Detroit Lions Tweak

[logodawg]

One of my main beliefs in terms of logo design is not to reinvent the wheel when you have a solid base to begin with. In this scope of thinking I present my latest take on the Detroit Lions. A few years back I messed around with their identity but never was completely happy.

Now I believe I hit the bull's eye.

While I generally like the primary logo that the Lions have had for almost 40 years, two major things have bugged me about it.

First, because of the point where the lower jaw and the front leg meet, it creates what appears to be an "eye." It wasn't til I was about 11 that I realized that it wasn't an eye and I know that many people have thought the same thing.

Second, while the rest of the logo is very "blobby" curves, the mane of the lion is all straight lines.

In my reworking of the Lions I deal with both issues.

In place of the odd mix of "blobby" curves and straight lines are complex, smooth curves and distinct and bold points. Along with the tweaked primary I also added a darker shade of blue to replace the black outline currently in use. I decide to go this route because while I do like the contrast created by the black I do not feel that black belongs in the Lions' graphic identity.

To go along with this reworked primary I created a new wordmark that I feel echos the design elements in the primary.

And here's a comparsion to the current logo and my reworked logo:

C&C please

[CAB]

Nice. Not a whole lot of difference, but it is much better. I love that script!

[HowBoutThemFins]

reminds me of medeival times

[mcrosby]

the lion needs more of a forehead/brow, not your fault, the logo now needs it as well. I think you should pick the same outline style for both lion and wordmark, it will really tie the two together

[andrewharrington]

I'd argue that the 'improvements' you made to the logo are marginal at best, and even a downgrade. The most you did here was replace problem areas with more problem areas. The spiked outline makes the lion look as if it is being electrocuted, for one. For two, the black in the lions logo is the worst part about it, and you didn't change that. This logo simply does not need black. Nor does it need two outlines. Lastly, the adjustments you made to the lion's face show how the simplification of the anatomy can either add to or detract from the overall understanding of the image. In this case, the silhouette looks very little like a lion's snout and really looks more like one of those 'blobby' curves that you were trying to avoid. The worst part of this, though, is that while the lion has a black outline, the logotype is sitting there with a silver line, and the 'Detroit' type has nothing; there's no visual connection between the mark and the type. The letterforms themselves are too finicky and strangely formed as well. The typefaces themselves do not sit well together, and the points on the 'Lions' script are simply sending the eye in too many directions. There's a lot of work to be done, without doubt, and I think you need to start from scratch and simplify the identity down to its essentials if you're going to have success.

[logodawg]

Somewhere in the conversion the blue outline became black. There's the logo with a silver outline.

I tried it without the white outline, but something seemed missing.

[mcrosby]

now i see a geriatric lion, who hasnt put in its dentures

[Fyrwulf]

I see a lion/horse chimera, because that mouth looks like it belongs on the Broncos' logo.

[jaha32]

Im not sure the pointiness of the mane does much for me. I am glad that the arm no longer touches his lower jaw. I always thought that they should get rid of that connection point which you did here.