WWAC high school logos

[Critical Thinker]

This summer, I'm going to redo my entire high school's athletics' conference. The conference is in Michigan, and is currently named the CSAA (Central State Activates Association), but I decided to rename it the WWAC (Western Waterways Activities Conference), because none of the schools are in the central part of the state, and Western Waterways was the name of a historic conference that was in the area. Teams and colors are:

Big Rapids Cardinals, red and blue

Central Montcalm Hornets, green and white

Chippewa Hills Warriors, blue and red

Grant Tigers. orange and black

Hesperia Panthers, green and white

Holton Red Devils, red and white

Kent City Eagles, red and white

Lakeview Wildcats, blue and gold

Morley-Stanwood Mohawks, blue and gold

Newaygo Lions, black and white

Reed City Coyotes, red and black

Tri-County Vikings, black and gold

White Cloud Indians, orange and black

I'm pretty close to being done with the first school, my alma mater Big Rapids. I've already posted a thread of what I have: http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/98306-cardinal-logo-w-wordmarks-concept/. I got some good feedback, and I just haven't had time to try any of the suggestions yet.

One logo I have ready for feedback now is the conference logo. Seems a little too simple and plain to me, so I would appreciate criticism. Colors can be changed for each school like the B1G and MAC logos.

[TShaw528]

Why activities instead of athletics?

[FALCON6]

Yes, then that would be a perfect name.

[Critical Thinker]

Why activities instead of athletics?

The conference also has Quiz Bowl and Language Arts competitions. There might be more, but I can't remember any.

[Mod]

The Idea for the conference logo is phenomenal. I would just suggest changing the font to something a little less "plain" (Like Impact, Century Gothic, Franklin Gothic Medium... you know something that would give it a little more pop)

[Critical Thinker]

Ok, I grossly overestimated the amount of free time I'd have this summer, so I'm not going to be able to do this whole project the way I wanted to. Updates and concepts will be few and far between.

However, I finally got one done. This is the Hesperia Panthers. Colors are forest green and white.

The logo is a lower-case h, with half of a pine tree on the left, and a panther head coming out from behind it in negative space.

Specifically, how do you feel about a lower-case wordmark? I've never even seen one before in athletics, and I'm not sure how well it works. Also, the font is just Arial. I understand it's bland, but I thought it matched the logo well, so I went with it. Since the primary logo is both the mascot and school letter, I don't feel like any secondary logos are necessary, and this is a complete set.

I've never seen any athletics identity like this before, so I could really use some criticism to know how well this works.

[Mod]

I like the logo in a mid-70's kind of way. thats what it reminds me of. i do like the idea of a lower case letter, way to push the envelope. the only feedback i have is either slant the logo to match the font or un-slant the rest of the font to match the logo.

[Clintau24]

I didn't know it was an H until I read the school name...

[oaklandhusker]

I saw the school name, then wondered why the wordmark was missing a letter.

It might help to make that a capital letter. Keep the tree on the left, then put the head coming off the top of the right arm. I think some college does that, maybe Northwestern?

[kewp80]

That is a really forced H and like someone said above it looks pretty dated. Way too bland of font in the mark and you have the whole wordmark slanted except for that H. Also get rid of the white in the e's, p, and a.

I like the thinking behind it all. It's just not the best execution and looks sloppy and lazily put together.

[Critical Thinker]

Thanks for the feedback, that was really helpful. I think I'm going to scrap the wordmark entirely for now, focus on the logo, and come back to it later.

The first problem I tried solving is the h. To make it more obvious, I separated the tree from the rest of the letter, and trimmed back the outside slightly. Right direction? Wrong direction? No change?

Also, I'm going to try drawing a more abstract panther head. I think it'll help it look less dated and sloppy. I'm going to look over and study other panther logos before I do, though.

[kewp80]

It looks better. Can tell it's an H a little bit more. I would try and make it an uppercase H though and pick a font that isn't as simple and overused as arial.

[suplauren]

Your panther is very "illustration" and not very "logo." That's not necessarily bad if you want it to look like a 70s logo, but if you want it more modern you're going to need to change the style. Also, the proportions are making it not look like a panther. Look up some reference images of the side view of a panther's head. Interesting concept, I look forward to seeing it develop.

[oaklandhusker]

I see it but only because I know it's there. If I was viewing it for the first time (a visitor to town, perhaps), I probably wouldn't know.

[Critical Thinker]

Also, the proportions are making it not look like a panther.

From the reference photo I used, the proportions are correct, although I did move the whiskers back, added top front teeth (didn't look right without them), and messed up on the ear a bit. I'm having a hard time telling where the jaw line is, but now that I'm l looking over it, I think I drew it in the wrong spot. What was making the proportions look wrong to you?

[suplauren]

I originally thought it was the eye that was throwing me off, but now that you've shown the ref photo it's exactly what you said! Moving the whiskers back has made the snout look really big and almost rodent like. It's the same for the front fangs. The perspective is off on them and it's making them look long and skinny, like rat fangs. You do also have the border of the mouth stretching back far.

I'd suggest, since you do want to show the top fangs, to reference that part of it's mouth off of a snarling panther image. It'll make the fangs and overall expression look more natural.

I found a few ref images if you want to look at these:

1

2

3

Notice how the bridge of the nose wrinkles, and the ears tend to flatten back. I think if you make a few adjustments then you will get the look you're going for without having to scrap all your work.