Okay, so I decided to spend some time looking into Kyrie Irving’s logo the other day. It always looked pretty sharp, you know? That clean ‘K’ with the ‘I’ tucked inside. I figured, why not try and break it down, maybe even sketch it out myself.
Getting Started
First off, I just searched for the logo online. Pulled up a bunch of different versions – on shoes, on apparel, just the logo itself. I needed a clear view to really see how it worked. Spent a bit just staring at it, noticing the sharp angles and how the two letters fit together. It’s simple, but pretty clever how they made it flow.
Sketching it Out
I’m not a pro designer or anything, so I just grabbed a notebook and a pencil. Figured I’d start old school. My initial thought was to draw the main ‘K’ shape first. That seemed like the foundation. Getting the main vertical line and the two diagonal arms wasn’t too bad. But then came the tricky part.
- Trying to integrate the ‘I’ was tougher than I expected.
- It’s not just slapped in there; it forms part of the ‘K’ itself, using negative space.
- I messed up the proportions a few times. Sometimes the ‘I’ looked too fat, sometimes too thin.
- Getting the angles on the ‘K’s arms just right so the ‘I’ fit perfectly took a lot of erasing and redrawing.
Moving to Digital (Sort Of)
After getting a pencil sketch I kinda liked, I thought about making it cleaner. I don’t have fancy software like Illustrator mastered, so I just used a basic drawing app on my tablet. Nothing complicated. I imported a picture of my sketch and tried to trace over it using straight line tools and shape tools.
This definitely helped clean up the lines. It forced me to be more precise with the angles and the symmetry. I played around with the line thickness a bit too. It’s amazing how much difference that makes. I kept comparing it back to the official logo images I had saved.
The Final Look (For Me)
I tweaked things for maybe half an hour on the tablet. Adjusted the spacing here, sharpened a corner there. Finally got something that looked pretty recognizable. It wasn’t a perfect vector replica or anything, but for a quick personal project, I was pretty happy with how my version turned out.
What I Learned
It was actually a cool little exercise. It makes you appreciate the thought that goes into even seemingly simple logos. That balance, the way elements interact – it takes effort to get right. Mostly, it was just fun to try and recreate something you see all the time. Definitely gave me a better look at the details of Kyrie’s brand mark.
