This project is interesting in that all mascots have to be approved by the district and it brings up interesting opinions. Since one is for an Elementary school they don't want the mascot to be too aggressive or mean looking. But they want him cool enough that kids will still like it. Were as the High school prefers a more aggressive mascot and it's OK to have a furrowed brow. Either way who really wants to wear a weenie looking hawk on their school shirt? I can't help but think that soccer moms are influencing the art direction by not wanting Jr. to be scared by the mean looking hawk character? (OK, rant over)
The thing I like best about these type of projects is it's a good mix of illustration and design. I design my illustration more then normal on this type of work since it's being used in such a graphic format such as t-shirts, banners, floor decals etc.
Mascot for 'Williams Field Black Hawks' - High School
Mascot for 'Higley Hawks' - Elementary School
20 comments:
I'm not usually one to cast stones, but these look somewhat derivative of other existing logos. I don't doubt that it was unintentional, but compare these with the the primary/secondary logos of the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Eagles (especially), Baltimore Ravens and University of Southern Mississippi Athletics (that one's a little more of a stretch, granted).
It's definitely your work and such, it has your signatures all over it and they are well done. But it looks really close to some of these. All I'm sayin'.
Dave
The 'style' would fit the same mold uses in the NFL and other sports venues so yes it's styled the same way as they do it. Most college and pro teams are now so that isn't anything new. It isn't an eagle however it's a hawk. The different shape of the head and beak set them apart but I understand what your saying.
I have no idea what NHL mascots look like? I never watch Hockey nor am I familiar with their logos? I know I didn't rip-off anything and I drew this art myself based off of photo reference of birds.
Admire your artwork most of the time Von. However, when I received your newsletter today the first thing that came to mind was the exact same thing dave mentioned here above. I studied the NHL mascottes and the Philadelphia Eagle once in the past and I think the bird's head is the most obvious thing you should have done otherwise. On the other hand I understand that client is king and most people, especially companies, all want the same when it comes to trends or certain kind of coolness (it seems that everybody wants a pair of wings on what not nowadays). But as a designer/illustrator I think you must push the envelope constantly in order to differentiate yourself from the wanabe (poser) designers.
Anyways, still think these logos are well done. I have to give you that for sure.
Admire your artwork most of the time Von. However, when I received your newsletter today the first thing that came to mind was the exact same thing dave mentioned here above. I studied the NHL mascottes and the Philadelphia Eagle once in the past and I think the bird's head is the most obvious thing you should have done otherwise. On the other hand I understand that client is king and most people, especially companies, all want the same when it comes to trends or certain kind of coolness (it seems that everybody wants a pair of wings on what not nowadays). But as a designer/illustrator I think you must push the envelope constantly in order to differentiate yourself from the wanabe (poser) designers.
Anyways, still think these logos are well done. I have to give you that for sure.
Admire your artwork most of the time Von. However, when I received your newsletter today the first thing that came to mind was the exact same thing dave mentioned here above. I studied the NHL mascottes and the Philadelphia Eagle once in the past and I think the bird's head is the most obvious thing you should have done otherwise. On the other hand I understand that client is king and most people, especially companies, all want the same when it comes to trends or certain kind of coolness (it seems that everybody wants a pair of wings on what not nowadays). But as a designer/illustrator I think you must push the envelope constantly in order to differentiate yourself from the wanabe (poser) designers.
Anyways, still think these logos are well done. I have to give you that for sure.
Smutpunk,
You only have to post your message once. There is no need to re-post it three times using different names? Yes I moderate the posts so I don't get spammed.
I understand your concern but I was simply the hired gun. An agency hired me to create this artwork and it's original art. I executed it in a specific style that is common to the genre but in this case I thought that decision was very appropriate. There is a reason why so many collegiate and pro mascots are illustratively designed in this manner and it's because of the broad application it will be used on namely screen printed material, flexograph printing in spot colors, signage etc. Bold and simple works best. Same style for the same genre, sure but that is part of picking an appropriate style for a given project. Woodcut wouldn't work, linear wouldn't work but this stylized approach does.
The Eagles Logo epitomizes this style:
http://www.fanzz.com/ProductImages/63566.jpg
Thousands of schools use the same animal as their mascot. The fact I illustrated a hawk and it resembles another bird is because it's a bird. Is it similar to the 'Washington Capitals' in essence of it being a bird and is dive bombing sure. But it's still unique in and of itself. The body shape is drastically different, the head and talons are completely different and the species is different.
Here is what the 'Washington Capitals' bird looks like:
http://www.signaturetumblers.com/images/NHL/NHL_Washington_Capitals.jpg
I am now creating a step by step tutorial for my illustration class where I walk them through the creation of the 'Williams Field Black Hawks' project. I'll post a link to that tutorial late tomorrow and you can see how I created it for yourself and that includes my scrap reference for birds and style.
Nicely done Von.
I like the path you took with these because "style" is utterly important to the usage of these logos. The whole point of this particular style IS to look like a sports team more so a pro franchise. An easily identifiable road marker on the way to giving the users (in this case the young members of these high school sports teams) a larger than life personality like many other sports empires that they emulate.
Now, I'd like to point out to others that most sports teams on the high school and jr college levels are exact copies of pro teams with similar names or mascots. Even Division I-A uses this style to raise the level of fan usage in comparison to pro merchandising. For instance the Miami Hurricanes and the DePaul Blue Demons. I think Von's work is a fully designed solution in the mold of modern sports teams. To this effect the high school kids wearing this mark will get that larger than life feeling because their friends say (and I have heard this happen), "hey your schools logo looks like a pro logo" *boom* the impact on the field could possibly be effected, at least in small part, to a sense of pride in their new personality in terms of the team identity...this logo.
I say well done.
I just love these pics!!! :)
I have been visiting your blog for some time.. and liked most of the sketches (?) :)
I think I like this more because it's about something natural... more resembling to a living being, and not artificial :)
Steve you hit it on the mark!
Frankly, I'm a bit off-put by the criticism posted earlier. I'd love to see "better" solutions offered up by the posters in question.
What Von has done here is raise the level of execution with this branding project to a completely new level. I'd have loved to have had a school mascot or emblem executed so well back in grade school or junior high. Most of ours back then were designed by students, or were from a book of clip-art.
The fact that these two examples resemble pro teams isn't an accident. Von did his homework. Quite honestly, I'd venture to say that his renditions are "better" than some of the examples cited.
I'm going to end my rant there. Some things are better left unsaid. ;)
-Jeff
http://www.sousports.com/Images/Global/LogoRight.jpg
southern oregon university
I should moderate this last post. If your going to lob accusations at least have the balls to back it up with a real persona rather then hiding behind a nebulous 'Anonymous said...'.
Has dive bombing hawks or eagles been done before? Sure. This is my incarnation of a theme historically replete with images but it's my own take on it.
I'll have at ye from a totally different angle, mister: the Williamsfield Blackhawk clearly looks like a bald eagle.
That's a joke. I'm not really poking, but I do agree with the posts here that state that this subject matter can lend itself to accidental and faultless repetition. There must be hundreds of hawk-themed teams in the U.S., so to decry plagiarism without first bearing this in mind comes off a tad witch-huntesque.
Stumbled on your page. Just felt compelled to agree (and disagree) with some of the earlier posters. The work is good; the fact that it stylistically resembles professional teams, in my opinion, is a positive. There are only so many ways to do an impactful, menacing bird within the confines these types of situations place.
These smaller academic entities were both fortunate and wise to have found a designer who was able to deliver the credibility you have instantly provided with these logos. Again, job well done.
It seems some are missing the point.
The point is not whether eagels/halks/bird'o'prey have been used as logos before. It's not whether the "concept" has been in play before. The style was obviously modeled after the trending professional sports styles, which will these K-12 schools stand out... The NFL/NHL stuff was not used as derivative work.
The issue is that the art was DIRECTLY lifted and is now being sold as someone else's.
Von's art was used as derivative work and he deserves to be compensated.
Good luck Von.
-R
Hello, this is nice, I was wondering if I could use one of your blackhawks for a school project ?
Hey...I love the 'Williams Field Black Hawks' image (the top one) and was wondering if you would let me use it for my mens rec hockey jersey playing in a league in Toronto, Canada. My team is called the Nighthawks and we'd love to be able to leverage the logo on our jerseys.
Please advise ASAP as we're in the process of having our jerseys created and would need to source another logo if we can't use yours.
Thanks and hope to hear a yes!! :)
Hey...I love the 'Williams Field Black Hawks' image (the top one) and was wondering if you would let me use it for my mens rec hockey jersey playing in a league in Toronto, Canada. My team is called the Nighthawks and we'd love to be able to leverage the logo on our jerseys.
Please advise ASAP as we're in the process of having our jerseys created and would need to source another logo if we can't use yours.
Thanks and hope to hear a yes!! :)
Wright, email me at info(at)vonster.com and I can discuss your request.
Dear Vonster,
We are students from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. We are designing a website for our school and really like your image of the Williams Field Black Hawks mascot. We were wondering if we could use it for our website and what the terms of use are for this image.
Cannot give permission for this art.
But if you email me at info(at)vonster.com I can show you another design in the same style and theme you could use.
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