Let’s start with a little bit of context. I’m working on a Sonic-inspired platforming game, and one of my friends who tested it out really enjoyed it, so he made a logo for it. A little later on, he made another one, and I feel like they both look nice, but I’ve heard complaints about both from others. So I decided who not turn to you guys for help? Bear in mind that the current style of the game could fit with either logo.
5 Likes
Honestly, I feel the first one has much more character (helped by the nice background) so I prefer it as a result. It’s much more unique than the second one in my opinion, and much simpler: the new one looks confused to me and I feel the shadow is much too strong, although I’m sure the dark background on the DevForum dark theme doesn’t really help this.
My only real issue with the older one is it does scream Sonic to me. While I can’t see it getting you into trouble on copyright grounds (I am certainly not a legal expert however), it just depends on whether you mind your users associating it with sonic.
5 Likes
The first one has nice background, while the second logo is also a lot cleaner, I’d say use the old background on the new logo.
1 Like
- Old logo: Colours work well together, text is easy to read instantly recognisable as a sonic-inspired game, although maybe too much so.
I’m sure some of the complaints about the old logo are that its way too recognisable and risks you infringing copyright, which is definitely a possibility with that sonic head silhouette in the back. Change that to a sawblade silhouette or something like what’s below and hopefully that’s the minimum it’ll take to keep you away from a copyright fiasco (assuming you haven’t used any of their assets in the game or for promotion)
- New logo: Colours are alright but the white towards the top of boost makes both hard to read and look at. In addition, the hedgehog spines in the back will look like a shark fin or something that is not at all a hedgehog spine from far away or at a smaller size (i.e. roblox icon) so it will lead many to question its necessity.
I definitely prefer the first one, just change it a bit like I said and you’re fine.
1 Like
Depends, what will you use this “logo” exactly for? Both are appealing, and I like both. 
If you’re using it for a game icon, I’d say go with the first one as it builds the player’s impression of your game, and the mix of elements used there could draw players into your game. 
However, there are some advantages of the second one having the transparent background, as this can help itself blend with most situations, like let’s say in-game.
Imagine if you have a square logo hanging on your screen during gameplay, that would suck. But if you have a transparent background for the logo and you put it in-game, then it’s going to look just fine and cool.
The two logo above also somewhat varies by their style, with the first one looking more “oldish” and the second one looking more modern. You should decide which style you’re going to pick, or which one you should follow as you already made your game.
Some popular companies, let’s say, like Roblox, makes their logo come into different versions for different purposes. See the following for examples (don’t mind the fact that the background isn’t transparent because I copied it from clipboard, instead of saving to my computer and uploading it).
This is a Roblox logo, for the studio.
This is Roblox logo in general.
Here’s two other versions of Roblox logo, which is dark/neutral, so it can be placed onto a light background/image/anything that’s light.
So, you could make a version of the first one with transparent background and perhaps with others effects if you wish. That would look fantabulous and groovy, good luck! 
2 Likes
I prefer the original as like many have said, the background gives it more life. Also the first one is more eye-catchy . On the second one I feel the white is too bright and doesn’t have an appealing background. That’s just my opinion though.
1 Like
Well, I am using a lot of sound effects from the games, as well as some music. But as far as I know, SEGA doesn’t mind people using their assets, as long as the developers aren’t making (or attempting to make) profit off of it. I’m pretty sure I won’t be getting into any legal issues. Thanks for the feedback though, and if anything does occur, I’ll be using the sawblade you provided lol
1 Like
Welp, thanks for the heads up. I was mainly coming off of the fact that I have never once heard of SEGA striking any developer down with a DMCA claim for using their assets, despite the countless spring and character models that have been ripped and the numerous amount of sprites that have been ripped for use in 2D fan engines.
However, to stay out of trouble, I guess I might as well consult the guy who made the logo and request for the quills to be changed.
1 Like