Logo Help/Review

[The Fixer]

Hey,

so ive been doing logos for fantasy teams or if you are familiar with Goal line blitz, for a while now, so ive gotten pretty familiar and good with photoshop

but i want to start making my own concepts and own logos. This is the first handrawn original logo i have ever made, im not sure if i did the process right. there are clearly lots of mistakes but in the end i would like to know:

did i do the right process?

what should i change in this process?

how can i make it cleaner?

How to better use illustrator?

cleaner lines?

So here is my process:

drew the rough draft in pencil, modeled after a picture

scanned it, (lines too thin)

edited some mistakes and went over with thin marker

still too thin not much to do with it

edited again, went over with thick marker

edited it to make simpler, and blank parts for fills

couldnt figure our illustrator so went to photoshop edited out mistakes

and basically took the paint brush and filled

pretty basic

what can i do to improve (not this logo, my process and make better logos)

[The Fixer]

so im working on a new one, i have the rough pencil done,

whats the next step? and after its in the PC? illustrator or photoshop and now how do i make it look like a clean team logo?

thanks

here is what it looks like as of now

might make it cleaner just with pencil before moving on too

[Patchez]

I would not scan my sketch until I am fully happy with it.

I would suggest using Illustrator to trace your scan. This will get you the clean lines you seek.

I always start with Illustrator, and usually stay in AI.

[The Fixer]

hey thanks;

but what do you mean by trace?

im so unfamiliar with AI

theres an option called trace, but all that does is make thick distinct lines

i could go over with the pencil, but then i have no idea what to do after

i could go with the paint brush but it wont let me, has a stop sign

and if it is pencil or paint brush-what would i do after i have traced (any advice if you mean going over with mouse because its so hard to draw with the mouse without a magnetic lasso) , because i cant find how to make a new layer, it really doesnt do anything fo me

appeciate all help! thanks

[sparkychewbarky]

Patchez is right... Don't scan anything in until you're happy with your "final" sketch. Get yourself a pad of tracing paper and a good mechanical pencil.

Why tracing paper? Do you ever notice that if you leave your sketch for a while and then come back to it, your flaws are more apparent? Don't know why that is, but you can acheive the same result by flipping it and looking at the reverse image. I'm always sketching, fipping it, retracing it , and then flipping it back.

Do thumbnails at first. Small quick sketches to get your idea down. Then, work larger and start worrying about detail. Don't scan it in until you are completely happy with your sketch.

Computers can't make a bad concept better, although they can make it "look" better.

And I don't know what others think, but IMO, Illustrator is the ONLY program for logo work. You can gussie-it-up with special effects in Photoshop later.

[VC//]

Research, a lot of research.

[The Fixer]

thanks sparky, thanks patchez