Hockey/Sports - Pittsburgh Penguins

(SOUND ON)
I wanted to make a spot in celebration of the return of the Pittsburgh Penguins' "RoboPenguin" logo, which the team wore from the mid-90s to the mid-2000s. This is from an imaginary series, celebrating the team's greatest moments that happened while the logo was in use. The video combines Mario Lemieux's final goal before his brief retirement in 1997, followed by the celebration of his first goal after coming back in 2000. Made in After Effects. Music is "The National Anthem" by Radiohead, released around the same time Lemieux returned from retirement.

The logo is controversial - many in the fanbase believe that it's "too corporate," or looks like a pigeon. I love the logo, personally, but I think it has an attitude problem - specifically with the Penguin's eye. I made a slight tweak to the eye of the logo, to make the Penguin look forward (instead of at the viewer) with a bit of anger as he speeds past you.

A brief animation of the logo which emphasizes the trailing black and white lines. These lines have always conveyed speed to me, part of the team's core identity since the late 1980s. The background is a close-up of the classic logo stitching on the home jersey, mixed with the glass spires of PPG Place in Pittsburgh. Made in After Effects.