March 29, 2014

Eagle Logo

Normally I only make jersey concepts, but today I have a logo concept to share with you folks.

A long time ago I sketched an eagle logo on paper, scanned it into my computer, and then forgot about it.  A few weeks ago I found the file of the original sketch and decided to try to update it into something I could use on a concept.  I basically just traced over the original image using Paint.NET, and then updated a few things that needed updating.

Primary Logo:
Here's a larger view of the updated logo.  The colours are from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Secondary Logo:
I also tried to make a secondary logo.  It's supposed to be a mix of an eagle claw and the letter E, but I don't know how obvious the eagle claw is.

Wordmark:
After I made the secondary logo I just added a few letters to create a wordmark.

Jerseys:
Finally I put those logos to use on this jersey concept.  I didn't put much creativity into these jerseys (they're basically just recolours of the Stars' new jerseys), I just wanted to see how the logos looked on a jersey concept.

This was my first attempt at a logo concept, so I'd love any feedback that could help me improve.
Thanks for visiting!

March 18, 2014

Canucks 90's Third Jersey

I have new jersey in my jersey collection to share with you folks!
My parents got my this replica of the Canucks 1995-97 third jersey for my birthday.  I now have basically every Canucks third jersey or specialty jersey, but no home or road jerseys.  You can see this jersey, and all my other jerseys on the My Jersey Collection page.

Have a good day!

March 15, 2014

Canada and USA Guest Concepts

Team Canada, by Alan:
Olympics Version
World Champions Version
Alan sent along these concepts for Canada and USA, and he included two different versions for each country, one for the Olympics where corporate logos are banned and one for the World Championship that allows corporate logos.  I like the logos for both versions of this team Canada concept.  In the Olympic version I think the script combines with the maple leaf perfectly, and I also like subtly honouring the gold medals we've won, but I'd get rid of the Olympic rings.  The jerseys also look pretty good, you can't go wrong by using hem and sleeve stripes, but I think there's too much gold.  It kind of feels like these jerseys are bragging about the gold medals we've won, which doesn't seem like a very Canadian thing to do.  Also, I think I understand the reason why there is a box around the maple leaf in the sleeve stripes (I believe it's meant to be like the Canadian flag), but I don't think it looks very good.
Grade:  B

Team USA, by Alan:
Olympics Version
World Champions Version
Now moving on to the United States, and I love how the striping is kind of wavy like a flag in the wind.  Those stripes look great on the blue uniform when their coloured like the flag, but I don't like how the stripes are coloured on the white uniform.  The blue and red bleed into each other to create one dark stripe, I'd recommend separating the red from the blue.  I like the new logo for the Olympic version, but I think it's too big right now.  I'd also just use one shade of blue for the logo.  My favourite part of the concept probably is the shoulder logo, it's fairly simple but works for the United States so well.
Grade:  B

Thanks for visiting!

March 08, 2014

Goalie Mask Guest Concepts

Ryan Miller St. Louis Blues mask, by Ricky:
This is something new, I haven't had any goalie mask concepts on this blog before.  We start off with a mask for the new Blues number one goalie Ryan Miller.  I like the music notes, and the skyline with the gateway arch looks good too.  The only thing I don't like are the Olympic rings, I don't think it makes sense to have them on the mask, and I don't even know if it would be allowed.
Grade:  B

Jaroslav Halák Buffalo Sabres mask, by Ricky:
Ricky must have made this mask before the trade deadline, because Halák has already been traded again.  He was only a Sabre for five days, but if he stayed this would have been a good mask for him.  I like all the imagery on the mask, the right side (from the goalies perspective) honours the city name nicely, while the left side honours the franchise and the back honours Halák's country.  My favourite thing about this mask is the fact that it's yellow, it would really stand out.
Grade: B

Have a good day!

March 07, 2014

My Thoughts: Outdoor Jerseys

Speaking as a Canucks fan, this last week was a bit of a crazy week.  First of all I attended the Heritage Classic, then a few days later Luongo was traded, and the next day on trade deadline day the Canucks were rumoured to being making some big trades but ended up not doing much.  But for today's post I'm going to focus on the Heritage Classic, as well as all the other NHL outdoor games this year, as I'm reviewing the jerseys worn for those outdoor games.

Before I get to the jerseys I'll briefly talk about the experience of the Heritage Classic.  I went to the game with my dad, and while it was snowing at our house, it was raining in Vancouver which as you know meant the roof was closed at BC Place.  That was a bit disappointing, but I wasn't really expecting the roof to be open.  The result of the game was also disappointing, but the rest of the day was great.  Watching a hockey game with over 50,000 people is a really cool experience, we were doing the wave and chanting "WE WANT LUO!", it was a lot of fun.  We had decent seats about halfway up the lower bowl, and while the sight lines obviously aren't the best for hockey, BC Place has a giant big screen you could look at if the puck disappeared behind the boards.  Overall it was really fun, I'd recommend going to one of these games if you ever get the chance.

Heritage Classic:
(Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
Enough about the game though, what really matters are the jerseys.  If you've been reading this blog for a while (and you have a good memory) you might remember that this wasn't the first time I attended a Canucks game when they were wearing their Millionaire jerseys.  After that first game I said that the jerseys looked great, and my opinion hasn't changed since then.  The colours look so good, and I love how historically accurate the jerseys are.  It would have been easy to go with a lace-up collar and maroon pants, but the Canucks did the right thing by keeping it accurate.  Ottawa went in a different direction by not using a direct throwback, but I also think that was the right thing for them to do.  I don't think they would be allowed to use a full barber-pole jersey against the dark Millionaires jersey anyways.  What they ended up using still honoured history nicely, while creating something that people nowadays would like.  I heard a few complaints that it was hard to distinguish the two teams with them both using a lot of vintage white, personally I didn't have that problem when I was at the game but I noticed it later when I was watching highlights on TV.

Winter Classic:
(Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
Moving on to the other Classic game, which was much more classic weather wise than the Heritage Classic.  I've already briefly touched on my thoughts of these two jerseys back when I did a "fix it" concept for the Winter Classic, so I'll just quickly reiterate my thoughts here.  I'm a big fan of Toronto's jersey, there are just a few minor things I would have done differently to be more historically accurate (three sets of stripes on the socks, tan/brown pants and gloves, and no laces).  I wasn't really a fan of the Detroit's jersey, it was too much of a faux-back jersey, and it really didn't look like Red Wings to me.  I also wasn't a fan of the vintage white.  I did love that the game was colour vs colour (although I don't want colour vs colour to become a regular thing).

Stadium Series:
 (Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)
Lastly we get to the Stadium Series games, and the NHL went in another direction by going with modern jerseys for these games.  I think that's a good move, it keeps the two Classics more special.  I was a fan of the jerseys in general, including the chrome crests and funky numbers, but only as one-off jerseys.  I kind of thought of these jerseys like All-Star game jerseys, they're for a special event and you only see them once so you might as well try some new things.  Now we all know there was one team, the Devils, who didn't want to do anything new.  Part of me wishes they would have gone with modern jersey to fit in with the rest of the teams, but the other part of me likes how traditional they are with their jerseys.  In the end I like the Devils decision, they haven't had a new jersey since 1992, and I would hate to have seen that streak ended by the Stadium Series.

Now you know my thoughts on the NHL's outdoor game jerseys, feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments.  Thanks for visiting!