For Philly vs Carolina i like the name Civil War since PA was a North State and NC was a south state at the time. Minnesota vs Kentucky could be Fire vs Ice since Minnesota is the coldest state in the country and i'm guessing it gets hot in Kentucky?

South logo thoughts from Dan O'Mac

LOGIC: What logo would I most want on the team I'm in charge of. This doesn't necessarily mean it was the "best" logo, but the one I went with most.

BIRMINGHAM:
This was a two logo race for me. I absolutely loved the bright colors and sunburst behind the hammer of C's entry, but the cohesiveness between the logo and wordmark with the flame always being in the V on both, reminding me of an Olympic torch (Vulcan being an Olympian God and all) gave that logo the nod. I liked A's use of a spear, but would've preferred the wordmark to have an option without the bolts on the letters. D didn't inspire me with the color scheme or the way the logo would be hard to manipulate into a good logo for the helmet/uniforms.

DALLAS:
I started by ruling out D. This was because of the random extra lines on the hat, and the line weight would make it challenging not to lose some part of the logo on a colored background. I voted for C, but would've liked a bit of detail for the chambers on the revolvers. That would've eliminated the little dead pockets in it. I had the winner, A, as my second option. It was well done, with the border on the logo it'll apply well, and the laces on the bandana was a nice touch. I wanted to like B with it's minimal look, but I feel like it needed just one more color to make it pop.

MIAMI:
So B was my vote, but it was 100% because I felt the colors worked better for what I pictured for Miami. But A had the stronger logo of the two. I liked the fins in the "A"s of the wordmark, but didn't like the angles on the "R" and "D". With logo C, I felt the shark's body ended up much larger, making the tail look disproportionate to me.

ORLANDO:
Whoo boy, this was tough. Nothing against B and E, but they just didn't grab my attention the same way in a very tough group. C was a nice look, but I feel like the alien would be a challenge to apply because of how the logo was taller than wider. I actually had logo A as my vote. The green and grey would've been unique to pro football, the touch of blue would've been nice in design as well. Disney may not like the Star Wars font, but... so be it. I liked D as my second option. Nice colors, the wordmark was unique, yet legible, and the galaxy design made me think of the World League's Frankfurt Galaxy. I had F, the logo that won the vote, as my third. The colors were good, the use of the planet's rings in both the logo and wordmark was well done, and the O/G in the logo was nice. I just didn't prefer it as much.

SAN ANTONIO:
I wanted to go with the more western theme, not military theme. As such, I ruled out the three with the planes on them. Of the non-military themed options, I loved E's ghost as a fun, whimsical logo. However, it wasn't something I wanted on my team's helmet. A was phenomenal, and absolutely deserved to win, between the colors, actual logo (with the Alamo hidden in it) and the great wordmark. I did vote for C, as I loved the skeleton horse look. The details on the skull weren't perfect, but the concept caught my attention, and I fell in love with it.

TENNESSEE:
As a Wisconsinite in Green Bay, seeing a snake wrapped around a letter made me think of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, and that's not a bad thing. But I put that logo in third because copper was right there in the name, and it wasn't used. I really liked C, and my big critique on it was the tongue. It didn't connect to the rest of the logo, and the color on it pulled my attention away from the rest of the logo. B got my vote. The snake as the top of the T was a nifty idea on this, and the cursive wordmark made me think this was a team that had been around for a while and felt "classy".

Look for me to do this for the North following their results.

For those uniform builders out there. Here is the folder with all of the logos. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hIdBNCzWHnz9Ya2LiRbfwkTCgoAYRW9y

Last edited by Gritty (5/19/2020 5:12 pm)

@QCS

Those are all interesting questions.  I think the concepts that you bring always come from a good direction.  Meaning you can tell that they have a lot of thought and meaning behind each concept.  I'll share some general advice that I've be told over the years.  It's three things that I try to incorporate in my logo designs.  I say this with absolute humility as I am just trying to get better as well.  

1.) Bold Colors help a lot - for example I'd explore your instinct with some red in your Dallas concept.  Not sure how I'd do it but I think that is a good instinct..although I am a sucker for a simple black and white concept.

 2.) Strong outlines - don't go crazy with them and they don't have to be super thick but I think a really strong defined outline makes a logo pop on all applications.  That's why you see usually see a white or silver outline on logos.  I like to think of the logo as a soccer crest and those always have strong shapes.  You did this really well in you SA concept.  I think for the Orlando concept, the outlines are the 'galactic arms' and it would look bolder without the outlines of each arm.  Not sure that makes sense.  I think the extra outlines look cool when you zoom in - but on first glance the bold colors you chose get a little lost and muddled together. Dallas could use just a little more weight to the outlines.  Try it out, I think it would look really strong.

3.) Finally use basic shapes as your friend (this isn't necessarily for you but it is something that I struggle with).  I always want these really elaborate logos but then I look at professional logos and they are pretty simple when it comes to shape.  As an experiment, I would grab a group of pro logos and try to see if they all fit in a similar size box.  Then put your logos in and see if they fill the box as well - I did this once and was shocked.  For example, your Orlando, San Antonio, and Dallas ones will all fit really well, I think you'll find BHam may be a little longer up and down than you'd want.  I think your BHAM logo's strength is the burst around the Hammer, it is a bold shape and would look really good on a helmet.  I would shorten the hammer handle a bit to try and work well with that.

Anyway those are the things I struggle with all of the time and figured you'd find it helpful.  

Last edited by Gritty (5/19/2020 6:17 pm)

I'm all over this because I'm a fan of all these teams.
The Charlotte Hornets have a bright teal, which looks like San Antonio.
The San Jose Sharks have a darker teal, which could work for Tennessee.
The Miami Heat blue is not teal, it is electric blue.