Virginia Beach Bull Sharks MLH team WIP

[jeh-see]

Hey guys,

I have been a part of the Major League Hockey fantasy boards here on the forums here for 9 years now and I am trying to upgrade/modify and one of the team's old logos. Now, while I am very happy with the drawing I came up with, I am thinking the dorsal fin looks forced or awkward. Any tips on how to fix it or is it okay and it's just my eyes messing with me. I will give both logos for comparison.

Old logo:

WIP logo (still in sketch to vector stage):

Thanks guys!

UniJ

BTW, after previewing the post, the pelvic fin looks a bit off too, I would just elimnate that all together but I think it would leave too much open space on the shark's left side?

[wildwing64]

I don't think that positioning looks too bad. It helps to give the shark more of an aerodynamic feel, assuming that's what you were going for.

So far, this is looking awesome!

[jeh-see]

I am definitely going with a more sleek and aggressive appearance. Thank you.

UniJ

[GMS1122]

The sketch looks like a great start. I think the dorsal fin looks fine, maybe could rotate a bit counter-clockwise to be more vertical....Some of the awkwardness of the old logo can be eliminated simply how you end up distributing color. Difficult to explain, so it might be best for you to carry on with the vector iteration, and then make adjustments from there. Right now it's hard to tell how you plan to attack some of the tougher parts of the sketch (eye, fins, color). Looking forward to seeing the next round

[jeh-see]

Yeah, I originally had the new dorsal fin vertical but it didnt seem to flow well with the curvature of the body. I do understand what you are saying about the color, I may just have to tinker around with breaking up the body segments as well (I mean show a distinction where parts are joined to the body of the fish). Thanks for the help so far, guys.

UniJ

[jeh-see]

Here is a preliminary of the finished design. The colors are going to be Shark Attack Red, Zambezi Gray, Shark Eye Black, Horizon Orange and White, and I'm still on the fence about the gray. Let me know what you guys think. Again, you can refer to the previously posted original logo for reference.

UniJ

[Greg_Fryman]

I think you need to thickin up your lines about double the size they are now. The white on the under belly needs to be smaller I think ending at the mouth would be pretty good, I believe on real sharks the lighter under belly color only goes to the mouth. I would say add some more shading and detail to the shark all in all though I believe that this is heading in a good direction should turn out to be a very nice logo.

Edit: Try to put lines separating the main body from the fins like a more stylized line not a solid line try adding a thick black line that comes 3/4 across the length of the fin and comes to a sharp point to match the look you have going with the fin. Also if you changed the color of the fin on the left to black it would give it more of a background feeling.

[jeh-see]

Yeah, I completely understand what you are saying about the lines breaking to show distance but not have a static stop in the flow of the design. I was already tinkering with that. But as far as the white part of the underbelly, I don't know if making it smaller (and in the sketch it actually was smaller if you compare the two) will actually make too much empty color space in the body of the shark, plus I was using it as a good anchor point for the eye placement. I am also thinking of ditching the gill slits, too, but I think that could potentially be a mistake since it is such a major and recognizable part of shark anatomy to just not have in the design. Thanks!

UniJ

[GMS1122]

Are you using any references? That will help give you an idea of what to emphasize. I think the gills are a must, i would even bolden them up to about double the thickness they are now. Here's some good examples on a similar position you are trying to achieve, too. Take cues especially from the dorsal fins/gills.

[jeh-see]

Just finished my third sketch, haven't started vectoring it yet, just wanted to get some real quick critiques before I started. I have taken all the suggestions given so far into consideration in the newest version. Also, Greg, I wanted to cross reference your thoughts about the underbelly ending at the mouth with an actual photo/anatomical drawing of a bull shark and all the visual references I have seen show the lighter color runs from the bottom of the snout to just before the tail, so I am comfortable with leaving that much white space in my sketches, now. Thank you for making me scratch my head enough to go check, it cleared up a lot of things for this design. Again, let me know what you guys think. Should I run with the new sketch (minus some minor tweaks I already know I am going to make to it in the vectorization stage) or does it still need some small, yet adequate fixes here and there.

Version 1 (the closest version to my 2007 logo)

Version 2:

Version 3:

[JCRGraphix]

Version 3 is awesome!

[jmoe12]

I like everything but the eye on #3, the eye on #1 looks the best. Other than that, #3 is my favorite.

[jeh-see]

Thanks guys! jmoe, the eye won't be like that in the final version, whatever that might be. they look like that merely for the sake of placement on the sketch. I am glad the progression has been positive.

UniJ

[jeh-see]

These are the color schemes I was batting around

[Whittier S]

I like the second colour scheme best. It has the best contrast.

By the way, this thread could be a tutorial for newbies on how to progress a concept. Really outstanding stuff here, showing the process step by step.

[jmoe12]

I like #3.

[kevsim1]

3

[jeh-see]

Quick peak at a preliminary sketch of a secondary logo possibility.

By no means complete or final. I actually want to go in the direction of a bitten life raft or something along those lines. The fin thing is kinda played out. I just like how this one started and ran with it.

[jeh-see]

Finalized version?

[derschwigg]

Nix the black stroke around the reds and you're set.