Well, my Buffalo vote didn't change, lol.

I agree with QCS, most of the logos weren't an easy click with cities. Toronto, Buffalo, and New York were definitely disappointments.  Win some lose some I guess, right?

Dan O'Mac's thoughts on the East

Boston: 
B was ruled out for me. Although the logo idea is nice, the colors don't work for me. The person and words in the moon aren't visible for me. I really wanted to like C, but as QCS said, the execution was a touch off. A was a well done logo, and I liked the curve on the wordmark.

Buffalo: 
I felt B and C were just a bit too simplistic, with B lacking something (another color, maybe) and C feeling disjointed between the B logo and the "olts". I felt A was just too busy, but had a nice collection of colors. I liked the D brought the lightning bolt and turned it into a "B", but I didn't like it quite as much as the other logos. G, the newest, was nice, but I couldn't bring myself to put it ahead of E or F in my rankings. I went back and forth between E and F for a while before going with F. What it came down to for me was that I liked the logo for E and wordmark better, but the application of the logo on the left side of the helmet would've been problematic, as the lighting coming off of the "B" in the logo really fits best on the right side, as the provide the motion. As such, I gave F the nod on this one.

Carolina:
I went back and forth on this one as well. I liked B a lot, with the shine being in the shape of a hive (which looks like it could've been lifted directly out of some of QCS's CLT thread). But what swayed me to vote for A was that the pepper on B looked more like a cherry with a stinger to me. But this was again, a tough one to pick.

New York:
So I first ruled out D. The letters on the skyscraper seemed a touch off, and the size of some of the lower level in the back seems larger than on the front or side. I liked the execution of C and colors, but the dragon doesn't feel New York to me. F was off-putting to me because the two shades of purple are just too similar to me. For me, I had a very difficult time choosing between A, B and E. I ruled out E because it felt more baseball than football with the logo. I personally felt it was the best design, but not for a football team. A penguin design was something I expected to see, and B definitely delivered. When it came down to having to cast my vote, I sent with B over A because there's some city synergy from a color standpoint with B and the AltHL Gargoyles.

Philadelphia:
I liked the idea behind Boxin' Ben Franklin, but the half stars on the wordmark and the slightly different curves on the wordmark knocked it down a notch. C's colors are great, and using the keystone was a nice touch. But I really felt that A had the best logo and wordmark for the Brawlers.

Toronto:
I ruled out B because I felt the typeface used was very generic, the shape of the logo was more acorn than beaver, and the tail missing the outline made it feel like it didn't belong. I really liked the maple leaf in the "A" in the wordmark and ear for C, but if not for that leaf on the logo, it felt like something Oregon State would've/already did use. I really liked A, and I feel a stem on the leaf would've been a good addition. The colors are simple, yet could make a really nice set.

Last edited by Dan O'Mac (5/21/2020 12:51 am)

Good morning everyone! 

Get your last minute votes in for the NORTH.  I will be closing the poll a little bit later and should be able to reveal the logos tonight! 

Alright, I'll give me full thoughts as a designer and observer. Overall this was a weak group of teams (and I say that with my own designs taken into account). Maybe two really impressed me? A little disappointing considering how the South went as well as the AltHL.

Boston - I was behind the lantern logo. I maintain that it's a great idea, but my execution was weak and I couldn't figure out how to improve it. I voted for A because it was clearly the best of the bunch. B's colors were way too bright and clashed hard with each other.

Buffalo - Again, none of these jumped out to me. F is probably the best one, I can't say I'm a fan of the silver in the palette, honestly. I'd rather just navy and white, no other colors. None of the others inspired me, including my own.

Carolina - Shout out to Dan for getting that the shine was supposed to be a hornet's nest. I made C and I don't really think either of these were all that great. We were severely hamstring by being limited to pepper imagery, not to mention that a Carolina Reaper pepper is shaped awfully for a sports logo. I had considered using a chili pepper, but it seemed like people would see through that. That said, I don't think A resembles a reaper pepper all that much, at least not in a way that would make me think "reapers" when I see it. Even a scythe with a pepper instead of a blade would've been better, but I think the name held us back on this one.

New York - B was the best logo there, glad it won. I would've voted for C, but that wordmark is just not doing it for me. The others were bland in my opinion, nothing that made me think "well it's close, but a couple tweaks could really make it shine" (again, including my own).

Philadelphia - Man, this one was tough, and sadly not in a good way. I didn't really like any of the three, but I ended up voting for Brawlin' Ben cause it seemed like a clever idea. I prefer C's colors, but it was kinda boring and A didn't go for the "boxing" vibe I thought Philly should have. I'd like to see a powder blue alt, maybe with yellow, as a Philly flag reference.

Toronto - Again, just some bland logos. They all felt simply uninspired to me, although the craftsmanship was top-notch on C and A. Not sure what I'd do for the Beavers, might be one of those "good name but tough to translate to logos well" names.

I hope the next division will be a bit better, I know I'll have to step up my game and really try hard to produce quality logos. Curious to hear other's thoughts, but hopefully this will be a low point for our design process.

QCS wrote:

Alright, I'll give me full thoughts as a designer and observer. Overall this was a weak group of teams (and I say that with my own designs taken into account). Maybe two really impressed me? A little disappointing considering how the South went as well as the AltHL.

Boston - I was behind the lantern logo. I maintain that it's a great idea, but my execution was weak and I couldn't figure out how to improve it. I voted for A because it was clearly the best of the bunch. B's colors were way too bright and clashed hard with each other.

Buffalo - Again, none of these jumped out to me. F is probably the best one, I can't say I'm a fan of the silver in the palette, honestly. I'd rather just navy and white, no other colors. None of the others inspired me, including my own.

Carolina - Shout out to Dan for getting that the shine was supposed to be a hornet's nest. I made C and I don't really think either of these were all that great. We were severely hamstring by being limited to pepper imagery, not to mention that a Carolina Reaper pepper is shaped awfully for a sports logo. I had considered using a chili pepper, but it seemed like people would see through that. That said, I don't think A resembles a reaper pepper all that much, at least not in a way that would make me think "reapers" when I see it. Even a scythe with a pepper instead of a blade would've been better, but I think the name held us back on this one.

New York - B was the best logo there, glad it won. I would've voted for C, but that wordmark is just not doing it for me. The others were bland in my opinion, nothing that made me think "well it's close, but a couple tweaks could really make it shine" (again, including my own).

Philadelphia - Man, this one was tough, and sadly not in a good way. I didn't really like any of the three, but I ended up voting for Brawlin' Ben cause it seemed like a clever idea. I prefer C's colors, but it was kinda boring and A didn't go for the "boxing" vibe I thought Philly should have. I'd like to see a powder blue alt, maybe with yellow, as a Philly flag reference.

Toronto - Again, just some bland logos. They all felt simply uninspired to me, although the craftsmanship was top-notch on C and A. Not sure what I'd do for the Beavers, might be one of those "good name but tough to translate to logos well" names.

I hope the next division will be a bit better, I know I'll have to step up my game and really try hard to produce quality logos. Curious to hear other's thoughts, but hopefully this will be a low point for our design process.

I think the Silver is actually Nickel referencing Buffalo's other nickname as the "Nickel City"