Logo Sketches

After some research for my logo I've spent a few days coming up with ideas and concepts of what I want to use. I struggle with logos because I'm never happy with them and I find myself always trying too hard to concentrate on making it simple yet meaningful. I have however come up with some sketches.

My first idea involved a crown, which symbolises royalty and power. I came up with this idea during a brainstorm of what I thought mostly represented a regal icon. I find this idea to work well because it's obvious what it is, it's powerful and it will make the viewer see that 'Sovereigns' is based on those concepts and not a coin (which is also what its known as).

I found inspiration from the LA Kings logo on my NHL Logo post and also through Google which provided a nice image of a group of crowns.

    http://www.alphastamps.com/art/sm4crowns.jpg

Through this image I know I wanted a medieval style crown because I wanted to connect with the history of Tunbridge Wells.

If I settled with a crown for the logo I think it connotes that the town has history and the fact that it is regal. This will give the impression of intimidation, power, authority and efficiency. Therefore I think it is a good concept to consider.

My sketch turned out something like this:

Similar to the previous ideas I thought about having a static crown (again similar to LA Kings logo) which doesn't have any texture but only the shape. I did some more research into regal features and found these leaf crests:

   http://us.cdn1.123rf.com/168nwm/tuulijumala/tuulijumala1001/tuulijumala100100036/6296295-black-and-white-sketchy-vintage-wreath-and-banner-isolated-on-white.jpg 

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000167 EndHTML:0000000563 StartFragment:0000000454 EndFragment:0000000547

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/4/D/S/5/j/v/crest-leaves-hi.png

These leaves indicate a sense of royal authority and are seen quite commonly on sports logos and regal icons. I thought this would further connote a sense of power. What I also like about the pattern is it's a nice border to fit a logo into. One problem I feel is that I would also think of greek mythology as well, as these patterns are also known in that genre.

This is my sketch for this design, I feel the composition is good and makes sense. The team name fits well with the imagery and it's instantly recognisable that the game genre is Ice Hockey from the classic icon showing two crossed sticks and a puck between them is visible.

I've also added a dotted line and circle at the bottom of the crown, this is meant to connote the centre of an ice rink layout.

The text I felt works well because it gives off a sense of aggression and speed. The font I imitated was BigNoodleTitling and have adjusted the serifs to make them sharp and appear facing left as this gives an impression of blades on the bottom of ice skates. The type is also in italics which gives movement.

Moving onto a different idea, I have involved the use of the same crest leaves as I wanted to expand on it slightly and try different logos with it. This time I have gone for a very traditional logo which involves shields and banners. Very similar to the London Pride example that I found whilst looking for the NHL logos. That was in fact what gave me the idea.

I also got some inspiration from a concept that I found for an English Ice Hockey team, Peterborough Phantoms.

    http://www.peterborough-phantoms.com/images/stories/constitution_2010.pdf

The only problem that I have with this is that it could easily be mistaken for a school team, which I don't want. But the sticks will symbolise the sport genre instantly, the banners and shield represent strength and durability whilst still looking noble and supreme.

Although I want to try a cartoon effect that is seen in most logos I want to try and create something a bit cleaner and sophisticated.

Here is my sketch:

This idea has a British look which is reflected through a shield with banners, a regal look through crest leaves and a sign that signifies strength through the shield. In addition I've again added the crossed hockey sticks which will tell everyone that this logo symbolises Ice Hockey. This would mean using less aggressive text and adopting a quiet and clean appearance, which draws away from the nature of the game.

Whilst still keeping the shield idea an option. I've created this sketch which involves the same things only in a different layout although it is without the crest leaves. Still the same meanings apply.

I was thinking of using a quite square and solid look for the text which would reflect the strength aspect through the shield. I still think it works just as well and I think there is a lot less of a school team feel. Still this could work well in a clean style, only with bold features.

Again expanding on the crest leaves again I have done a sketch only involving a goalie hockey helmet. I thought about a normal player's helmet but they looked too ordinary whereas the goalie helmet looks very distinct and unique. It has a cage over the face with a long chin/neck guard to help incoming pucks to the head area. I thought it would be an interesting feature to show off as most helmets look the same whereas this one looks different, meaning more people would wonder what it was, looking closer however you can see the two hockey sticks on the helmet stating the obvious what the sport is. I think the helmet looks slightly scary and intimidating which would invoke some aggression and the leaves again are regal, so it still stays true to the name and meaning.

Again similar to the goalie mask ideas, I have done 2 other sketches but in the style of the traditional mask. I used this as my inspiration:

   http://www.halloween-mask.com/fghm/09/pt6.jpg 

 http://www.goaliestore.com/board/attachments/hockey-talk/31780d1313886335-bryzgalovs-new-flyers-mask-mikeliut.jpg

These masks were worn usually in street hockey and before the modern hockey helmets were invented, which cover the whole head and have a cage. Jacques Plante, who played for the Montreal Canadiens first invented the mask after suffering a blow to the face by a puck in a previous game.

This mask is also famous for the fictional movie character Jason Voorhees, a serial killer with a distorted face in the Friday the 13^th movie franchise. This alone gives a very scary and intimidating look, however even though these masks are famous for that, a lot of people know that the mask is originally for hockey, not just a signature character's mask. The picture to the right shows a goalie wearing a mask. Also I looked further into an old NHL Logo for the Anaheim Ducks which shows a duck face in the style of a hockey mask.

    http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/1/1/full/2.gif

I feel this design symbolises a few things. The mask, obviously in the shape of a duck represents the team's name and the face is shown as a vicious character, which would symbolise aggression. Also the hockey sticks give away the sport genre and black circular background behind it would represent a puck. However just behind that there appears to be an inverted triangle, as explained before in my previous logo research I have found that an inverted triangle is a sports symbol used in tactical games for opposition, so that amplifies the aggression meter. As for the colours I'm guessing they used the same colour scheme for the male Mallard Duck.

Here are my sketches for this idea:

I started out sketching the masks and thought about adding the crown too, from my previous ideas. I think they bold well together, giving the impression of authority and power. The mask and sticks will symbolise the game. Also I feel the fact that the sticks are crossed signify a sense of not getting through, like a defensive position which I think appears quite powerful. For the text I've made it similar to the shield logo I sketched out and made it square and bold but not in the way where it's tacky and american.

In the other sketch I have made a very subtle face, using the holes in the mask to speak for themselves. I feel this effect will make for a scary and subtle approach, which is sometimes the best way to appear threatening.

I looked into some logos from around the world and most of them were very bad, but there was one that I liked which was Russian, part of the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League). It is in fact the KHL's logo:  

    http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=za8gkjatbfwgnjg9phm2dik3c

This piece of inspiration sparked after I had talked to Colin about my logo developments and he suggested I look at international examples. I would have more but this was one of the only ones that I liked.

It's obviously vector format and very clean which is different for a hockey logo, which is what I wanted to try anyway.

From this logo I can tell that there are two sticks again, used in quite a lot of examples which symbolise the game of hockey. KHL are spelt out in different sections of a shield which I think symbolises strength. I wasn't too sure about the placing of the letters as I read it at first as KLH, but then KHL immediately after. I'm not too fond that letters spaced around too much as they become illegible. With the colour use I find they have used the same colours as the Russian flag – white, blue and red.

Here is an idea of a sketch I did:

I've done the exact same thing only changed the letters to make them more legible and instead of using a shield I've used an inverted triangle, again to symbolise opposition. I've incorporated the two hockey sticks and also a puck to give away easily what the game is. I would like this idea to be a clean design, and not over the top and typically American.

My next 2 sketches are heavily text based and require a bold and striking effect.

Looking back to the NHL Logos I have used the Washington Capitols logo for inspiration. It has a hockey stick acting as the 'T', in my sketch I have used the same technique only with the letter 'I'. Also I found another logo whilst researching international examples and this one was for the English National Hockey League.

 http://www.eiha.co.uk/Portals/1/EnglishNationD05aR01cP01ZK.png

This logo has used the lion totem as a symbol. It is well known to have been featured in many English logos, such as the crest. But it reflects pride, strength and dominance. The mane of the Lion is then turning into a fire effect, which I think is just a technique to emphasize some aggression. Immediately I can tell that the sport is physical. As for the text I feel that the italics are used well as it gives off a speeding look. The font is bold and strong which tells us that it's very competitive and tough, perhaps even physically tiring to play (which it is!!). One thing however that I really liked about this logo was the bottom line 'Ice Hockey League', this clearly acts as an hockey stick as it's thinner than the other text and has a blade attached to the end of it. Also just to confirm it's Ice Hockey there is a puck acting as the O in 'National' and I noticed that the white stroke around it could indicate ice skates as they make a similar mark on the ground.

Here are my sketches.

As you can see I have used the same techniques in the said two logos I used for my inspiration and made them my own. I think they work well and in both of them you can tell they are based on Hockey. It's different from a heavy image based logo.