What is important is the creativity we put into the logo and our success at proving there is marketability in the design. There aren't lots of players with their own personal logos...regardless of the sport. It is important to understand how little of a factor this is and how important it is to spit out concepts...do some sketches...or at least submit ideas for others to put down on paper.

/rant

Fair enough, but it may play into the final decision more than we think. The softball template I did for last round would have to be about 1% of the final package, as it was actually for a client and couldn't have been less important to the final design. However, the judges made it sound like 40% of the whole thing.

I thought I would throw out the idea of the sports in case the marketing aspect is taken seriously. Plus, if I do a Cristiano Ronaldo concept and it looks mediocre, people will stray from the idea of a Ronaldo concept altogether just because mine wasn't good enough... Of course, I'll still work on some stuff when I have the time, but I want to toss up my views on the marketing aspect because it's something I can do now, and hopefully it will get people thinking.

[Cola]

Fair enough, but it may play into the final decision more than we think. The softball template I did for last round would have to be about 1% of the final package, as it was actually for a client and couldn't have been less important to the final design. However, the judges made it sound like 40% of the whole thing.

I know marketing will play some part in this, it was one of the very first comments I made pointing that out in this thread...I just feel like that horse has been beat enough after 4 pages. A creative, sharp, and interesting design is going to do well no matter the sport in my opinion. We can't afford to play it safe this round...which is why I would like to see more sketches and ideas for logos...lots of creativity. Last round, the softball template was fine...but in our case, it appeared too much time was spent on the template than what was actually going on it...the logo. Creating a template for this challenge probably won't take lots of effort...but having more than one piece could be a good thing since there aren't many requirements and we can push the limits here.

Plus, if I do a Cristiano Ronaldo concept and it looks mediocre, people will stray from the idea of a Ronaldo concept altogether just because mine wasn't good enough...

Don't think that way...we have enough minds on this team to expand any design- at the least, it could spark some more ideas.

[heernumurr]

Hey peoples, apologies again for my absence so far. I'm back now and will get some concepts done ASAP.

As for the suggestions so far, I have to agree with Cola that it doesn't really matter which sports star we go for. In reality we wouldn't have a choice, the person would be chosen for us, and we wouldn't have the luxury of selecting a player's initials on the basis that they look cool and work well together. I still believe that the "stylised initials" way is not they way we should take this challenge, and I'll try and put out a couple of concepts to show what I mean.

[heernumurr]

Ok here's just an idea. I was trying to think of someone from a less prominant sport who still had a bit of personality, and came up with Danica Patrick. I think there would be loads of room for cool imagery, and she's definately unique.

Here's something I came up with quickly, it's not great but it gives an idea of what I was going for.