Friday: Toying With Templates

Welcome to the Friday Post!

Weather is great, the off season is great...What's that, we have breaking news from Supreme Leader Ryan, we now go live to Ryan regarding the HJC Open....

************ EDIT BY RYAN ************

The HJC Open begins July 12 (tomorrow)!!!!!!

At least 10 people seem to think that the HJC Open has started and they have submitted an entry. Even though the big banner at the top of the page says it starts July 12. Their entries have been deleted and they will need to re-submit when the tournament actually begins.

I do not understand how so many people got confused. It's obviously my fault, as I did not communicate properly to everyone when the competition starts.

If you come back around 12:00 TONIGHT the tournament will begin and you can get all of the official rules.

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Let's talk about something you may have seen me mention a lot on my posts, colour balancing.

Back when I did my advice for new artists, I said that the best thing a new artist can do for making their concept better is listening to the writer's advice, especially when it comes to execution. Colour balancing, at the bare bones definition is how much of the primary colour on the dark jersey is used on the lighter jersey. It means making sure your set looks like a set, that one colour doesn't dominate over the others in the striping, numbers, logos etc.

Let's look at a real world example where a team doesn't balance their colours:

Photo from nhluniforms.com

Sure this is a nice set, but it has a very obvious problem, if you're me anyways. The orange cuffs and side curves are the exact same as the black jersey, which may be fine, but notice how the white jersey doesn't have much black outside of the yoke and numbers. Once the orange and black are swapped on the cuffs, socks and sides, the black is balanced across the jersey. 

Now, the jerseys still look good, maybe not great, but when the issue is fixed the jersey becomes fantastic, top 10 in the NHL. I'd love to hear your opinions on this issue. Does it matter to you? Is this a make and break for a concept?

Also, obviously, COTW voting and COTY June ends TONIGHT! Don't be a hoser, get you're vote in!

COTY-June vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW June30-July6 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

On to the concepts:

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New Jersey Devils Concept (By: Phil B.)

Like the Buff-a-slug jersey and other template based jerseys, it's interesting to see how templates look on different teams, such as in this case, where Monday Writer and normally Islanders Loving Phil B has put the rivals Devils in the Coyotes 3rd jersey template. Even though this is a copy of the 'Yotes jersey, I really dig how the template matches the Devils' logo. The curved arms highlight the logo's curves, and the side horns look like devil horns, somewhat. The yoke brings the concept down a little bit, I think not having it looks better, same thing with the Lowell Devil's logo. The red name on the back is hard to read and as much as I like non-white numbers on a black jersey, the name would stand out much better white. I really dig this jersey, but with a few changes, I'd put it straight in the "Alternates I'd Buy" category. (8/10)

Dallas Stars Concept (By Christian L.)

The Stars/Northstars have never officially introduced a yellow jersey, aside from a mediocre alternate from 2003 which was never worn, but Christian gives an idea for the future. The Stars don't wear yellow/gold anymore, but this muted shade of yellow is a nice change. The green however is to light for the muted colour, using a deeper green like, say, British Racing Green or Forest Green would help the gold pop and not make the concept look less bland. the striping is solid and simple, and everything is excellently executed, aside from the numbers, which are most likely a design choice, but the tv numbers are MASSIVE. (7.75/10)

Toronto Maple Leafs Concept (By: Joey F.)

For those who don't know, Joey is the HJC Facebook guy. He posts all the non-post link stuff and is now a part of the HJC team, so, welcome Joey!  This is another concept which toys around with a template on a team that doesn't west it, and once again, it looks good. The Leafs striping fits on almost any jersey, and having 3 striping like the socks looks good. Obviously, this is a simple jersey, which helps the jersey, but hurts it at the same time. The Maple Leaf patch is sorely missed, and stripes look grainy and are a little too low on the jersey, the upper arm is bared. Also, and maybe this is just the template, but with the white collar, the two little horn things look like the shirt collar sticking out of a player who's just been drafted's jersey (hope that made sense). Execution note: The inside of the jersey in the collar is the same colour as the jersey. (6.75/10)

Team Latvia Concepts (By: S2dio)

Sure, there have been jerseys that use a country's flag as striping, but what about using the country's outline?  It would never work with Canada, but for Latvia, it works. The striping is very simple, similar to the Leafs, in fact, the away jersey looks identical to the Leaf's away with a yoke (baring the logos). The lack of black gear is the biggest change from Latvia's current set, which the set might look better with. Still, solid execution, which we'd expect from S2dio. (8.5/10)

Pittsburgh Penguins Concepts (By: Mario A.)

The news of Pittsburgh's Black and Yellow alternate is causing waves across the concept world, and before we all reach for our wallets, Mario Gives us the most likely jersey we're to see next season, but which one will it be, the black or white jersey. The jerseys are Edgified 80's Pens jerseys, but this is Mario's best executed concept thus far, and I look forward to seeing more concepts of this ability coming from Mario, KEEP IT UP! Execution notes: The NOB is too high up and the numbers aren't centred. The logo on the front is slightly too small, same with the Captain's C. (6/10)

Dallas Stars Concept (By: Phil B.)

Our 2nd Stars concept of the day, Phil darkens the green and bronze, and isn't that Texas's logo? The logo is Texas's, but aside from that, it looks good. The emphasis on bronze I didn't like at first, but it's grown on me, though like Phil's first concept of the day, the jersey would look better without the yoke. Also, the black gear stands out too much since there's not enough black of the jersey. Green gear would look solid. (7.75/10)

Lahden Pelicans Concepts (By: Jake88)

Euromaster Jake88 puts one of Finland's most recognizable hockey teams, the Pelicans, in a North American style set. I love the Blade/Wing like yokes, they match with the bird name, as does the whole jersey. The colours are balanced well, and the striping is unique, but I can tell it's based on the Edge templates. My only gripe comes from the logo, I can't tell what it is? The old logo, while cartoonish, looked like a Pelican. It works as a helmet logo, but as a primary, I'd like to see this concept with the original logo. (9/10)

New Jersey Devils Concept (By: Jamie R.)

Our 2nd Devils black alternate concept of the day, Jamie crosses over the black with a slightly altered version of the Devils' original jerseys. It's cool to see the Devils logo outside of the circle, and it supports itself as it's own logo. the striping is a good cross of a vintage design and the original Devils striping, however, the amount of white doesn't match the logo, or even parts of the jersey, The white hem would match the arms and socks better if it cut off, and the yoke's white stripe is thicker than any of the other stripes on the jersey. It still looks decent, but the white numbers clash with the logo. I wouldn't switch the number though, I'd switch the logo from red to white. (6.5/10)

Team Germany Concepts (By: S2dio)

S2dio continues to redesign every team for the upcoming 2015 World Championships, next up, Germany. Seeing a white Germany away jersey, it's an idea that seems so simple and straight forward, but in reality, it looks very sleek and shows off the 3 colours of the German flag equally, without cutting any of them off, like a black of yellow jersey. The black jersey does look excellent as well, the white yoke does seem a little out of place, however, adding some white to the cuffs of the hem would fix that easily. Also, I would have gone with a black helmet over white, since the white helmet would stick out on the black jersey, though it is a European design choice that the white yoke makes passable. (9.25/10) COTW Nom. from Me.

Nashville Predators Concept (By: Christian L.)

Our final concept for the day puts the Preds back in the early 2000's, trying to make the logo from the  Mustard alternate, and yeah, this would have been a billion times better. The sharp sabre tooth yoke and claw marks on the side are creative, but not overwhelmingly minor league. The yellow numbers don't show up well on the jersey, white numbers would be more legible, and I still don't particularly love the 3D logo, the current Primary would work better, though that wasn't the point of the concept. (8.25/10)

That's the post folks, the last post prior to the HJC Open 2014. Get your entries ready, I can't stress this enough, check your concepts over a billions times, no a trillion times, make sure this is your best entry to anything ever! Have a great week and let's have a go at it!!!