Gfonk04 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Gonna keep it rolling, comments or no...FUKUOKA HAWKSThis year's Japan Series champs have the makings of a good identity. The cap logo has some potential, though the font is pretty bland. And I like the thick stripes motif. I decided that yellow and black alone were a little too bland, and a little too Hanshin Tigers, so I added a dark orange color. I created a custom font and new primary in an effort to give them a more "bird of prey" feel, since the current script is too "A Bank Sponsors Our Team" and the primary has a goofy cartoon bird head. I retained the thick stripes, but added an extra outline. The away uniform is the traditional black and yellow, in an effort to retain some of their current look. The Fauxback is a take on the Nankei Hawks from the late 70s.Give my Marines and Hawks some love! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymie Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Very nice as always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmets Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 This has got to be one of the best concept series on here in a while. These all look great, can't wait to see more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gfonk04 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Very nice as always!This has got to be one of the best concept series on here in a while. These all look great, can't wait to see more.Thanks guys! Some feedback came across earlier about the Osaka number font I used. I had some free time so I went back and created a number font to match the wordmarks. Ka-blamm-o!Later this evening: The Hokkaido Fighters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gfonk04 Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Okay community, feel free to comment, even if it's just an attaboy or a small nitpick. I'm almost done with the series, so I'll just keep it rolling.HOKKAIDO FIGHTERSBest baseball team ever? The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters win that contest, no question. Are they Japanese guys who fight ham? Do they fight ham from Japan? Are they Japanese hams that enjoy fisticuffs? None of the above, sadly, but their name is awesome. But what is a fighter? A pugilist of some sort? Do they mean warriors in a general sense? We'll get back to that. In the meanwhile, their look: It's very 90's, teal, black, copper. The cap logo is also very Mariners-esque. But the set doesn't really convey what a "Fighter" is.So I chose to anchor down on local affiliation, including symbols based on the Hokkaido flag. During my reading on the northern island I also learned that the island hosts Chitose Air Base, home to (drumroll), a JASDF FIGHTER base! Boom: theme for a ballteam. I know Japan tends to shy away from militaristic themes nowadays, but the link was too good not to use. The team's colors are a shift to those used by the JASDF on their Mitsubishi F-2 fighters (they're like bigger, indigenously produced F-16s), even though the local base hosts F-15 Eagles. I used the Eagle in the primary logo, while using the JASDF roundel as a basis for the sleeve patches. The text and numbers are military block fonts, and the cap logo is derived from the current logo, but I replaced the compass or whatever it is with the Hokkaido symbol. The home alternate is a camouflage design based on the F-2 paint scheme.Launch the alert C&C... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadasimha Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I'm sorry to say that I don't think this one works as well as some of the others. The colors themselves are good but the pale blue as the primary sleeve and helmet color looks kinda wimpy on the home uniform and having the jet under the team name looks very minor league to my eyes. Use the dark blue of the away uniforms with the script from the alternate and I think you'll have a winner. The first alternate looks bad, like the uniforms got bleached or something. I'm assuming you were going for a kind of camoflaged look? It just looks kind of sloppy, I'm afraid. The logo "star" blends in too much with the F on the cap and helmet - I think it needs to be a little bit larger and contrast more with the color of the F. It also looks a bit like a snowflake, which doesn't really say Fighters to me.Sorry if I seem harsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendoza-line Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Nice concepts. I've always been amazed at the terrible branding (and general mismanagement) of the NPB; the average triple AAA ball club does a better job. Minor quibble, but I would have done the opposite with the Tiger's logos: Fix their circa 1895 tiger head emblem and leave their classic "HT" cap logo as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gfonk04 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 ...but the pale blue as the primary sleeve and helmet color looks kinda wimpy on the home uniform and having the jet under the team name looks very minor league to my eyes. Use the dark blue of the away uniforms with the script from the alternate and I think you'll have a winner. The first alternate looks bad, like the uniforms got bleached or something. I'm assuming you were going for a kind of camoflaged look? It just looks kind of sloppy, I'm afraid. The logo "star" blends in too much with the F on the cap and helmet - I think it needs to be a little bit larger and contrast more with the color of the F. It also looks a bit like a snowflake, which doesn't really say Fighters to me.Sorry if I seem harsh.No worries about seeming harsh. It's called critiquing for a reason. I think your points about the light blue are valid, I'll make it more of an accent color, maybe. I'm going to keep the block font for the reasons I outlined in the post, but maybe I'll ditch the F-15.I explained the cammo look in the post, but I admit it could be better. The issue there is that I tried to conform not only to the colors but also the pattern of the paint scheme for the F-2 fighter. It was a weird look where the edges of the surface are light blue, while the middle is dark blue. Check the post with the concepts for links to examples. I'll mess with it and see if I can come up with something better, but I want to stick to the source as much as I can.I explained the symbol in the cap logo in the original post. It's the symbol from the flag of Hokkaido and when combined with the F it resembles their current cap logo. I don't see it being changed for those reasons.Thanks for the input, you've got some good points I'll try and accommodate. Nice concepts. I've always been amazed at the terrible branding (and general mismanagement) of the NPB; the average triple AAA ball club does a better job. Minor quibble, but I would have done the opposite with the Tiger's logos: Fix their circa 1895 tiger head emblem and leave their classic "HT" cap logo as it is.I explain the ditching of the corporate sponsors in the first post in the thread. Sorry to say it, but that means the HT is no more. I also stand by my use of the tiger logo. For some reason, I like it.Next team is on the way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gfonk04 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 KYOTO BUFFALOESI moved the Orix Buffaloes up the road to the ancient Imperial capital of Kyoto. I like the overall look of the current B's. Their cap logo is very classic baseball, and their text has some good things going for it. I don't like the "ff" in their current look, so my first order of business was a new wordmark. Most of it is unchanged, but I had to add one for the away uniform as well. The logo package is a classy starting point, so I stuck to the traditional baseball script for these guys. The FB is the old Hankyu Braves, the team's identity from 1947-88. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymie Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Nice as always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gfonk04 Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Nice as always!Thanks Raymie! I appreciate you following the thread. I'm gonna keep it rolling. Only two teams left for people to ignore!SAITAMA LIONSThe Lions had a fairly distinct logo until a few years ago, a white lion based on the anime lion Kimba, who the cartoon lion Simba was based on. For a while they looked like a baseball version of the Detroit Lions until cashing it in one or two seasons ago for a look more like Detroit's baseball team, Gothic letter and all. I kept the Gothic look and added a dark red for an accent. I brought back Kimba as the primary and an alternate cap logo. The uniforms are meant to be another classic, simple, baseball look, with a Tigers-esque alternate and a blue alt with the Kimab cap.Hakuna matata, boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n5ive Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Wow! Absolutely amazing work in this series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gfonk04 Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Thanks to everyone who commented on these concepts. Here's the last one before we all let it fade into the graveyard...TOHOKU EAGLESThe Tohoku Eagles, named after a region rather than a specific town (they're based in Sendai) have a look that I really like. The colors are unique, the cap logo is cool, and I dig the wordmark too. I didn't change much, just added a "Tohoku" wordmark in the same style. I also created an away cap logo. The uniforms themselves are straightforward, with an alternate using maroon side panels based, and a maroon alternate based on their away uniform.Thanks to the people who commented, although I'm a little disappointed in the lack of feedback, positive or negative, overall. But for my first real concept series, I'm pretty happy with it.Thanks again to the guys who gave me feedback and ideas, in a couple weeks I'll hopefully have some time to revisit some of the critiques you've given me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fumbler Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I know nothing much about baseball, but i really enjoyed looking at every single concept and my favourites are Tigers and Fighters. RICHMOND TIGERS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadasimha Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Sorry I havn't been following recently - gotta say the last few sets have been excellent. The font you used for the Buffalos is really sharp and the Lions look is classic - that's a uniform that everyone would be happy to see on the field. I like the secondary logo you created better than the primary!I missed the part about the Fighters logo being drawn from the Hokkaido flag, but I still think it needs a stronger contrast. I dunno, maybe I just like the compass thing on the current more than I realized! Keep up the good work and I'll be interested to see what you update down the road.Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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