MrWonka Needs Logo Help: UPDATE #3 (6/25)

[MrWonka]

So, logo designing has been something that I've always been okay at. For some reason I can't get over the mediocrity level or average look. It seems like I always make something that is decent but never mind blowing amazing. I decided that I'm not going to get any better by just not doing anything so why not start some logo threads to enhance my ability with your help on the boards? I'm going to start off with a design for a dolphin mascot. Haven't decided the location but let's wait with that until the end. Then I'll just wrap up the thread with jerseys and hopefully most of us can feel satisfied with where I left off. Most importantly I want to come out of here with better ideas to go into my next project

I guess I'll get right to the chase and show off the design so far and some small tweaks I made. I decides that I like #4 the best for the dolphin design so I used that for the 2 examples that I have so far. I'm honestly willing to change a lot about this. I'm willing to change color scheme, shading, face, and really the whole entire look of the dolphin until I love this. So without anymore typing I'll just show the images.

[BlackBolt3]

Wow, your name is actually Wonka...

Anyway, I would maybe change the white highlights to a silver or even a teal. Also sharpen up the ends of the tail. Keep the stick too. It adds character.

[MrWonka]

No it's not Wonka haha. My last name is Nowak but if you switch the letters around it spells Wonka. And when I started posting concepts online my 14 year old self 4 years back wanted to keep my name safe so I made that my artist name and it's stuck ever since haha.

But thanks, I'll keep this in mind for the update.

[MrWonka]

The eyebrow gives the dolphin a rather sad emotion rather than aggressive. I know that it may be just shading from the brow-curve and not an actual eyebrow, but that's what I am seeing right now

I agree, it looks better in the drawing yet I didn't carry that over for some reason. Definitely needs to be more aggressive.

[MrWonka]

Yea I'm not feeling the 'brow' outline. Makes it look like he actually has hair.

[PSUcelticsWON95]

Looks great so far. I agree with the above comments to make it look more aggressive and to sharpen up the tail.

[wonderbread]

It looks like the stick is coming out of his belly, it should be Infront of the body

[BlackBolt3]

Another thing, the tail seems a bit too "tall". Like, if it was laid out straight, it wouldn't look normal.

BTW, you're playing a dangerous game with this name thing..

[MrWonka]

It looks like the stick is coming out of his belly, it should be Infront of the body

Oh. the stick actually ends right there. So technically it's not behind the body. Short stick though now that I look at it, I'll make sure it add a longer butt end in front.

Another thing, the tail seems a bit too "tall". Like, if it was laid out straight, it wouldn't look normal.

BTW, you're playing a dangerous game with this name thing..

Yea, tail is starting to bother me. Will definitely have to do a full redo on that.

[St Louis Cardinals]

The stick is in a really awkward place, and the dolphin's hands make it look like it is "using a shake weight"

I agree with the others that the tail needs to be sharpened and the dolphins needs to look more aggresive. I would also try to straighten out the mouth because it looks sad right now.

[MrWonka]

The stick is in a really awkward place, and the dolphin's hands make it look like it is "using a shake weight"

I agree with the others that the tail needs to be sharpened and the dolphins needs to look more aggresive. I would also try to straighten out the mouth because it looks sad right now.

Hmmm...I don't really see the stick being awkward other than what Wonder said. But yes, agreed with everything else.

[tajmccall]

The Tail fins shouldn't be rounded.

Otherwise, since you're stuck, try working backwards. I think starting with the body Navy and accenting with royal you may find your mark

[mamiller99]

This may be bad advice, but take inspiration from the Connecticut Whale logo.

[Sean F&F]

I'd move the pupil of the eye to the top of the eye so it looks like it's looking more forward than down. It might make it look a little more aggressive too.

[ren69]

I don't think you need that white line running down the side but if you wanna keep it maybe try using a different color also the hockey stick should extend to be visible either in front or behind the dolphin. Like others have mentioned make the tail more pointed & make the eyebrow part of the eye. Looking forward to your revision!

[MrWonka]

Hey Ren, just got your reply now as I post this update. Hopefully you can see the update and make another comment based off of it. I definitely think this is progress and I like it a lot better. It's 2 AM right now so I'm going to catch some sleep. Worked on it for about an hour and a half and I think other designers might know working late at night might not be the best but, whatever. When I come back to it in the morning I hope I don't find things annoying or hate it (although that might happen) Tell me what you think. I'm going to bed satisfied where I'm at right now and we'll see where I can go from here. Thanks for the replies guys and hopefully I can make the right changes.

[STL_ArchMadness]

the changes from version 1 to version 2 are stunning. It looks much more aggressive, and menacing, much more like a sports logo. IMO it is 90% done, I think the only thing you need to change is the end of the stick. I'm talking about the sides that stick out on the very end, I think they should be "sharper" too, to match the rest of the logo. Also, maybe adding some simple tape would look awesome.

Keep up the great work!

[jaha32]

If you want the dolphin to hold a stick, and not have it look awkward, then you're going to have to think of the fins as very short human arms with shoulders. Look at photos of real hockey players holdings sticks. One shoulder dips with a straight arm, and the other shoulder is up with a bent arm. If you get that right, it will be a good logo.

I read somewhere that the KHL plans to put a team in Sochi with a dolphin mascot.

[1clkgtramg]

You know, I've always hatted the idea of such a "girly" mascot for a team - no, don't get offended - but you made it work. I kind of like the "this is my hockeystick, you can't have it" look. Its definately ECHL/CHL/CeHL quality for sure. (Thats also not saying its lacking higher wuality, its just NHL tends to like more simplistic material). Strangely enough, when I was making my National Womens Hockey League Concepts, I wanted to use a Dolphin mascot for one of the teams, this would have been perfect!

[9erssteve]

_{Ok I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a few assumptions about the way you designed your dolphin logo, and why you're not as happy with the finished article as you'd hoped you be. You can then let me know if I'm right, and then we'll see if we cant get you over the "mediocrity" hump you talked about.
When you started the logo the first thing you did was pick up your pencil and start drawing your logo right? You got your first draft down on paper as quick as you could and then started tweaking it from there. But no matter how many things you tweaked it just never felt quite right did it?}

_{Am I anywhere close?
I'm not a betting man, but I'd be willing to stake a few quid that I am. If I am you've done a pretty good job considering but you're never gonna get results you're truly happy with working that way. And I'll tell you why...
You're missing a VITAL stage of the process out! Right now it appears you're drawing what you THINK a dolphin looks like then simplifying it to create a logo. What you need to do is study what dolphins ACTUALLY look like and simplify from there!
RESEARCH is the key to ANY top quality piece of design be it logo, product or otherwise. That's ESPECIALLY true with animal logos and even more so if you're going for the minor league cartoon style. You have to know what makes a dolphin a dolphin (or whatever your subject is) before you can caricature it, or distil it down to it's simplest forms. Why? Because what YOU THINK makes a dolphin in your mind may vary DRAMATICALLY to what I or someone else pictures a dolphin as in their mind. But if you work from real references to begin with you'll get a much clearer idea of what the essential elements are and what parts to emphasize and what parts to down play. An artist wouldn't try to do a caricature of a famous actor without reference material, say a photo or if they're really lucky having the person there to model for them. Why would you try to do the same thing with an animal but do it without reference material? It's the same process and uses exactly the same principles.
Research, it's not sexy, sometimes it's not a ton of fun when all you want to do is draw your logos, but it's 100% NECESSARY and will improve your work 10 fold! If you, or anyone really wants to improve their logo work it's the MOST important thing you can do. Study photos of your subject, collect other logos of the same subject so you can see what you think works and MORE IMPORTANTLY what you'd do DIFFERENTLY. If someone else has already made a mistake it saves you the time of making it yourself, learn from other peoples, but most importantly LEARN about what you're drawing. If you do that you'll be able to communicate the subtleties of your subject that really capture it's character and THAT Is what makes for first class design.
9erssteve}