Hand-Drawn Logos Phase 1: Sketch Dump (Final teams posted- FEEDBACK NEEDED)

[Lee Noire]

-PHASE ONE-

Good day everyone! This is my first dip into the the concept pool and I'm nervous as hell, but I wanted to show what I've been working on as well as get some advice on how to improve.

Background:

I was inspired by the folks in here creating their own sports and leagues. Something about that just woke up my inner child. A few months back I decided to do the same, but something happened along the way. I just couldn't decide what type of game I wanted it be and I got discouraged, on top of a massive case of artist block.

In a attempt to get my mojo back I decided to just design logos for teams, hoping that would get me back into it. So far, I have to say it has helped but I'm still not quite content with my new game. I love what I have done with my teams though. What I want to do now is get some feedback from the community on how I can fix them and what works as is. I will say that I'm pretty content with colors and names, but I won't say I'm not willing to change any of those.

Notes:

I'm no computer wiz, so everything seen here is hand drawn. It's just comfortable for me right now so I hope you guys don't hold that against me. When I started these I was so inspired I couldn't wait to get them on paper...and it shows. I didn't even bother waiting til I had a pencil and eraser, especially since I had a good pen and some white out nearby.

I plan on setting up each pic with some small background info, so it's understood why I made certain choices. I should also note that these photos were taken with a camera phone and uploaded to Photobucket. I don't have a scanner. I hope that soon you will see these teams competing in my made up game soon, but until then, please enjoy this beginner's sketch dump. The first team is going to be in the next post.

[Lee Noire]

Los Angeles Knights:

When I started this I wanted my first team to be located in LA. It's my hometown and it deserves to be the flagship team in my league. So naturally I named it the Stars, then I got inspired by the Oscar statue, the golden knight. My first logo was my rendition of the knight(from the torso up) with a film canister behind him. Gold, black, and white were the colors.

Eventually Golden Knights didn't sound pro level to me, so I shortened it to Knights and changed the film canister into a star. I wanted to have some "silver screen" influence in the logo so I changed the colors to silver, black, and white. Again, I'm no pro here, so any help is welcome.

[Lee Noire]

Boston Lights:

This one is pretty straightforward. I wanted to name the Boston team after a landmark because it's just seems like the type of place that takes pride in those things. I also wanted to incorporate the water theme of one of my favorite Boston team logos, the Breakers. The Boston lighthouse seemed like the perfect choice.

[TheGiantsFan]

Welcome to the hand-drawn concept family, so to say.

That's some really nice logos you got there! You sure got the artistic talent, that's for sure.

I don't quite understand what you mean when you say you don't know what to do with your logos, though. Care to elaborate a bit more?

[Lee Noire]

Is the star behind the knight supposed to be 5-pointed or 6-pointed with the sword being the 6th point?

It's supposed to be 5 pointed. I recognize the sword isn't helping that come across though. I was trying to keep as close to the oscar statue as I could which features a sword in a down position.

[Lee Noire]

Welcome to the hand-drawn concept family, so to say.

That's some really nice logos you got there! You sure got the artistic talent, that's for sure.

I don't quite understand what you mean when you say you don't know what to do with your logos, though. Care to elaborate a bit more?

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that.

Well I wasn't sure what type of sport it would be. None of my logos have a ball or anything in them that tie them into a particular sport. Right now I'm deciding between a Parkour inspired sport and a ball sport. Either way, I wanted to keep them ambiguous until I made up my mind.

______________________________________

Washington Presidents:

This logo came from a mash up of the presidential seal and the flag of Washington. I didn't want to go really patriotic on the colors here because that is everywhere. So I figured green and silver tie in nice with the red and white. Consider it a loose connection with the Federal Reserve and the color of money.

[JTswag187]

You should try Inkscape it's free and easy to learn. (that sounded like a commercial..........)

Anyways I think your logos have a very good basis and idea.

[Lee Noire]

You should try Inkscape it's free and easy to learn.

Agreed. When I'm ready for that I'm sure I will. In the meantime, do you have any thoughts on what has been posted thus far?

Edit: I posted just as you edited your post. Thanks man.

[BlackBolt3]

LA: Like the thought, but the sword kinda looks like a knife. I'll give you some leeway because it's hand-drawn, and I'm a terrible drawer.

Boston: Can't really find fault in this one. Good job.

Washington: Love the logo, but not sold on the color scheme. Maybe a blue-yellow scheme would work.

[crashcarson15]

This is some real good stuff you've got going, man! Really like the inclusion of the DC flag on the Presidents logo and definitely a good call to stray from red, white, and blue.

If you didn't notice, the moderating team's posted a new set of forum guidelines, one of which pertains to thread titles. Truth be told, the only reason I clicked on the thread was because of being a mod—perhaps you could go with a title that indicates it's a hand-drawn concept series to make it more enticing for people to click on? Perhaps you could also put the team you've just posted in the title with it. I'd go for something like "Hand-Drawn Logos: Washington Presidents" as the title to garner a little bit more interest. It also lets people know when you've posted a new concept by looking at the title.

And as for image editing software when you get there, I'm a fan of GIMP but it's really all about what you're trying to do and what you're comfortable with. I couldn't get into Inkscape but GIMP worked fine for me. All in personal preference and what you wanna do with it!

[Lee Noire]

This is some real good stuff you've got going, man! Really like the inclusion of the DC flag on the Presidents logo and definitely a good call to stray from red, white, and blue.

If you didn't notice, the moderating team's posted a new set of forum guidelines, one of which pertains to thread titles. Truth be told, the only reason I clicked on the thread was because of being a modperhaps you could go with a title that indicates it's a hand-drawn concept series to make it more enticing for people to click on? Perhaps you could also put the team you've just posted in the title with it. I'd go for something like "Hand-Drawn Logos: Washington Presidents" as the title to garner a little bit more interest. It also lets people know when you've posted a new concept by looking at the title.

And as for image editing software when you get there, I'm a fan of GIMP but it's really all about what you're trying to do and what you're comfortable with. I couldn't get into Inkscape but GIMP worked fine for me. All in personal preference and what you wanna do with it!

Oh wow I had no idea. Thanks man I'll be sure to do that. Yeah I've heard about GIMP too, but I kinda want to learn Inkscape someday.

[Lee Noire]

LA: Like the thought, but the sword kinda looks like a knife. I'll give you some leeway because it's hand-drawn, and I'm a terrible drawer.

Boston: Can't really find fault in this one. Good job.

Washington: Love the logo, but not sold on the color scheme. Maybe a blue-yellow scheme would work.

You are so right on LA. It's a huge knife. Looks like something out of Final Fantasy. I was going for jousting lance instead of a sword but it didn't work.That will be the first thing I fix once I go back and tweak these. With Boston being so heavy on blue and yellow, I don't think I'd go that route. I want this league to be as color diverse as possible.

_____________________________________

Miami Suns:

Last one for the day guys.

When it came to Miami the first thing that came to my mind was Art Deco buildings, sun, and the old Miami Floridians color scheme. So I threw it all into one logo. I still feel like it's not quite right but I'm not sure why. I do know I want the M to stand out more, and I'm not sold on the the team nickname either. Suns isn't original at all.

I'll finish the rest of the U.S. Teams tomorrow.

[Philsphan]

LA: yeah, instead of the sword/knife, I would extend the body of the Oscar statue all the way down. I think that would help 1) make the five-sided star more clear and 2) make the Oscar statue more recognizable because I wasn't sure what it was at first.

Boston: love the colors! The execution of the wave and lighthouse is superb but the execution on the lights (which is what the team is named) is a little lacking. I would try to feature the lights a little more prominently.

Washington: This one is my favorite. Such a unique color scheme and a genius idea to mash the DC flag and presidential seal. My only complaint would be that I think Federals is a more fitting name with that logo, but it works with Presidents as well.

Loving these! Great job!

[Lee Noire]

LA: yeah, instead of the sword/knife, I would extend the body of the Oscar statue all the way down. I think that would help 1) make the five-sided star more clear and 2) make the Oscar statue more recognizable because I wasn't sure what it was at first.

Boston: love the colors! The execution of the wave and lighthouse is superb but the execution on the lights (which is what the team is named) is a little lacking. I would try to feature the lights a little more prominently.

Washington: This one is my favorite. Such a unique color scheme and a genius idea to mash the DC flag and presidential seal. My only complaint would be that I think Federals is a more fitting name with that logo, but it works with Presidents as well.

Loving these! Great job!

Lots to take in here! Ok...here goes.

LA: I'll be honest I'm terrified of doing the full body of the statue, but you are right. That will make a difference, especially since he isn't gold. I'll give it shot though. My plan is to get all these out first, then go back in with all the critique I've gathered from here.

BOS: Thanks for the kind words. I'm really proud of this one. Again dead on, the lights leave a bit to be desired. Noted.

WAS: I'm getting the feeling the colors are going to be very divisive on this one. I'm glad you like them though, because I love them. I thought about the Federals, but I wanted to do my best to use a team name not already used in major sports. Kinda broke that with MIA though.

[Lee Noire]

Bump

[TheGiantsFan]

I would make the Suns logo much more simplified. You should remove the windows and focus primarily on the art deco. Feel free to look at my Homestead Sun Sox concept (in my thread, obviously) for inspiration.

I agree with the majority that the Washington logo is very well done. Very unique when compared to other Washington teams.

[Lee Noire]

I would make the Suns logo much more simplified. You should remove the windows and focus primarily on the art deco. Feel free to look at my Homestead Sun Sox concept (in my thread, obviously) for inspiration.

I agree with the majority that the Washington logo is very well done. Very unique when compared to other Washington teams.

I did check out the Sun Sox and it is a really great design. Nice work! I definitely need to simplify the Suns a bit. Washington is slowly becoming my favorite simply because of how different it is.

Ok, I'm posting the rest of the teams based in the USA today and up first is Indy.

_____________________________________

Indianapolis Racers:

From day one I wanted to utilize the racing themes associated with that city. The logo practically created itself once I committed to that. The colors are a nod to the old Indianapolis Racers of the WHA, along with the black and white of the checkered flag.

I also wanted to incorporate Monument Circle in some fashion, so I took the Indianapolis flag version of it and used it as the rim of the tire in the logo.

[Philsphan]

No complaints here. Like the use of different shapes and the simple red-blue-white-black color scheme works well. Very creative with the Indy flag too.

[Guest darkpiranha]

Good stuff. The Miami Suns are too much of a good idea. Take what you have and simplify it. I'd move away from going with literal buildings and just getting some art deco shapes and stylings to get your flavor across. TheGiantsFans' own Homestead Sun Sox is a great implementation of art deco.

But great start so far! Even though the names are very traditional-sounding, they all work together so far for a league that maybe has been around fifty or a hundred years. You can always tell a new junk sport or new from-scratch real-world league because they always have words and names that you haven't ever seen in a sports team before. Yours so far all seem like they have history, and I'd be curious to see what you can do with some vintage logos for your team, as if their original logos were done in the 30's or 50's or 70's. Check out Sparky Chewbarky's Wild League to see how he reverse-engineers vintage-looking logos.

Keep em coming.

[Lee Noire]

New York Fiveburroughs/Fives:

This one is probably going to be the most scrutinized of the 6 for sure. I wanted to make this leagues equivalent to the Knicks. Old school look, old school name, inevitable shortening of old school name, etc. The name Fiveburroughs is not really a word, as much as it's two words slammed together to sound old timey. I really think it's charming though. Something that all of New York can get behind. Go Fives!

The logo is based on a subway token with the pentagon in the center representing the Burroughs. In the center is the numerical version of the shortened Fives nickname. The colors are on the dull side, speaking to the grittier side of the city. The opposite of the Knicks grandiose feel.