Create an owl-inspired mark for an educational video game franchise

Tyto Online

Immersed Games is an early stage ed tech startup with an audacious vision of how games can be used to empower student learning. We are creating a video game as a platform for deep, empowering learning experiences.
http://immersedgames.com/

The logo here is actually for our main title, Tyto Online. This is a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) where students complete quests and engage in sandbox-like learning applications. Students play as Tyto Academy students who have been recruited to a new planet, Ovo, where they begin new lives helping the scientists after Earth has been devastated. Our target audience are middle and high school students. Be sure to realize that this group does not want to come across as kids, but rather young adults!

**Read the description below under "Other" before working on your design, as it contains essential information.**

I'd like to explore the following colors: Our main brand has used hex #40bdde for our primary color, but this mark in just black for an iconic mark is probably ideal right now, and then we can use it in several ways later from that solid mark.

Tyto is the genus of barn owl; chosen since owls often represent wisdom. The game’s name, Tyto Online, is based on the in-game foundation, Tyto Foundation, which was (according to our game lore), created in the year 2034 to be an internationally-sourced group of scientists, teachers, volunteers, inventors, and students who wish to advance the causes of science, technology, and education. The Foundation was able to create the very first extra-planetary base on the planet Ovo, which is now one of the primary settlements, as Earth has been devastated and people have been evacuating to the new planets.

We are looking for an abstract owl mark that will be paired with Tyto Online text to be the game’s logo, but can also be re-used in the game with Tyto Foundation and Tyto Academy in various ways to represent in-game brands.

Given the basis of the name on the barn owl genus, we’d like an abstract owl mark! It doesn’t need to be, and is probably best, if it does not look directly like an owl, but instead evokes owl imagery in some way. We are looking for an iconic mark that would work in black and white (see, for example, Legend of Zelda's mark http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images…DYB8cL.jpg ).

Here are some examples of abstract owl marks that I like the direction of (not owned by us), except they're a bit too aggressive/war like.
http://img00.deviantart.net/8303/i/…5ejb4z.jpg
http://pre15.deviantart.net/9c4f/th…5d9ysj.jpg



In terms of our brand, we’re still working on the positioning of the game to the kids (rather than the parents/educators, who are easier to target), but it should come across as something pretty epic and strong/bold. We’re pitching the idea that they are joining this game as a Tyto Academy student and Earth refugee that is rebuilding a new life in this sci-fi MMO on a new, alien planet!

(Note: attachments are of early concept art to get an idea of the in-game style.)