It’s that time again! In follow up to our conceptual artwork for Utah Yeti and Utah Blizzard, we’re now introducing our AI generated concept for Utah Venom!
This one was actually a lot of fun with the AI art generators. I feel like some pretty unique concepts came out of it, but this is the one I was most intrigued by.
I’m going to yet again repeat my caveats from the previous posts. First, no one here is a professional graphic designer. Don’t expect something polished and perfect.
Second, these were created using free tools online, such as Microsoft AI Image Generator. No one sat down and meticulously sketched these out and edited to that end. These were just the best we got from the AI.
What We Like
I know the sky blue is rumored to be the permanent color scheme, and I don’t mind it one bit, but look at how beautiful this concept is! The copper, brown, cream and charcoal color scheme is a really good fit for this. It’s totally unique to the NHL as well.
Now before you ask, let’s get the snake part out of the way. I recognize that Utah Venom could apply to any number of venomous things in Utah, like scorpions, bees, or spiders. I was very partial to Utah Swarm and was tempted to do a bee theme on this actually.
Along those lines, I put the snake in a hexagon (a tribute to the “Beehive State”) and think it looks pretty good too:
Circle or hexagon both work for me to be honest. But I do like sticking with the snake theme for venom.
There are no other teams in the NHL that use the snake theme. In professional sports, the Arizona Diamondbacks went with the snake mascot and are alone in using it. So I like going with the snake, but truth be told, scorpions, spiders, or bees are all fine with me too.
Now the font used in this concept is actually pretty decent. It definitely needs to be polished to be ready for the big time, but the word VENOM looks especially cool.
What We Don’t Like
I think that in spite of my best efforts to generate something minimalist, basic, and simple, the AI just can’t figure that out. To me this is a bit busy. I’m not sure how well it would look in smaller sizes as an icon.
I also think the font, while it’s great for Venom, looks bad for Utah, which I know sounds weird. I don’t know what it is, I just don’t like it for the word Utah.
That’s all the fault I can find with it though. I really like this one.
Color Variations
When I changed the hue to get these, I didn’t hate any of them. Obviously the copper color is my preference for this concept, but these others all look pretty decent themselves.
Our Verdict
Utah Venom would be a great name, and I think they can build a great identity around it. We would not be disappointed if this is the name and brand they choose.