Oakland Soldiers

[Davidson]

Yo, I have been designing a logo for the Oakland Soldiers basketball team.

The team wanted to stay away from weaponry of any sort as well as the depiction of a mascot of any specific ethnicity.

With that in mind, I eventually decided to use the star symbol that the army uses. It is supposed to have a metalic rendered feel

to look like a medal or crest.

I wondered what people though?

[JackFr]

Very well rendered, although though I know you didn't want a mascot or anything it looks like a (very good) all star game logo.

[A-Train]

I agree it looks like a very good All-Star game logo or at best a Secondary.

[slapshot]

Soldiers almost always means military/army. I think there's still some non-weapon-related imagery you could use.

Right now, because of the color scheme, this looks more like a police badge. Which would probably give you more unintended ethnic connotations than anything.

[chickenfish13]

I think it looks pretty awesome, at its along what the team wanted so not a whole lot you could do there. I didn't research or anything, but is there anything else, like a certain buliding or animal or something, related to oakland you could use? Just spittin' ideas.

Great work as always.

[mania]

Fraser, I'm one of your biggest fans, but honestly, I would not have made a military connection to this had the wordmark not been there. Partially it feels like it's the color scheme (did the team make that call?), and the other thing is I don't necessarily associate a General's star to Soldiers.

Personally, maybe you could play off a Chevron patch, maybe with a basketball where the specialty is?

[HarperK]

i love the idea. i think that having something simple to add to the star could make it look complete. maybe a shield. i drew this up in 5 mins just to show you what i mean....

[Davidson]

Fraser, I'm one of your biggest fans, but honestly, I would not have made a military connection to this had the wordmark not been there. Partially it feels like it's the color scheme (did the team make that call?), and the other thing is I don't necessarily associate a General's star to Soldiers.

Personally, maybe you could play off a Chevron patch, maybe with a basketball where the specialty is?

I like that idea. What do you reckon?

[andrewharrington]

I think you're fine. A logo is nothing more than an identifier, so I'm really not worried about the first thing I think of when I see the logo. I would look at using the chevrons, but I think your star is good to go if it doesn't work out with the chevrons.

[dgnmrwrw]

Love the concept, and great execution on the rendering. The metallic bevel really looks perfect. I do think another visual link to "soldiers"--such as a chevron--would really help make this even better, if you can do it without totally throwing off the scale.

Edit: You beat me to it. While I like the concept of the chevron better, I think the original star logo (especially the wordmark) was much stronger visually. The subtle interactions between the ball and the star were gorgeous.

[Davidson]

here are a few versions.

not too keen on the shield behind it, perhaps there is a militaristic feel to the elements behind the second version.

[Windmill360]

How about a pair of worn soldier boots? I just think a star is too broad of an idea and i'm not feeling the tallness of the other logo.

[altosax29b]

I like Wordmark #1 and logo #3.

[dgnmrwrw]

Why not keep the beveled star, but turn it into a medal?

It would let you give a bit more reference to the military theme, help explain where the star comes from, and keep a better shape than the overly elongated chevron logo.

Also, I'd definitely keep the original wordmark. And I think the bottom right needs a notch removed like the bottom left. (I know it shouldn't actually be there, but it would really help keep things balanced.)

[Davidson]

Why not keep the beveled star, but turn it into a medal?

It would let you give a bit more reference to the military theme, help explain where the star comes from, and keep a better shape than the overly elongated chevron logo.

Also, I'd definitely keep the original wordmark. And I think the bottom right needs a notch removed like the bottom left. (I know it shouldn't actually be there, but it would really help keep things balanced.)

yeah, thats a possibility.

[WLD]

I'd like to see the original logo in the Chevron patch..

[LetsGoOakland9]

as long as they still wear the camo jerseys. my aau team was in a few tournaments with them (we never played them though) and they were by far the best looking team at any tournament

[WLD]

here are a few versions.

not too keen on the shield behind it, perhaps there is a militaristic feel to the elements behind the second version.

I like the 2nd version here, but maybe the star needs a white outline to make it stand out more.

[Panchito]

you could put 2 swords in the background of the logo maybe

[bohob]

I think the star logo with the circle and two bars behind it is a great primary, and the chevron could make a great secondary sans wordmark. The medal idea is interesting, but the design pinches where the ribbon meets the star.