But if sports involves getting paid commissions, oh, you know I'm there!!! So here are two Homecoming themes that I've done for the North Dakota State College of Science football team. The first one is last year's (2005) and the second is for this autumn's '06 Homecoming. They're the Wildcats.
2005:
2006:
As you can see there is a 'theme' they have each year - which was also part of our job to come up with. Willie Wildcat is the mascot, so we had to include him in the graphic. Their team colors are also red & black. They stay white in the background because they go on shirts, cups, publications, and whatever else.
For last year, the 'Devour' theme gave us the idea of Willie eating the eagles like chicken, hence the big juicy leg he's holding. If you look closely, some of the crippled eagles only have one leg left. Oh, violence in the name of football!
One axed idea for '05 included, 'Pluck The Golden Eagles,' where it would show Willie ripping feathers off an eagle... but the NDSCS staff said "pluck" sounded too much like the word that rhymes with it. At least we still included an eagle with all his feathers GONE! For this year, we thought 'Neuter The Wolves' would be good too, but OH WELL!!!
Speaking of this year's upcoming game, 'Whip' was the first word that came to mind, and stuck with us throughout brainstorming other ideas. 'Neuter' woulda still been funny, right? And the graphic to go with it? Kidding, kidding...
...or am I?
ANYWAY, when we found out the Wildcats were facing a team called the Wolves this year, there was no doubt that the wolf would be done Tex Avery style! YES! So if you're seeing blatant Frederick Avery ripoff in the graphic above, why yes, it is! More like a tribute. Besides, how many zillions of teams named the Bulldogs stole their logos/mascots from Preston Blair? I thought so!
I wish I had these logos to compare with previous years' themes. But they aren't anywhere online, and I can't find printouts. But whoever did them before wasn't very creative. All you need to know is that the guy was photoshop filter crazy, loved to use his gradients, and pasted the 'official' Willie logo on top of clipart football player bodies. Oh, and here are the official Willie logos below, past and present:
For last year, the 'Devour' theme gave us the idea of Willie eating the eagles like chicken, hence the big juicy leg he's holding. If you look closely, some of the crippled eagles only have one leg left. Oh, violence in the name of football!
One axed idea for '05 included, 'Pluck The Golden Eagles,' where it would show Willie ripping feathers off an eagle... but the NDSCS staff said "pluck" sounded too much like the word that rhymes with it. At least we still included an eagle with all his feathers GONE! For this year, we thought 'Neuter The Wolves' would be good too, but OH WELL!!!
Speaking of this year's upcoming game, 'Whip' was the first word that came to mind, and stuck with us throughout brainstorming other ideas. 'Neuter' woulda still been funny, right? And the graphic to go with it? Kidding, kidding...
...or am I?
ANYWAY, when we found out the Wildcats were facing a team called the Wolves this year, there was no doubt that the wolf would be done Tex Avery style! YES! So if you're seeing blatant Frederick Avery ripoff in the graphic above, why yes, it is! More like a tribute. Besides, how many zillions of teams named the Bulldogs stole their logos/mascots from Preston Blair? I thought so!
I wish I had these logos to compare with previous years' themes. But they aren't anywhere online, and I can't find printouts. But whoever did them before wasn't very creative. All you need to know is that the guy was photoshop filter crazy, loved to use his gradients, and pasted the 'official' Willie logo on top of clipart football player bodies. Oh, and here are the official Willie logos below, past and present:
The cool OLD one that I knew as a kid:
The modern one that bores me:
What is it about all those modern collegiate/professional team logos that stick to that same style? Iconic? Yes. Lifeless? Also yes. When designing MY version of Willie (refer back above), I wanted to make sure his look was little more cartoonish. Last year's was still pretty stiff, but this year's was a natural evolution. When I look at Willie's head alone (in the '06 graphic), I picture that as its own great logo. Jef and I were discussing possibly putting that face on shirts for school events. We'll see how that goes.
When we were watching the Homecoming 2005 parade last year, we saw various floats that utilized our theme. Several floats included students with KFC buckets. But the FUNNIEST float was one featuring a bastardized version of our graphic! It was a piece of tagboard with the logo traced on from a projector, but the lines were thin and the coloring was minimal (with what looked like Crayola markers)... it was a riot.
And the football team won last year... I like to believe that our theme attributed towards that victory. Hope the same applies this year! But if they lose, eh, just remember that I'm not a huge sports fan in the first place.
What is it about all those modern collegiate/professional team logos that stick to that same style? Iconic? Yes. Lifeless? Also yes. When designing MY version of Willie (refer back above), I wanted to make sure his look was little more cartoonish. Last year's was still pretty stiff, but this year's was a natural evolution. When I look at Willie's head alone (in the '06 graphic), I picture that as its own great logo. Jef and I were discussing possibly putting that face on shirts for school events. We'll see how that goes.When we were watching the Homecoming 2005 parade last year, we saw various floats that utilized our theme. Several floats included students with KFC buckets. But the FUNNIEST float was one featuring a bastardized version of our graphic! It was a piece of tagboard with the logo traced on from a projector, but the lines were thin and the coloring was minimal (with what looked like Crayola markers)... it was a riot.
And the football team won last year... I like to believe that our theme attributed towards that victory. Hope the same applies this year! But if they lose, eh, just remember that I'm not a huge sports fan in the first place.
2 comments:
Nice work! The "Devour" font in the first one reminds me of Jack Kirby comics at Marvel in the 1960s.
The Tex Avery look to the second one is spot on.
I'm in agreement about the way team mascots have all been altered into the most generic cartoon-style depictions imaginable. They remind me of those cheap Disney movie knock-offs you always see as soon as a new animated feature is released.
It's a lot like the modern versions of the Kellogg's charcters vs those fantastic Martin Provensen renditions from way back.
Working with what you had to, you did a great job.
I'm also happy to see you posting more frequently. Keep it up.
Thanks again John - I can't remember what font that is but I really liked it!
If I really had complete freedom with these graphics, they'd be a lot more colorful and include shadows, highlights, texture, etc., almost like an illustrated children's book. That's really my biggest complaint, is that they have to stay flat in color.
I'm drawing at Mall of America today and at a festival in St. Paul tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have more stuff to post when I get back. Again thanks for checking my blog out. I'd like to be posting on here daily!
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