Orange Ducks for Halloween

Happy Halloween!  To celebrate the holiday I've applied a Halloween design to the blog for the day.  I also made an orange third jersey concept for the Ducks.

Anaheim Ducks:

This concept is a combination of different Ducks jerseys.  The striping is mostly from their 1993-2006 jerseys, but it has a slight curve to it which is inspired by their 2006-07 jerseys.  The logos and number fonts are from their current jerseys.

Have a good day!

Guest Concept Post #67

Video Game Concepts, by Jared:

Today we have four concepts by Jared, including these three video game concepts.  All three of these concepts suffer from the same problem, which is that there is no real striping, instead the panels of the templates were just coloured different colours (that is often called "paint bucket syndrome" or "click-and-fill syndrome").  Also there are no real logos, just wordmarks made up of generic fonts slapped across the jerseys.  That generic wordmark is made worse on the Mii Maker jersey by the fact that it barely contrasts from the background (same with the name and number), it needs to either be a different colour or have an outline around it.

New York Islanders, by Jared:

Jared also sent in this Islanders concept, which unfortunately also suffers from "paint bucket syndrome" and the use of generic wordmarks.  I'm also not a fan of the idea of a black and grey for the Islanders, but that issue is secondary to those other problems.  I've always thought it was lazy to just colour in the panels on a template, and I feel the same about just writing out the team name instead of using a logo.  All of these concepts look rushed, they look like they only took a couple minutes to create.  In my opinion, if Jared wants to improve his concepts he needs to put in much more effort to create actual striping patterns, and take the time to find real logos to use on the front of the jerseys.

Thanks for visiting!

Quad City Mallards

Quad City Mallards:

This is my entry into the Quad City Mallards jersey contest that is being held on HJC.  I decided to go with a green jersey with off-white stripes, to give the jersey a bit of a retro look.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

My Thoughts: Devils' Logo

Hello!  How are you today?  Me, I'm good, thanks for asking.  Enough chit-chat though, lets get to the rest of the post.  Today I'm going to talk about the New Jersey Devils' logo, which is one of my favourites in the NHL.

The Devils, who are named after a legendary creature called the Jersey Devil, were previously the Colorado Rockies before moving to New Jersey in 1982.  Their logo has been the same the whole time they have been in New Jersey, besides switching green to black in 1992.  The Devils have been quite successful with this logo, winning the Stanley Cup three times (1995, 2000, and 2003), and appearing in two other Stanley Cup finals (2001 and 2012).

Why is the Devils logo one of my favourite logos you ask?  Well, I like how it combines an N, a J, devil-horns, and a devil-tail (I've highlighted those parts of the logo in the above image).  With those elements the entire team name is symbolized in one logo, the N and J obviously represent the location part of their name, while the devil horns and tail represent their nickname.  Besides that, I like the overall look of the logo.  It's a simple yet effective symbol that easily fits in with the best logos in the NHL.  But there is one more reason I like the Devils logo...

And that reason has to do with the highlighted areas on the image directly above.  Whenever I look at the Devils logo, I also see the letter D and a hockey stick (I've isolated the alleged hockey stick in a separate image below).  Now I know what you thinking, those areas don't really look like a D or a hockey stick.  I'll admit both the D and hockey stick are far from the perfect shape, and I don't think either of them were intentional, but I still notice them when I look at the logo and that's part of the reason I like this logo so much.

Hockey Stick?

So what do you think of the Devils logo?  Do you see the D and hockey stick I was talking about, or do you think I'm completely crazy?  Feel free to let me know in the comment section below.

Have a good day!

Guest Concept Post #66

Columbus vs Buffalo (Stadium Series), by Scott:

Scott created this concept for a hypothetical Stadium Series match-up between the Blue Jackets and the Sabres, but instead of using modern jerseys he uses more of a classic look for both teams.  The Blue Jackets jersey features a simplified version of their original logo, and a striping pattern unlike anything they've worn before.  I think that striping pattern looks quite nice, and Scott's version of the logo looks way better than the original.  I do have one very minor complaint, which is that the pant stripe looks a bit too thin to me.  Now moving on to the Sabres concept which appears to be based off of their original white jersey, but with a few things changed up.  The biggest change is using the "Buffalo" script from their 40th anniversary jersey as the main logo.  Also the colours in the stripes are re-ordered (now going blue-yellow-white-yellow-blue), which is a great looking change in my opinion.  Overall this would be a superb looking game.

Thanks for visiting!

Orange You Glad I Said Oilers

Edmonton Oilers:

I'd love to see the Oilers in an orange third jersey, so I created this concept that is mostly based off of their original WHA jerseys.  Something I changed is the shoulder yoke, which is now slightly oil-drop shaped.  I've seen another concept that had a similar treatment for the yoke, but I couldn't find it again so I don't know who to credit for the idea.  Also changed, the hem stripe which is inspired by the Oilers' 2001-07 third jersey, and the collar which is inspired by their 1981-94 jerseys.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Guest Concept Post #65

Winnipeg Jets, by Leo:

The Jets begin their season tonight against the Coyotes (aka, the original Jets), so it's the perfect time to post this Jets concept by Leo.  The idea behind this concept is fairly simple, it's basically the original Jets' 1990-96 road jersey but with the current Jets' logo and colours.  I'm glad Leo used the current Jets' branding, as I feel the new Jets shouldn't use the original Jets' logos (after all that franchise still exists as the Arizona Coyotes).  Execution wise everything looks good, I can't find any mistakes.

Happy hockey season!

Guest Concept Post #64

Toronto Maple Leafs, by Jared:

We begin today's post with this Maple Leafs concept by Jared.  The jersey uses a good number of stripes, and has a large "T" as the main logo, which reminds me of the old Toronto Arenas jerseys.  The execution isn't great but it's a big improvement over Jared's previous concepts.  Using an existing font for the numbers and using the line tool for the striping looks much better than doing those elements free-hand.  Some execution errors remain though, the spacing between the lines are inconsistent and the lines are at inconsistent angles.  Also the lines either go over the edge of the template or don't reach the edge at all.  The only way to fix those issues is being extra patient and paying attention to every detail when making concepts.  Presentation wise, I like the fact that Jared put his name on the image, but I'm not a fan of the red background.  I think that background takes the focus away from the jersey too much.

St. Louis Blues, by Leo:

We also have two concepts from first time contributor Leo.  Here he makes a few minor changes to the Blues new jerseys, including swapping the yellow and white stripes on the hem and sleeves of the home jersey, swapping light blue and navy on the hem and sleeves of the road jersey, and adding pant stripes.  I think those changes are lateral moves, they don't really improve the jerseys in my opinion but they don't hurt them either.  Execution is good for the most part, except the back numbers are a bit too far apart and off center.

Chicago Blackhawks, by Leo:

Leo also sent in this Blackhawks Winter Classic concept, which is their original jersey (worn in 1926-27) adapted to the Reebok Edge template.  I'd love to see Chicago wear this jersey in the Winter Classic, I think it's a great idea to bring back the franchise's first jersey, and it would look great matched up against the Capitals Winter Classic jersey in my opinion.  Also, Leo did a very accurate job of recreating the jersey, the only differences are the necessary additions of the players name and TV numbers.  Hopefully we'll see more concepts from Leo in the future.

Have a good day!

Fixing the Bolts

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Last week I reviewed the Lightning's new third jersey, now I've created a concept to show what I'd do differently.  First of all I changed the collar-to-cuff striping into lightning bolts, which was inspired by these concepts by Brian Brideau.  I also changed the wordmark on the front from "BOLTS" to "TBL".  Then I brought back the Lightning's famous victory-stripes, and reduced the amount of blue on the pants and socks.

On an unrelated note, I've added a new feature to the sidebar on the right.  There are now tags for each guest concept artist, you can click on a name and see all the posts with concepts by that person.  I'm still testing this feature out, and might remove it if it doesn't work the way I want, but I'm hopeful it will work out.

Thanks for visiting!