Hillgrove High School Hawks

One of the weirdest things happened the other day. Someone in the industry actually valued my opinion.

Doug, a graphics designer from the ATL (I'm so hip), emailed me and asked if I would critique the logo set that he designed for Hillgrove High School, a new school set to open next year in the Atlanta area. I explained to him that although I play an expert on the internet, I am far from one in reality. And yet, he still wanted my opinion.

When I first saw the email I hoped and prayed that I would like the logo set because if I didn't, I would have a hard time saying so. I'm good when I can rip on someone that I don't know, saying it to someone personally is a different story. I am what you call, a wuss.

Thankfully, I really liked all of the logos. They are classically simple and elegant but also display a very contemporary and interesting style, which is exactly what I like in a logo.

The block letter "H" is the primary logo for Hillgrove. I like it because it takes three very basic shapes and makes them look animated and exciting. Anybody can make that happen with more complex characters, but to be able to do it with just three basic shapes is impressive. My only small critique is that I would have liked to see a thicker black outline to match the rest of the logos.

The hawk head logo is the primary logo for Hillgrove's athletic program. Again it is very simple but still modern. But for whatever reason, something doesn't completely work with this logo for me. I think it is because the eye looks so passive. I'm happy to see that it isn't a snarling, overly angry hawk but I wish it was a little more emotive. In the very large, PDF version that he sent me you can see some extra detail that makes it look much better. But in a smaller size, it loses something.

My favorite logo is their secondary athletic logo. The full size hawk is incredible because of how it gives you a sense of how majestic the hawk is without overdoing it. Because it is so simple with just a silver and black outline and different shades of red inside, it has an abstract feel but still looks strikingly like a hawk would look if you saw it in the wild.

I think Doug did an excellent job with these logos and Hillgrove High School should be proud of their new identity. They are going to be the classiest looking punk ass teenagers in the ATL.

If anybody else wants an honest opinion from a sports logo novice, please email me at downwithpants@gmail.com and I would be happy to give you my unprofessional opinion.

Poca High School - The Poca Dots

If you lived in Poca, West Virginia, what would you name the local high school's sports teams? The Miners? The Hawks? The Mountaineers? Come on now, you aren't thinking hard enough. The Fighting Monkeys? Please, where did that one come from?

How about the Dots? The Poca Dots. Has a nice little ring to it doesn't it. Well that's what a Charleston sportswriter thought back in 1928 when he suggested the nickname for the high school and the Dots have been going strong ever since.

These two logos are great. First on the left you have the classic script logo that has probably been used for 50 years. It's very simple, just a dot with some words in it. Only two colors. No 3-D effects. Yet it is much more effective than any of the previous SLP entries.

The second logo on the right is an attempt to toughen up the image of the Poca Dots. You have to admit, it's not exactly a frightening nickname. Something had to be done, the football team wasn't going to put up with it anymore. So this psycho looking dot was born. It's looks so ridiculous that it works perfectly in comparison to the classic logo.

If you love the Poca Dots then you are in luck. They have perhaps the most extensive collection of merchandise of any high school team I've ever seen. I can't tell if the person who sells this stuff is even connected to the school or if the school gets anything from the sale of this merchandise, but just in case you want a Dots thong, they have it.

They sure do love their Dots in Poca and so do we here at SLP. You better fear the Dots fool!