Houston Rockets concept, uniforms!

[chestnutz]

A few nights ago I watched the movie "The Disk," an Australian movie about the satellite dish in Parkes, Australia, that broadcasted the moon landing of '69 to the world. It inspired me a little...

So I looked in my sketchbook at past sketches I did that I never vectored, and decided on one from several months back for the Houston Rockets. After I got home from work tonight, I had absolutely nada to do, so I decided to see how it turned out. And that's what this here thread is about.

I took inspiration from their late 90's logo, which many thought was atrocious, and tried to adapt it to nowadays and make it my own, really. Unlike other Rockets concepts, I stuck with red and silver, and actually used two silvers, a 10% black and a 30% black. The laces or whatever they're called of the basketball are made from the rocket's trail, instead of being conventional lines contained within the ball.

The secondary is simply an H with the rocket encompassing it.

The wordmarks use a two-tone effect, and I feel go with the logo well.

Uniforms will come later. C&C please!!!

And for poops and giggles, I tried out a vegas gold and white iteration instead, so I'll leave you to be the judge of which colors work best.

[burgundy]

Awesome. The only problem I see is that the tail coming directly out of the rocket isn't straight. Maybe tilt the rocket down a bit?

[CJworks]

I like the mix of eras here. it's an improvement at that. But it seems a little too bland to me

[chickenfish13]

I like it, and I don't think its that bland, but anything you could do to spice it up a little would be good, I'm just not sure how to. Also, I haven't really read any posts here by users that have sketchbooks that they just use to sketch, and if they don't like, don't vectorize. I think that's kinda cool, and you've inspired me to just start sketching random ideas and seeing if anything comes out of it. So thanks for that, and good work on the concept .

[tj4eck]

Color Scheme A is way better!

[undead]

The mixing of the eras is rocketastic. The only problem I see is the rocket's path around the ball. On the right side it looks perfect. On the left side, the path is floating above the ball. The outline of the ball is on top of the path so it just stops oddly at the stroke of the ball.

I like the grey version better but I don't see the point in using two greys that are so similar. What if one was substantially darker? If not, limit it to one. My eye can barely percieve it and I wouldn't have known if you didn't tell us. Maybe the font could be made a little more exciting. Try adding some serifs in the shape of the wings of the rocket. That could unify the design.

Excellent effort here. I always enjoy a good Rockets redesign.

[rentz]

It looks good, but on the primary the trajectory and orientation of the rocket seems to be a bit off from the trail of the rocket, like it's somewhat crooked. I'd just rotate it to the right a tiny bit.

[whchoclte]

I like it but the outlines are throwing me off. Choose one and run with it not different styles for here and there

[Steve-O]

I like it but the outlines are throwing me off. Choose one and run with it not different styles for here and there

I agree. I think what is throwing me off is the "roundness" of the lines which make it seem more for a Rockets Kids Club or a minor league team. Otherwise, great work.

[BBTV]

I think you should display the logos on a background other than red... it's kind of washing them out.

Also, I think that the road wordmark might look better on a jersey if the outline wasn't as thick, or at least wasn't white - maybe the dark silver would work better, and make the actual letters stand out more.

[mmejia]

I like it but the outlines are throwing me off. Choose one and run with it not different styles for here and there

I agree. I think what is throwing me off is the "roundness" of the lines which make it seem more for a Rockets Kids Club or a minor league team. Otherwise, great work.

The rounded lines stuck out to me, as well. It's a great start, (disclaimer: rockets fan here! season ticket holder, too) I think I'd like to see more aggresive lines, sharper corners, etc..

[Wasatch]

The first thing that popped out of this design for me was the Rockets wordmark on the primary logo. It doesn't quite look right but I know a quick fix to this. Instead of using the partial wordmark, use the complete primary "Houston Rockets" wordmark on the primary logo. This would give the wordmark more of a centered feeling, therefore balancing it out to the eye a bit more. Also, I love the wordmarks you have, but there's something about the Alternate H logo....the H just looks a little plain. As far as the colors are concerned, why not use both silver and gold in the design?

[Conrad.]

I like it but the outlines are throwing me off. Choose one and run with it not different styles for here and there

I agree. I think what is throwing me off is the "roundness" of the lines which make it seem more for a Rockets Kids Club or a minor league team. Otherwise, great work.

same here...the roundness of the wordmark stroking is also bothersome to me. sharpen these bad boys out.

also, i enjoy the inclusion of gold to nod to the old color scheme, yet bring it forth into the modern era.

[tBBP]

Steve...is that you behind the scenes?

Imma be honest...this presentation looks like something straight out of Shumway's book, from the display background, font choice, style of artwork, the way it's all laid out...the whole shebang. I actually had to go back and check to see who posted this.

All that having been said...I do like the inclusion of the vegas gold. Good way to nod back to the red and yellow days without going all the way back and still keep the color scheme somewhat fresh--especially since no other NBA team currently uses that scheme. I'd look at making the nost of the rocket a bit more pointed than it is currently. And I'd find a better way to incorporate the exhaust trail a little better on the "H" monogram logo. (But at least it's the first initial of the locale rather than the nickname...that averts one of my biggest logo pet peeves.)

[chestnutz]

The mixing of the eras is rocketastic. The only problem I see is the rocket's path around the ball. On the right side it looks perfect. On the left side, the path is floating above the ball. The outline of the ball is on top of the path so it just stops oddly at the stroke of the ball.

I like the grey version better but I don't see the point in using two greys that are so similar. What if one was substantially darker? If not, limit it to one. My eye can barely percieve it and I wouldn't have known if you didn't tell us. Maybe the font could be made a little more exciting. Try adding some serifs in the shape of the wings of the rocket. That could unify the design.

Excellent effort here. I always enjoy a good Rockets redesign.

Thanks, the reason the tail on the left side of the ball doesn't touch the ball is because it was based off of the 90's logo, which had the right side meeting the ball and the left side having a stroke before. I'll change it.

Steve...is that you behind the scenes?

Imma be honest...this presentation looks like something straight out of Shumway's book, from the display background, font choice, style of artwork, the way it's all laid out...the whole shebang. I actually had to go back and check to see who posted this.

All that having been said...I do like the inclusion of the vegas gold. Good way to nod back to the red and yellow days without going all the way back and still keep the color scheme somewhat fresh--especially since no other NBA team currently uses that scheme. I'd look at making the nost of the rocket a bit more pointed than it is currently. And I'd find a better way to incorporate the exhaust trail a little better on the "H" monogram logo. (But at least it's the first initial of the locale rather than the nickname...that averts one of my biggest logo pet peeves.)

Damnit B, I was worried someone would say that. I honestly didn't mean for it. I've seen tons of presentation templates on here before, and after going through what seems like dozens myself, I finally just wanted something simple with a gradient. I guess some things you see just stick with you, even if you don't think about it, which is the bad thing about graphic design. This template is something I've been doing for a few months, and I actually got the idea from logopond, where about half of the logos are featured on a gradient background, and so I just did that with a simple font that doesn't stick out and say LOOK AT ME, NOT THE CONCEPT! So, sorry.

And while I've looked at Shumway's Rockets concept before, I didn't try to copy it at all or anything. I think the reason they may be similar is because they are both based off of the same logo. I SWEAR I didn't want to rip off his logo in any way, shape, or form, I can assure everyone that. As for the font choice, as most of you know I suck at wordmarks, and was looking through my font library and found one I thought fit well. I have no recollection of what shumway's font looks like.

I'll have an update soon, I want to make this good.

[bohob]

Imma be honest...this presentation looks like something straight out of Shumway's book, from the display background, font choice, style of artwork, the way it's all laid out...the whole shebang. I actually had to go back and check to see who posted this.

I thought that too. But anyways, on the concept: I think the lines on the basketball could use more? action. Right now it looks like the stroke tool, not like the dynamic nature of a rocket's trail IMO. I'm torn between the two color schemes: on one hand I really like red and silver, but I also like how unique the red and gold are. Whichever you choose, you don't think you need two greys or two golds; I can't even tell that you used two greys they are so close. I agree that the rocket could have a pointier nose, as right now it looks slightly? phallic. I dig the two-tone wordmarks. As for the secondary, that H is too plain to stand alone. If you jazz up the wordmarks with some indents (a la Detriot Lions) and possibly serifs on the outside letters, you could apply something similar to the H. Overall I really like it.

[chestnutz]

Well thank you all for the C&C, here's version two. Critique and ye shall receive!

What changed:

-Now on very light gray background (to please Vet)

-Went with the gold version, people tended to like it more (as did I)

-Made the tail on the left side of the ball touch the ball, rather than being seperated (thanks to undead)

-Sharpened the wordmarks, less round now

-Sharpened the tip and bottom of the rocket

-Added full wordmark (including city name) onto the primary logo (thanks to Wasatch)

-On the secondary, I sharpened the edges, and made the rocket red, to match how it looks on the primary logo.

I'm pretty sure that covers it! I wasn't sure at all what else to do to the H secondary logo to "spice it up," so suggestions are welcome. Uniforms will probably come soon.

[JayJaxon]

The upgrades look great. I think it looks great just how it is now.

[fkaKrock5cent]

I like it. The colors blend well together, kinda mixes old with new which is usually a good idea. Think you'll give us a uniform kit to be dazzled by as well?

[Dave Ship]

Great update: you fixed out all the little details I would have changed. Beautiful job!

I like the way you work with your own style. I mean, all of your NBA logo concept start from the same point: a double circle. But you tweak them brillianty, so while you keep your "point of view" you're able to give a different and "personal" identity to each franchise.