AI vs. human logo challenge: Center Ice Brewery

5 days ago

2 min read

I challenged myself to take an AI logo (that is operating in the wild), and, within 10 minutes, make a new logo. Sure, 10 minutes is still 9 minutes longer than AI, so I clearly have an advantage but I only have one reference point - my brain, not the entireity of the internet.

The AI Logo:

Aside from the clear balance issues that will make any designer twitch a little, the C of the circle being distressed, the graphic in the center that is difficult to make out without really looking into it, and, yes, the 100 things going on all at the same time, none of them really stand out. It's lost the basic most simple aspect of it, its the center ice, one of the most recognizable images and its the back drop instead of the key strategy.

It says the name twice, both in the top graphic and below, it seems a little redundant, I am not sure if that was a choice or decided after.

*this is not to shame anyone, just to highlight the difference between AI and a graphic designer.

AI logos cannot be trademarked; they were not made by anyone, so its a bit of a risk for a business owner to use a logo they cannot own.

The assignment:

With less than 10 minutes, design a logo, it must be able to be flexible, recognizable, memorable, and vectorizable (for merch and growth, of course).

10 Minutes. 1 reference: Center Ice.

Starting with one clear reference, I built the basis of the logo, unquestionable to any Canadian what it is, we know center ice, add two sticks or skates, and we can smell the beer.

My quick design: I look at this and know I could have done so many cool things with it, but in the spirit of challenging myself and to be honest with time, I added no bells and whistles. Once I timed out, I added the design to the graphics to imagine the new logo out in the wild.

It's also fortunate to be something that can clearly be vectorized, allowing it to scale easily without getting distorted or becoming pixelated.

I then ran all of the tests on it: how does it look small (for business cards) vs. in black and white, and yes, it can be a vector.