Jeff's Logo

After Jeff made the previously mentioned logo, he asked me to return the favor.  It had been some time since I'd last did any kind of visual art, so I wasn't sure what would come of it.  Being obliged to produce something brought out the best in me, I suppose.

I had never used a digital drawing tablet.  My knowledge of photoshop was (and still basically is) limited to arranging layers and using the brush tool.  And, like I said, it had been a long time since I illustrated anything.

When I thought of "A logo for Jeff", Grizzly Bears immediately came to mind.  The bear in general is the most awesome of animals, Jeff is a big lumbering kind of guy, and it was a simple enough concept that I wasn't jumping into waters-too-deep.

Here is the first version of the logo I sent him, click to make bigbigbig:

 Three bears, three variations, and simple text.

It turned out just as I'd hoped, which surprised me, really.  And it was easy.  That's the craziest part, I was actually satisfied with something I'd created, and it was easy.  It took an afternoon to do.  I sat in bed and watched a movie with Amanda while I did it.

While I was drawing, I realized that this new digital medium allowed for variations on a theme with just a small amount of effort on my end.

Variation number 2:

Simple idea, satisfying results.  My friend Wade said it looked like he was wearing, "revealing biking shorts"

You see what you want to see.  I see a colorful bear, Wade sees sexy biker shorts.

Variation number 3:

This one is kinda boring compared to the previous one.

And finally (so far), Variation number 4:

 

This is probably my favorite.  I had a lot of fun putting it together, and I think it suits his visual style.

Working on Jeff's crest was an eye-opener.  It forced me to explore a new medium that probably would have remained unknown to me for a long time.  All of my friends, and especially Amanda have been extremely helpful in giving me technology advice.  Thank you to everyone for being inspirational and supportive.

Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Next post, Luke's logo.