Buffalo Pro Hockey

[IceCap]

Round 2 for the Blast logos. My first attempt didn't feel like a logo to me, more like a poor attempt at one, so I changed things up a bit, and added some hockey elements. And again, I spologize for poor quality. I create them using school Mac powerbooks, then post them from my ancient Compaq Armada. Anyway, here it is..

And then I went ahead and did a quick take on a secondary shoulder logo. Just for fun here. Probably most of you don't want to see what the next stab at an alternate will be. Feedback on these would be great. Thanks.

And now for a little feedback on Sterling and js's work.

Sterling- I agree with you that the concept with the thundering buffalo and swirling dust, while looking great, didn't read as a logo. An awesome illustration yes, but not a logo exactly. The ones with the three heads look really sharp, though I prefer the one with the roaring bull as opposed to the most current one. One the newest on, the nose area especially looks a little awkward. On the whoel it looks too static.

The twist of motion implied by the asymmetry suggested by js's buffalo heads draws me too it. Though the two designs are very similar, I prefer something a little less rigidly symmetrical. I also like the ecomony of shape and line in js's work. Looking at many logos as I have, and I am sure many others have as well, I think classic logos often have a simplicity to them. Some of the detail in Sterling's work, again, though amazing, causes some distraction. Not that I am an expert, of course; just my two cents. And I see that many minor-league hockey teams take advantage of the large chest area with detailed logos.

What I would suggest, and only asa suggestion, Sterling, is to keep the dust clouds in the logo, but in a simplified way that just suggests that the buffalo are stampeding. Perhaps something like this, and yes, it is my own work here. While I don't especially care for the entire graphic, I think the dust implied in it was marginally successful. I posted this before, but only as a copy and past link.

change the shuttle back to a generic rocket. the shuttle is to connected to houston to use it for a team from buffalo.

[hrivnak]

Rozilla, I love that design. I agree that it might be helpful to beef up the legs a little bit, but otherwise, I think it's perfect! Awesome job.

[Phil]

I'm seeing more bull than bison in rozilla's entry, although the red and blue make it look kinda like a cool X-Line-esque Bills look.

[winters in buffalo]

Nice edits, but I still like these the best.

[winters in buffalo]

I'm seeing more bull than bison in rozilla's entry, although the red and blue make it look kinda like a cool X-Line-esque Bills look.

At first I saw a bull, too. But then I saw the tuft under the chin.

The one thing I'd change in rozilla's design is the color. It's got an icy winter edge to it, and I think a light blue would look better than orange or red.

[rozilla74]

Stepping back is always a good thing. I definitely have a lot more tweaking to do. I'm going to simplify even more and make it look more like a buffalo. I will definitely play with the eyes and legs more. Not happy with the shading looking at it today. Winters, I originally had an icy blue in my color palette. I'll add it in my revisions. Thanks for the feedback so far.

[shiznit1083]

RO, I also think ( I may be wrong) the snouts seem too long. That could be what seems to throw the look of the Buffalo off. Just a suggestion.

[buffaloprohockey]

awsome stuff guys!!! i am looking at washington caps colors. i like the blue and bronze? combo. this also keeps my costs down. custom sublimation and sewing are way expensive. i like the jersey designs tho. anyone have ideas on word art? is that what you call word mark? want it to be cool, strong, bold. know what i mean? a week from tomarrow and its over. i will be sending all of the other teams to this site for you guys and gals. we have 4 more teams scheduled to announce expansion over the next 90 days. thanks again, joe

[Sterling84]

i will be sending all of the other teams to this site for you guys and gals

SUH-WEET! This is possibly the opportunity the CCC has been waiting for to really make an impact. ON behalf of all of us, thank you and I know we won't disappoint in this regard.

And ummm, I'm pretty sure it's just guys, but.....here's hoping.

OK, I couldn't be more stoked about the colors seeing as I constantly feel the Caps scheme is underrated. Any chance you'll wear the defunct blues instead of the new blacks? I'll miss the orange and black but parameters are parameters and we can all benefit from specs to work from. I don't know that any of my stuff fits the general angle of the Caps jerseys, (psst, it doesn't) but I'll work on it.

Regarding a wordmark, (yes that is what you call it) I have intentionally kept that on the back burner only because I hate, "and the Rock means HATE" it when teams feature the primary + wordmark on the jersey. Jersey crests stand for something. Fans don't need it spelled out for them. Primaries can have the works, but the crest itself I am firmly against it. Anyway, I will start something for my two, if anyone has any ideas already please dont hesitate to take it upon yourself and do one for mine.

Let's get to work!

[buffaloprohockey]

i really like the jerseys they wear at home this year. i agree under rated combo. see what you can come up with. who ever is in the buffalo area, i will be there for 10 days in april setting up my office, would like to meet any of you that would like to be involved on a league wide branding effort. joe

[Brian in Boston]

Sterling...

Your stampeding bison logo (Yes... it IS a logo. But, more on that in a moment.) FAR surpasses your updated, "stoic" treatment. As you yourself have touched upon, rendering the bison as simply standing in a stoic state does nothing to communicate the idea of a "stampede".

As for your penchant for detail in your logos, I don't believe that they are "too" detailed. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that they are probably one of the finest examples that I've ever seen of effectively combining the relative strengths of both "photo-realistic" and more "interpretive" design techniques/styles.

For the life of me, I can't understand how some folks will simply dismiss the stampeding bison treatment as "not" being a logo. It is, in fact, an OUTSTANDING logo. What it's missing is a containment shape. What I would suggest is a "marriage" between your initial shield-shaped containment device and the current version of the logo.

EXAMPLE: The arc of the top of the shield could be seen above the heads of the bison. In the major primary mark, the city-identifying wordmark (BUFFALO) could follow this curve. The team-identifying wordmark (STAMPEDE) could then run straight across the very bottom of the logo, in effect establishing the "surface" that the bison are stampeding on and the dust clouds are rising from. You would then have the choice of having the point of the shield protruding from beneath the team name wordmark... or NOT.

Brian in Boston

[slapshot]

Wow Sterling

I don't think there's anything I can say about your work that hasn't been said already, except that it makes me sick of my own work

** takes a swig of pepto and gets on with life **

I agree with Brian about the wordmark treatment. The logo can stand on its own, but it works even better with "Stampede" identified as the ground.

As far as "Blast", I'm stumped. I'm not able to translate well from my mind to paper (one of my many faults). One idea I did have, involving a rocket ship nose cone (no space shuttle/Houston imagery) as the "a" in Blast seems to mimic something I saw on Nitroseed's web page (Orlando Blast I think). So I didn't want to put it out here, reading of the problems in previous posts about non-original artwork.

I might submit something, but I can't think of any word treatment for it yet. Maybe a collaborative effort is in the works somewhere? I only know that none of my art will involve an actual buffalo.

[Avenger]

Damn... Rozilla and I have extremely similar concepts. I was messing around with the lake effect stuff, coupled with a buffalo.

I'll still probably finish mine up and submit it.

[Sterling84]

Spent the day thinking about the new (probable) color scheme and all of your suggestions (especially yours B in .

!Edit!- What the hell? I typed a "B" and then parentheses and I get a smiley? Cool. I meant Boston.

So here goes.

I think I'm close. Wordmark will begin shortly.

Remember guys, if they need to use the Caps white as a road, I don't think mine will work correctly. Perhaps they have one primary, two crests ala the Caps? One with more of the shape of that eagle. Room for more brainstorming there.

[rozilla74]

Dig the simplification in the shading/hilights. And the overall mark shape is improved with the flattening out of the dust cloud at the bottom. I think your crest/shield shape can now come into play behind this latest mark. You keep raising the bar, man. Can't wait to get working on mine again.

[fiasco!]

can i buy that now?!?!?!?! damn, that looks great.

[jayhawksfan]

Great job on the logo and jersey.

[Brian in Boston]

Sterling...

While your concerns about figuring out how to "contain" the primary mark may lead you to downsize your original style dust clouds, IMHO you should still use the original style of clouds. The new clouds you implemented (in the logo that appears on the jersey) just don't have the "feel" of dust clouds to me. They look more like flowing waves or billowing fabric.

As for the bison themselves, I think that some highlighting/shading could be added to the central bison's forehead, legs and hooves using one slightly lighter shade of blue (something akin to the detailing on your original designs). It would help that central bison "POP". While I recognize that you were purposely limiting yourselves to the Capitals' palette in response to buffaloprohockey's request, I don't think that highlighting in a few key locations with a complimentary color blue would seem out of place. After all, the logo and unis will remain predominately Cobalt, Bronze, Black and White.

Also, I know what you're going for by making the forelegs of the flanking bison more "furry", but I felt that the original legs were more readily identifiable as legs... thus, playing up the "flying limb" aspect of a stampede. I also preferred their snouts and brows. As I've said before, there's no reason to go overboard with needless detail. However, I honestly believe that you're SO sensitive to the idea that your work is overly detailed that you sometimes scale back needlessly. That said, if you were going to scale back the flanking bison's facial detail, the latest version is also well-rendered. If you were to tell me that you'd only switch one of these two areas back to the original "stampede version" rendering, I'd opt for the original legs with this face, rather than vice-versa.

All in all, outstanding work... as usual! Tweaks, containment shapes, wordmarks and secondaries aside, I have to believe that minor-league hockey's Buffalo Stampede has found itself a logo.

Brian in Boston

[-kj]

I hate that Caps jersey and that colour scheme...

...but you make it look good. I disagree with BiB, I prefer the new version of the dust cloud, and it works well on the jersey as well. The logo does seem to disappear a bit on the black jersey, however.

I would imagine they'd be able to get a white version of that jersey made without too much hassle. Heck, if an amateur team in Minnesota can get cheap recoloured versions of NHL and other jerseys, I'm sure a pro team in Buffalo shouldn't have a problem.

Terrific work.

[whchoclte]

I like the new simpledesign Sterling.

My one is there seems to be too much blue going on. I mean i look at the main buffalo at the bottom and its all blue shapes. Maybe a white hoof on each buffalo to break it up.

Just getting too cluttered down there