Milwaukee Bucks Unveil New Logos/Colors, Jerseys & Court

[Sky High]

Sorry, man. Get what you're going for, and prefer your antlers, but on the whole don't think you've topped their version.

You know that scene in any cartoon where a character begins to go crazy and their one eye twitches uncontrollably? That's me upon reading that.

I can't wrap my head around it. But the world is great BECAUSE we don't all see things the same. Not in spite of it. So.......allow me to rank for you my discontent. It seems like I hate everything about this. But Lo! I do not. So I ranked them in order of (IMO) what would "have to" be corrected for me to tolerate say...owning a cap with this image on it. then I made those changes one at a time.

1) the antlers. In fairness to Doubleday..there are deer that look like this. But they aren't whitetails and since Gothamite is granting me he prefers "mine"...which aren't mine btw...they are the old ones with the brows inverted. Stage 1 I change those.

2) the stupid sheep nose. Even if you actually like the elk/hart/irish deer antlers part...the white fur that forms the ram, kangaroo, sheep, goat snout is the single most offensive and ineffective part of this mark. Remove that...

3) Whether you like Space Ghost eyes or not...(I love em) it cannot be argued that these eyes are not too much in the center of the head. The artist correct identified the previous logo had accidental human proportions...and then proceeded to duplicate that problem. This would HAVE to be corrected in post for me to look at it everyday.

4) the comic book hero "M" in the neck. A cool idea pushed 50% too far IMO. This to me is the least offensive of the catalog of errors. People like hidden initials and are willing to compromise with stylization to have them. I would have just tweaked it a little bit so it wasn't as overwhelming and didn't make it look like quite as much of a bobblehead atop a neck (like a person).

I think it's fair to argue that this set of images includes NONE of my own "vision" at all. I use either the old Bucks marks or the new marks...nothing of my own but nudging and skooching and gentle deleting of bits here and there.

So my question to Gothamite or anyone would be.....do you really prefer what we got to any or all of these? For my eyes it gets more palatable from left to right. And of course, to me that suggests revisions and time were needed. (as well as skill). The bones of a good mark are there and were there.

But if you can look at these 5 and prefer the far left? Then maybe it's an issue of irreconcilable personal taste. I think these are objective problems but it appears at least half don't.

What to do when something's objectivity is subjective? Mind blown.

Good points all around. I appreciate you taking the time to really delve into this. I'm a lifelong Bucks fan and a huge fan of art/graphic design/etc, etc. I went to school for Graphic Design/Communications and have always had a passion for design, and of course, logos. I'm right there with you, man. I love and respect your similar passion for this.

I'm really torn. My Bucks side loves everything about the rebranding. My graphic design side has many issues with it. Looking at these images above, I have to agree, they get better and better as you move to the right. My favorite is actually the "Separate eyes" version (second from right).

The Deer head by itself is the best out of all of them. The Big clunky cream circle in the Primary logo isn't particularly appealing, in my opinion. Many I've talked to love it. Many hate it. It's just one of those logos.

I love the Roundel logo...however the awkward "M" throws the entire design off. Everything is so smooth/precise/cohesive and then BAM there's a super hero "M" slapped on it. It looks completely and entirely out of place.

As a true Wisconsinite, I'm slightly offended by the WI state logo. It's mostly perfect...minus the fact that Wisconsin doesn't look like that. A good chunk of Door County (the part coming out on the right side) is squared off. I thought this was kind of strange. If you're going to make the State a part of the logo, at least make it exactly as it looks.

Now, don't get me wrong, all of these logos are HUGE upgrades over what we had. I love the color scheme. I love the overall style. I'm just nit-picking at this point. I'm more concerned about the jerseys. I've been holding off from buying a new Bucks jersey for years and years because I hated them. I was never a fan of the Christmas colors. Yuck. I'm so excited to see how the new ones turn out. I've got high hopes. If I like them, I'll be buying one home jersey and one away. One Giannis, one Jabari.

Go Bux.

[Sterling84v2.0]

Thx Sky High. FWIW I almost totally agree with you. I think the first thing I said in this thread was that they will almost certainly look better night over night than they did before. Because it's not a logo league per say anyway.

So from a Bucks fans perspective I give it a tentative yay. But only as a relative measure. I can't shut off the artist part either and it's just so unfair that we're going to have to go another 10-20 years with a deer logo that doesn't look like a deer. That seems like cruel and unusual punishment to me. It's torture! Come on!

[Sterling84v2.0]

Alrighty. This version brought to you by some very inciteful critique from Shiny and JP. Shiny (or his friend) noted the incongruous nature of the hard edges on the state of WI logo that contrast poorly with the loopy strokes on the ball. A second look reveals the same thing playing out in the primary deer head. the antlers are very flowing and organic but almost everything from the cheeks down is straight lines and hard corners. I don't think I'd noticed that before. Even the Space Ghost eyes...which can absolutely be rendered "hard" are softened....weird?

So Step 1 for me here is to just buy into fluidity. Soften the cheekbones, the snout, the neck and by extension the hidden M. Love it or hate it it's all fairly uniform now.

Secondly, JP points out that in my zeal to tone DOWN the "M" (by making it more block and even) I have actually called attention to it. That was a solid point. But I would counter that the real Bucks logo fails because it's SO "M" that it stops looking like a deer's neck and white throat fur at all. They have white fur on their chests....but not hyper pronounced like that. It's an M yes, but it pulls me out of it. Whenever we hide things in our work something will take primacy and something else will suffer for it.

So I was forced here to "lean in" to the comic book "M"'s unusual dramatic qualities and just make sure it looks like a deer. It's a crazier M but I think at a quick glance it has simultaneously been toned down too. Counter intuitive.

If this were real I still wouldn't pull that M out and put it on a ball so I'm more comfortable with it being a goofier overall shape.

Thanks to anyone who looked or chimed in. I love this site for all these reasons.

[Gothamite]

That's your best one yet.

[Shadojoker]

*cough* concepts thread *cough*

Love your designs but each tike I see an update I'm thinking it's new info...please create a new thread in concepts Forum Sterling.

[Sterling84v2.0]

*cough* concepts thread *cough*

Love your designs but each tike I see an update I'm thinking it's new info...please create a new thread in concepts Forum Sterling.

Wait really? Does everyone feel this way? I'm not irritated or offended you brought it up Joker. That's fine in fact I'm a little embarrassed if I've been breaking some protocol for 10-12 years without even knowing it. I'm happy to stop posting in this thread. I have no desire to open a separate concepts thread cause this isn't my concept. It's not even close to how I would approach it if given the keys.

I'm communicating my thoughts about an new existing logo work with visual aids (and lots of words too) to better describe...or so I thought...where I feel they might have gone wrong.

Not my intention to threadjack it or make you think we have a uniform leak or anything.

[TheRicSlick]

So what i'm getting from the comments on the old color scheme, is you can't have a team wear red and green because.... lol Christmas. Which is one of the weakest reasons to hate a color scheme.

[mafiaman]

Also major headway has been made on the government side to get the new arena built downtown!

Wait, Scott Walker gifting $250 million to the arena project and cutting $300 million to university funding on the same day a couple months back wasn't "major"?

Walker can do that all by himself without the state legislature having anything to say about the matter?

[Sec19Row53]

*cough* concepts thread *cough*

Love your designs but each tike I see an update I'm thinking it's new info...please create a new thread in concepts Forum Sterling.

Wait really? Does everyone feel this way? I'm not irritated or offended you brought it up Joker. That's fine in fact I'm a little embarrassed if I've been breaking some protocol for 10-12 years without even knowing it. I'm happy to stop posting in this thread. I have no desire to open a separate concepts thread cause this isn't my concept. It's not even close to how I would approach it if given the keys.

I'm communicating my thoughts about an new existing logo work with visual aids (and lots of words too) to better describe...or so I thought...where I feel they might have gone wrong.

Not my intention to threadjack it or make you think we have a uniform leak or anything.

I'm good with you doing it this way. Wasn't going to comment because I didn't want it to look like back-seat modding, but since you asked...

[mbannon92]

Your latest update is outstanding, Sterling. I really like the new neck, and it still reads as an "M" to me.

And don't listen to Shadojoker, it's fine for you to post these here. It all stemmed from discussion about the actual logos and how they could be improved, which is what you're doing. And it's not like there's been anything else to talk about.

[Shadojoker]

I understand its all discussion from the actual logos. if we stick to that I'm cool But if this turns into a Sterling C&C thread we have a SEPARATE CONCEPTS forum for this stuff.

But if nobody feels that way thenwhatever. I wasnt trying to attack you personally . Honestly I appreciate your statement and it's cool. Your insights and concepts (where they are yours or others) are most certainly welcomed. I see your points and I'll leave it alone. Truly sorry if I offended you Sterling. Just didn't want this to turn into a Concept thread when I click here to look for info on the new logo.

[Gothamite]

I would tend to agree in general, but leave it up to the mods.

[Sterling84v2.0]

I understand its all discussion from the actual logos. if we stick to that I'm cool But if this turns into a Sterling C&C thread we have a SEPARATE CONCEPTS forum for this stuff.

But if nobody feels that way thenwhatever. I wasnt trying to attack you personally . Honestly I appreciate your statement and it's cool. Your insights and concepts (where they are yours or others) are most certainly welcomed. I see your points and I'll leave it alone. Truly sorry if I offended you Sterling. Just didn't want this to turn into a Concept thread when I click here to look for info on the new logo.

None taken at all. I was just sitting there earlier thinking.....oh geez. I ALWAYS do that. It's my move. The new Jags...all the way back to the new Coyotes. I don't want to be "that" guy. I uh, I'm just more comfortable showing I guess.

Anyways, I'm at a point where I feel like I scratched the itch that was bothering me anyway so...carry on until the unis break.

[FiddySicks]

Sterling sits in a special category here IMO. He's one of us, but he actually HAS some experience designing logos for pro teams. He's pretty much earned the right to post his work wherever he wants due to the massive contributions he's given when it comes to the insight on all of this stuff.

Just my feeling, anyway.

[DiegoPoop]

I like the concept of this logo very much. However, I'm not a fan of the straight lines that make up the buck. I edited it slightly to give it the curves that appeal to me more. Also, the eyes are too close in the original.

[goforbroke]

I like the concept of this logo very much. However, I'm not a fan of the straight lines that make up the buck. I edited it slightly to give it the curves that appeal to me more. Also, the eyes are too close in the original.

I think u need the hard lines at the bottom of the deer that form a V Because it will line up with the court design. If that is the case I really really appreciate that the Bucks took that into account. For basketball logos that is the most prominent application and so often teams design a logo without really considering that.

[KDubK414]

Of all the logos I've seen here, the one they have now is still the best!

New arena to be announced at 3:15 CDT

[Teal]

Shocked that the new unis haven't leaked yet.

[The_Admiral]

Sterling sits in a special category here IMO. He's one of us, but he actually HAS some experience designing logos for pro teams. He's pretty much earned the right to post his work wherever he wants due to the massive contributions he's given when it comes to the insight on all of this stuff.

Just my feeling, anyway.

I don't think there's anything wrong with anyone posting their spin on a new logo outside the concepts thread because it's almost certainly prefaced with "here's how I would have done it." All you have to do is read the words!

Sterling, I think your latest take is the best one yet. Would have looked great in a forest green/white/red set.

[KDubK414]

New arena is a go!!!!