Jake! Great redo. Done!
Chuck! I love the Meteorite idea. A great team name. I’m worried that this looks like the SM is on fire and not that it’s screaming through the atmosphere. I want more speed and more space. You feel me? Great start!
Derek! Love seeing old faces around this new contest. I really love me some sailing designs and I think this one’s solid. Try this for me. remove the mast let the flags just be up there and let us fill in where the mast would go. Then, smash it. Designers don’t realize how wide the front part of a hat is and a tall design like this one has to be so small just to get it to fit that you lose a lot of the size. Smash it!
Kim! Another alum. I think about your awesome “Brontos” design from time to time and it always puts a smile on my face. I love me a good Rueben Sandwich. I’m a Katz man myself. I love the marbled rye. I love the Statue of Liberty crown. I want you to try and beef up the rendering style your using for this character. More shadows, more heavy lines. Even a symmetrical design could be great. I’d like you to get the rendering so tight that you could use 2 or 3 colors and still get the sandwich/liberty crown effect. Do it!
David! This is David’s first time using Illustrator and I think it’s a great first outing. I’m proud of you for trying something new and teaching yourself a new program. That’s very admirable. I like the idea of an NY making up a skyscraper. It’s tough to tell it’s an NY though. Keep trying some different arrangements to see if you can get that clearer. The top of the Chrysler building is a great tower topper to use as your inspiration, but I want more detail in there, more shadow. Great start!
Scott! Yes! This is a great way to do a New York themed entry. I love that he’s a lizard man and he’s so full of life. I like the idea of the nail up the nose but I think it doesn’t read right away. What about making him a sword swallower? This guy in this position but with a sword hanging out of his mouth could be amazing. Do it!
The entries are piling up over here so thanks for your patience. We’re pedaling as fast as we can. Keep em coming!
Another direction to consider for the Coney Island Sideshows is for him to be breathing fire. That could be really cool, too. Also, the top of his hat seems like some unused real estate to me. I wonder if you could put something up there, like maybe a heavily-seriffed “CI” lockup or maybe add some texture or something that could have a hidden graphic in it. The top of the hat has become a focal point, and I think it needs something in it.
Thanks, Kevin.
I had a long shopping list of side show motifs to try and incorporate. I originally had a flaming Wonder Wheel encircling the whole thing. Needless to say, it got a bit crazy. Good tip on the top hat.
Jake – Great revision, so curly!
Chuck – Great start, perhaps a more space-ish colourway might help get the meteor part across?
Derek – Nice sail boat! Any chance you can ditch the blue for just an outline in one of the colours you’ve already used or not show it at all? I’m just not feeling the introduction of that 4th colour.
Kim – “Beef” him up and you’re done!
David – The Shadow League was my first time using Illustrator too! You’ll get the hang of it in no time. Looking forward to your revision, this is a great concept! Nice work!
Scott – Entry #2 already?…man you’re pumping them out!
I must admit I didn’t get the nail part either. Maybe some ear tunnels would also set him off nicely!?… Great entry!
wow looks like theirs lots of New York love.
*there’s*
@Aussie Ry: I’m bummed about the nail going over like a church fart, but thems the breaks. I’m having a hard time envisioning how to put a sword in this guy’s mouth without changing the position entirely, but I’m using Kevin’s suggestions to jazz up the top hat. It’ll come…
@David: What if, instead of intersecting the NY, the N formed the left side of the skyscraper, and and Y the right?
Jake: A great improvement. I think i would prefer a straight handle, but this does have some quirky charm.
Chuck: Solid idea, though I agree that its not yet reading like a meteor. Perhaps tilting the “SM” meteor to lend it motion, and changing the flames to a burning hot tail stretching across more horizontally. I could see this being awesome in white, lime, and fluorescent yellow on a deep midnight blue hat.
Derek: Is there a hidden “FL” (F in the two small flags, L in the negative space between the sails and mast)? Maybe not. It seems to be a little too vertical to fit the space, though. I might also add some additional sails to make it read more specifically as a sloop, and not a generic sailboat.
Kim: Nice! This almost has a Montgomery Biscuits vibe with the googly eyes. I’d agree that simplifying the details will be helpful. It’s a challenge, though, as the marbled rye bread is so key to the story you are telling. Maybe integrate a kosher “K” logo?
David: While this may be due to being new with Illustrator, showing some restraint in this logo seems to serve it well. I’d repeat that another version of the interlocking “NY” would be good, though you’ll be challenging some long-established monograms to find something unique. I do think that adding some specific details about what skyscraper it is (especially a New York one) will be key.
Scott: I too didn’t see the nail until it was pointed out, and then it still took a while. It’s a creepy storytelling detail, but maybe too subtle for this type of application. As it is, even without it he has a disturbing demonic-barker-from-hell vibe. Perhaps showing him in profile, head tilted upwards, showing his fangs and swallowing a sword/belching fire?
Thanks for the kind words! This is the first time I’ve done anything like this, so I appreciate the feedback.
I tried to make the pick axe to mimic a cursive L, hence the loopiness. That’s what we used to wear in little league. I thought it might add a little character to a pretty straightforward object.
The designs everyone is making are fantastic, and have provided me with many new perpectives on approaching a design!
Jake