Wednesday: New Star Rising Review

Very happy Wednesday everyone! Let's get straight to the good stuff!

Yesterday, as I'm sure you all know, the Dallas Stars finally unveiled their long-awaited new identity. There has been a lot of hype around the design community about the new jerseys and possible logos and that multiplied after the logos leaked a week or so ago. So first let's take a look at the logos.

Logos from Sportslogos.net

First off, when the logos leaked the most obvious change in the identity was the swap from gold to silver, which most saw as a plus I believe. Plus, as mentioned at the unveiling, the team now "owns" their own green that no other team uses, and I like it. It really stands out as unique and how long have we been saying we wanted a primarily green team? 

As for the primary logo it's miles better than the Stars' logo they've been using for 20 years. There wasn't anything wrong with the logo but it was definitely starting to look dated. I love how the logo's shape resembles the star in their now former logo but is still different enough to be it's own thing and the integration of the D into the star is genius. If I had to rate the new "D" logo I'd give it a 9/10

The secondary logo is the one that I've seen with the most negative reactions simply because its a roundel logo. The roundel doesn't look bad to me but I agree it's kind of an easy logo to do which is why a lot of teams do it so the whole idea of being unique kind of goes out the window with this one. Rating for the roundel is a 7/10 simply due to the lack of originality and the fact the D-Star doesn't have an outline, but it still looks sharp.

The tertiary logo, which will be used on the pants, is the only logo of the three that did not get leaked. I love this logo, it has it's roots with the organization before as it resembles this logo but it looks so much better with this new identity. I personally think that this would make a better shoulder patch and secondary logo than the roundel and I will give this logo a 9/10 as well.

Now let's look at the jerseys

Dallas Stars Home Jersey

First and foremost I noticed the green which is perfect. The one thing we had been teased about over and over is that the team wanted to use more green. I also noticed it's not the shade of green we've been associating with the Stars for 20 years, its a new, bolder green that will set them apart visually from other teams. The striping is very similar to the Blackhawks red jersey minus a couple stripes on the hem. A lot of the negativity towards this jersey is the fact that it's almost a Blackhawks St. Patty's Day jersey with a different logo. Now I'm a Blackhawks fan and have to admit, the resemblance is there, but the fact that the hem striping is different and the St. Patty's Day Hawks' jersey is nothing more than merchandise I don't mind the resemblance. I like the pants striping as well but really wish that Texas logo was on the shoulders. Maybe its a change we'll see within a few years?

Rating: 8.5/10

Dallas Stars Away Jersey

The white jersey is also very sharp and it might look different, but also like the Blackhawks, despite different stripe colors it follows the same striping pattern but the hem isn't colored. This jersey somewhat resembles the Canadiens' away jersey to me but its still not a look that's overused so I'm a fan. The yoke is oddly shaped with how it's sort of squared off and not rounded off but it'll be one of those things that sets them apart from other teams. I would have liked to see the name be in the yoke like in the Hurricanes new white jersey, but who knows, maybe it didn't look so great here. 

Rating: 8.5/10

The one thing I'd like to see between both jerseys that would maybe shut up the people who are complaining about the lack of originality of the jerseys would be to add some silver as a trim. Maybe outline the current stripes in silver. 

Overall this new identity is a breath of fresh air for the Dallas Stars as their look had grown dated and boring since Reebok took over the league's jerseys all those years ago. The new color scheme is fantastic and the logos are great.

My expectations for the Stars was very low and they blew me out of the water with this one, as opposed to the Hurricanes who I actually had somewhat high expectations for, but their final product was underwhelming. Maybe that's why I love this new identity so much but either way, at least their jerseys don't suck now.

And I know a lot of you are probably going to disagree with the review I just gave, but that's the thing about design, it's all about personal taste and not everyone will agree, so bring on the debate!

For a great behind the scenes article about the jerseys plus a video of the unveiling click here to head to the Stars' website

Now back to our regularly scheduled Wednesday post.

COTW May 27-June 2 vote - (Ends Friday @ 11:59 pm EDT)

 Toronto Maple Leafs UNTOUCHABLES Entry phase - (ends Friday @ 11:59 pm EDT)  

Dallas Stars Concept - (Brian B.)

 Brian took a stab at what the Stars' rebrand might have looked like had they used the Torch Creative logos. I like this color scheme with those logos better than the original scheme Torch used. Definitely a classic look which is what the team wanted as these resemble old North Stars' jerseys. I'd like to see some contrast between the colors though, they're all very bright.

Rating: 8/10

Ottawa Senators Concept - (Matt M.)

Wow, love this look for the Sens. I'd like to see the gold used in their jerseys more. And I really like the contrasting cuff colors. Great logo choice. Take these jerseys as home and away and use the current heritage third as an alternate and it becomes one of the best sets in the league. Not sure I like the red pants though. I'd use black pants for the red jersey, thought the red pants with the white jersey might not look too bad.

Rating: 8.5/10   -   9 if it wasn't for those pants

Boston Bruins Winger Classic Jersey - (Mazzz27)

Mazzz suggests the Bruins go brown for another Winter Classic. The B's haven't had a primarily brown jersey since 1925 so this could be something the team looks at for another possible WC. I would like to see more yellow personally. Some TV numbers and a back view would be nice.

Rating: 7/10


Colorado Avalanche Concept - (Michael G.)

This is one of the most unique Avs' concepts I've come across. The color scheme is new but I don't know if I like it for an NHL team. The logo needs a professional touch and some cleaning up but I'm not sure if I'd like to see a diagonal wordmark and a logo behind it. Seems like it'd get very busy. The alternate is quite a departure from the primaries. It's a very Colorado-proud jersey and a nod to the old Colorado Rockies but it has no place in this set. It's way too different to be an alternate, but maybe it'd work as a one-off jersey or merchandise.

Rating: 5/10


Minnesota Wild Concept - (Michael L.)

We go from the most unique Avs concept to the most unique Wild concept I've ever seen. Michael refers to this new look as "Ice Blue" which I would say works if the team was located somewhere in Canada that would be frigid all the time or even Alaska. Not sure if it says Minnesota to me. The colors work surprisingly well for me. I'd stick with one alternate jersey but I'm not sure which one. I'd say the baby blue jersey as the grey logo gets lost in the grey jersey to me.

Rating: 8/10


Edmonton Oilers Third Jersey - (Mike S.)

Mike takes the Oilers new(old) color scheme, or one that resembles it as this is a navy blue instead of the bold blue they use now, and applies it to a jersey that resembles their original Edge jerseys. I've never had a problem with this template  so I rather like the layout of the jersey but there's a problem with the striping to me. The blue and orange seem to be fighting for attention. I'd ditch the orange in the striping and make it one thick blue stripe with white outlines.

Rating: 7/10


Florida Panthers Third Jersey - (Mike S.)

Mike gives the Panthers a white third jersey which is a bit out of the norm but I'm cool with it. The yoke somewhat resembles their original yoke which I like, while the striping is similar, though not exactly the same, as their current jerseys minus the arm length yoke. I like the amount of red but maybe the blue stripes could be a tiny bit thicker. I don't know, that's just me. Nice look.

Rating: 8/10


St. Louis Blues Third Jersey - (RosyJerseys)

I've always been a fan of wordmarks within a chest stripe since it's not done a whole lot. To better match the current jerseys, I'd like to see a second blue thrown in there with less white and a tad more yellow. There's too much white for me in this jersey. The sock is also very distracting. It doesn't match. I'd make it a blue base and match the arm striping. The name on the back is too big as its touching the number. Also, tv numbers. Put an ID on the image somewhere too!

Rating: 6.5/10


Portland Winterhawks (WHL) Concept - (Scott D.)

Scott gives the W-Hawks their own look that still resembles the Blackhawks. The primaries resemble the Blackhawks' jerseys from 1937 to 1955. I really like the look but prefer a black base for the dark jersey. The alternate resembles the Blackhawks 1926-1934 black and white look which is also a good nod. Overall good set but could be better.

Rating: 7.5/10

Saskatoon Blades Concept - (Scott D.)

Never really been a huge fan of this template. The only team that's ever pulled something like this off in my opinion is the Penguins. I'm a fan of the logo swap though. The alternate's striping is a bit busy for my taste though. I like the colors of the alt though.

Rating: 7/10


Detroit Red Wings Concept - (Stephen T.)

Stephen swaps the current Wings' font with the font on their upcoming Winter Classic jersey. He also makes the white jersey's sleeves white. bad move, I hate hate hate the Red Wings but I also respect the hell out of their jerseys and the red sleeves are not only good looking but make sense.... "Red Wings"
I'm ok with the font though.

Rating: 7.5/10


Texas Stars Concept - (Jets96)

We conclude today's very long post with two more of Jets' AHL series. Good call with the new crest as the real Texas Stars made that change with one of their jerseys. This set resembles Matt M.'s Sens' set from earlier in the post and the design looks good with these colors too. I don't like the wordmark on the pants though.

Rating 8/10

Toronto Marlies Concept - (Jets96)

I don't know what to say. Jet's gives the Marlies a set based on the 2009 NHL All Star jerseys. There's a reason those All Star jerseys were used for one year then put to rest. They are very gaudy and even with a better color scheme they're pretty gaudy. Maybe, just maybe, this could work for some other team, but for an AHL team, that's related to the Maple Leafs, they almost NEED to have something very traditional. Sorry Jets, this one doesn't work for me.

Rating: 6/10