I recently made this logo for my team for our name change, and wanted to see what the people on CD thought, so here it is. Please reply with any input.
Please note: this is not the final version, and will inevitably looks sloppy. Please rate the logo idea itself.
I like the idea, and overall it looks good. In the final version, consider posterizing it into 2 colors so the lightning doesn’t look so blurry around the edges.
Good job.
From an artsy/graphic designer point of view:
Do you really want both realistic lightning and animated-lightning bolt? its a weird thing when you look at it a second time… I’d recomend just using one (preferribly the realistic as it looks REALLY COOL), but its your logo. Don’t change it if the team likes it! 
Just my first impressions:
I agree with this. Stick with the realistic lightning.
Adding a third color would be pretty awesome, as stated above. Maybe try some gray.
While I understand that “thunder” doesn’t translate very well into imagery, you’re depicting lightning (two different ways). That’s not the most straightforward branding.
It will look fine in print, but won’t on a t-shirt or banner (the fine detail will look like bad printing).
Consider doing a vector (e.g. .svg) version, or at least make sure that you keep the details in separate layers in a raster version.
For other posters: Yes, I will get rid of the smudging around the realistic lightning, and will get rid of the cartoony lightning bolt in the ‘t.’
I have to keep it at 2 colors for our t-shirt people, they print faster that way, and they don’t like multicolor prints anyway.
Thanks so much for the input.
Thaine
We had a 5 color T-shirt for 2010 and had them done by a digital t-shirt printer, they were cheaper than a 2 color screen print, but the colors were not quite a vibrant. Though if you’re printing black that shouldn’t be a problem.
Good luck either way 
I would make the lightning more defined, cartoony, and thick and less photographic. That or only leave the lightning in the T and just have the text. By no means a bad start though!
i agree with everyone else that the cartoon lighting and the actual lightning clash.
also, i don’t know if you can do this but if you make the areas that you want to be a third color out of a bunch of tiny black dots, it will look gray, without actually requiring a third color. if you do do this i would make the third color the shadow of the text, from the light source of the lightning, that would make it look really cool.
Great idea, hawaiian-cadder, thanks! I’ll see what I can do.
Thaine
Our team redesigned its logo recently, so I have one pointer to give.
You may want to think about an image that doesn’t contain words to go with the text.
We went with a rectangular logo that is mostly embellished text (much as you did), but after the fact, we realized that it would be kind of nice to have something a little simpler, without text that we could put places. We are working on throwing together a simpler, more square-shaped (as opposed to rectangle-shaped) design.
This new design could be worked into a part of the robot, our new pit structure, or anywhere else you want to add some art without adding too much complexity (or where you don’t have a large rectangular space)
For instance, Wave Robotics worked their logo into the upper sheet metal plates on their Breakaway robot:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35093
(not the best image of it, but it shows what I’m talking about)
This is our current logo:
This was our old logo, before the redesign, we still use it to represent our summer camp and FLL organizations, because changing it might affect the “customer loyalty” that we have been building up over the years.
Ok, heres the updated logo, with the cartoon lightning bolt removed and the realistic lightning sharpened and the smudging removed. Thanks so much for your help.
Thaine
P.S. I sharpened the lightning by going over every pixel, is there an easier way? (I use GIMP)
Looks awesome. The only kind of input I could think of is about the orange background. It seems a bit too bland and boring. Id suggest a radial gradient at the center of the logo (second choice could be of your choice). It doesnt have to be a gradient, but I feel some form of addition to the background is necessary; just some constructive criticism. Everything else looks great.
I’m no expert, but I think you can play with the “Contrast” slider and eliminate any grays.
We’re putting this on plain orange shirts, so it’ll look a little boring by itself. I’ll mess around with a shadow or something if I have time.
I should’ve tried that, thanks.
Thaine
I’ve had great luck with www.bluecotton.com for my t-shirt designs, check them out if you get a chance and it wouldn’t make your t-shirt people too mad.
I would get rid of the gradient elements so it is made easier for reproduction.
Otherwise reproduction costs can add up quickly.
