Winnipeg Falcons proposal

[dgnmrwrw]

It's been a while since I've posted a concept, but I've been working on this once since it became clear that the Thrashers were headed for Winnipeg. So far, I've done primary and alternate logos, a workmark (along with a complete character set, not posted), and some uniforms. I'm trying to put everything together into a proposal package for TNSE. (I know nothing's likely to come of it, but I like where this is going as a complete package, and the experience would be good.)

Regarding the name, Moose seemed too minor league, so I went with Falcons because I feel like the Coyotes should keep the Jets' history, and the new Winnipeg franchise should maintain its own distinction, including the Thrashers' history. Falcons is a great name with a solid (albeit old) history with Winnipeg, and it would be the NHL's only true bird nickname. With that in mind, I also kept definite references to the Thrashers, including some of the color scheme and shield-shaped logos. The colors are light blue, midnight blue, and bronze.

So here are a few looks at the logos and wordmark, including an embroidered crest on the blue jersey pattern. Thoughts? Comments?

[rvrdgsfn]

I like the look but it seems that the primary looks a little like the Eagles. I do like the colors & the secondary. Overall, great work.

[GO2HELL]

that kicked whatever artistic talent i have in the balls. nice job.

[DelayedPenalty]

With the exception of the beak, I love it. That's a giant schnoz he's got though.

[missouri tigers]

With the exception of the beak, I love it. That's a giant schnoz he's got though.

Exactly my thought.

Find a way to bring the size of the beak down, and it's perfect.

[moralvirus]

The beak seems to make the logo look more cartoonish than threatening, which is what the rest of the logo seems to be. I think resizing it some would go a long way to pulling it together and making it more cohesive.

Other than that, it looks extremely good.

[DeFrank]

The secondary is far better than the primary, and if I was you, the falcon head would not have a containing shape. The head should also have a smaller beak. Great work though!

[fumbler]

Reminds me of this, not saying you copied it just that this was the first thing i thought of.

Old vWest Coast Logo

[dgnmrwrw]

Yeah, the bird was pretty abstract from the beginning, and I guess the beak got stretched out even more during the process. So here's a potential new look for the primary crest:

I wish I didn't lose the interaction between the beak and the outline. I may go back and tweak those...

[gordie_delini]

This is a nice nod to the Thrashers identity, while making it its own. As far as the render goes, the beak is still a little too large to be a falcon's - it's more eagle-ish at the moment. I do like it being contained back inside the shield shape. This feels like it's got some nice movement to it and a pretty good flow. The stylization is nice. I'd like to see you explore some different options for a shoulder/secondary mark, perhaps a tertiary mark as well. The type at the moment feels very pedestrian. The type and the mark don't really feel like they belong together yet, and I'd like to see a "full" mark that integrates the type into the crest logo. Not a bad start, so keep pushing yourself!

[uniguy22]

The secondary is far better than the primary, and if I was you, the falcon head would not have a containing shape. The head should also have a smaller beak. Great work though!

This is true. Your secondary logo is great and I think it should be the primary. The curved line from the falcons body to the crest doesn't really need to be there though. I'm not sure what it is. I agree with others that the beak is too big in your current primary. Also, why does it say 1999?

EDIT: Nice update on the beak. I think it looks great now. Still think your secondary should be the primary though.

[CJworks]

I've always loved your work, dgnmrwrw. You've been a huge inspiration to me as a designer, and it's glad to see you back.

As far as the concept goes, it's great as always, but that beak seems to be getting alot of attention. I would actually go even further and shrink it down even more, like gordie said (everytime a do a falcon sketch, i always sketch the beak small and it seems to resemble a falcon more easily, but maybe it's just me). Also, i like the way you skewed the shield to portray some movement. You could probably skew the falcon even more and stretch it to get that interaction between the beak and outline, which I kinda liked before.

The typeface and secondary are nice as well. Excellent work. I'm not much of a hockey guy, but this seems like a solid identity for the new Winnepeg team.

[16kid]

nice

[TrueYankee26]

Who else saw the "WF" on the logo? Look hard on the light blue and white area and you'll see it.

[MDC]

Yes! Glad to see you back. It looks great, I'd love to see some uniforms, the designs in your other series were always very creative

[scottysprings]

Beautiful design and rendering. I immediately picked up on the references to the Thrashers logos so that's very neat. Reminds me a bit of Joe Bosack's logo for Emory University.

Great work.

[MattMilone]

I really love the update. The smaller beak is definitely better. The slight slant of the crest is actually what makes this so amazing to me. It's pretty subtle, but it allows a falcon head glued onto a random crest to not at all feel odd or generic. It feels dynamic. The secondary is very good and I think a textless version of it could work well as a shoulder patch of alternate jerseys logo.

The colors are a bit off. I think the "two blues" could be more dynamic and ranged from each other, but I also think the gold might be a bit on the heavy side. Actually, the gold would probably work if one of those blues felt less the heavy and low on the lightness scale (HSL).

Really good stuff though. With a slightly fresher palette, I'd say this is one of the best original logos for a Winnipeg team I've seen yet.

[BrandMooreArt]

the update to the primary is nice. its best if the beak dosnt touch the outline if its going to be gold on gold. the shapes are more defined now.

i would keep an dark blue outline around the bird though. im not really liking how light blue touches teh gold.

the word mark is awful. that typeface dosnt know which direction to go. the serifs and cuts are just all over the place. thats the biggest thing holding this whole concept back

[untvar]

The update of the primary logo looks great. But take a look at the wordmark: don't think the letters have too much negative space between them?

[dgnmrwrw]

Thanks for all the feedback so far. Quick note: the light blue I'm using is fairly lighter than it's appearing in these files. While I haven't settled on official PMS colors yet, it's noticeably lighter than the conversion to .png files is making it look. Now a few thoughts on specific comments:

Also, why does it say 1999?

A nod to the Thrashers' date of establishment/first season.

i would keep an dark blue outline around the bird though. im not really liking how light blue touches teh gold.

the word mark is awful. that typeface dosnt know which direction to go. the serifs and cuts are just all over the place. thats the biggest thing holding this whole concept back

There are a few reasons for allowing the bird (light blue) to touch the outline there. First, it allows the bird to really break free from the confinement of the shield, which I think adds a lot more dynamism and movement. I looked at doing it with the midnight blue separating the outline from the light blue, but then it just became a bird's head floating inside a shield. The motion was gone. Secondly, by allowing the midnight blue buffer to come up the left side of the shield through the two bronze notches (but stopping there), an "F" is formed.

I'm not really sure what the last part of your comment--regarding the type--meant. There aren't really any true serifs being used (there are ascenders and descenders, such as on the F, C, and S), though there are a few outward "notches" here or there. But the type was created geometrically using repeating forms, and everything is replicated in the same position (where applicable) in each letterform.

A look at the complete set, as it stands right now: (This is the set of "capitals," thus the descenders on some characters.)

The type at the moment feels very pedestrian. The type and the mark don't really feel like they belong together yet, and I'd like to see a "full" mark that integrates the type into the crest logo. Not a bad start, so keep pushing yourself!

Other than the beak issue, the type seemed to be the next biggest complaint. I did it the way I did for a few reasons. First, the type needs to be a bit simple or "pedestrian," because I'm employing it in the uniform names and numerals. So it has to be relatively legible. Secondly, I've found that clean, simple wordmarks that are usually reproduced on a white background separate from the logo are more appealing to me for a major league franchise. To my eye, overly stylized, fully integrated wordmarks tend to look more minor league.

But I'm willing to try a different style, so here's two new looks at the primary logo/wordmark pairing. In both logos, the beak has been adjusted down again and the letterforms in the wordmark have been tracked more tightly. The left logo features a busier, more dynamic, more integrated wordmark. The right logo features a clean, simple, white-background wordmark, which I still prefer. Thoughts?

Also, a quick look at the current uniform style: