Monday: Public Service Announcement

So the news is out. If you live under a rock and missed the news yesterday, you probably will miss it today too. If not, I am sad to announce that I will be leaving the writing team here at HJC to pursue an employment opportunity that I have been presented with. As such I also will not discuss said opportunity at the request of the employer. That said, I will still contribute concepts to the blog every now and then. I have some cool ones coming up as well as some IIHF redesigns, so stay tuned.

In other news, the Islanders released their logo for the final season at Nassau Coliseum.

(image courtesy of sportslogos.net)




Dare I say a bit too much blue? Yes I dare say that. This thing will be virtually invisible on the home jerseys, which is what their fans will (or apparently will not) see on the shoulders. The 40th Anniversary logo, for the sake of comparison, had much more white and a thick outline, so that it stood out on both jerseys. there better be a thick enough outline of white to see these. Personally, I would have made the outer ring white with blue lettering.

Ok, time for some HJC news. Here are your brief reminders:

COTW Aug 18-24 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

HJC Writer applications (due Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Grand Rapids Griffins Competition (ends August 31st)

 

Well done by Tom V. on the Tecumsehs concept to win COTW. Vote for this week's concepts, and let the karma carry over to your best pieces so you can eventually vote for yourself up there.

Did I mention I was leaving yet? Yes? OK just making sure. I NEED A REPLACEMENT! Help me by helping Ryan so you can help your concept skills and writing skills. Helping your sense of humor is not guaranteed, as proven by my tenure. 

I am fine tuning my entry into the Griffins Comp, as you should too if you have yet to send it in. Some good entries in there and some headscratchers (no offense to the artists who made said headscratchers), so make sure you make a good one and send it in by THIS SUNDAY!!!!!

Review time!

Buffalo Sabres Concept by Connor J:

This is a good idea, and not a bad start to bringing that idea to life. The front number fits well under the script there, similar to many baseball jerseys and some college hockey jerseys. I like the idea of the striping too. I have several problems with this, though. First of all, phantom yokes don't really work. I haven't really seen a good one ever. There are loose pixels around all of the 57s. The stripes do prevent this from paint bucket syndrome, and although the arm stripes are done relatively well, the chest stripes are quite low, and as such, bring the number on the back too low. I'm not feeling the font choice here either, or the purple background, as it takes away from the blue stripes. Lots to work with, but lots to work on.

Final Score: 43%


Washington Capitals Concept by Jake88:

Here's an idea that looks similar to something I tried: a chest stripe with the Capitals wordmark (a logo I personally despise) inside it. This is done MUCH better. The only complaints I have are how squished the logo looks between the stripes, and the inconsistency between the stars in the logo and the stars on the sleeve. Maybe the caps should either put a fourth star on the logo, or not have ANY stars since they have yet to win a championship, a la soccer teams. Mine scored an 8.5/10 from William B, our Thursday writer, so I will score this as....

Final Score: 89%


Tampa Bay Lightning Concept by James J:

When you have a two color system like Tampa Bay does, its hard to work a chest stripe into the jersey without outlining the logo, which James fails to do here, or without keeping the logo entirely in the stripe, like Detroit did for their first Winter Classic and for their alumni game against Leafs alumni at Comerica Park, also not the case here. The black seems pointless, as do the phantom yoke and the colored nameplate. Those numbers on the back are also massive. The biggest takeaway from this is that you should outline your logos.

Final Score: 53%


IFK Helsingfors (Champions League) Concept by Pajo94 (I'm grouping these two together as a home and road concept):

I like seeing international concepts here. But let me get two execution notes out of the way: On the road, the Reebok stitching should be one color, preferably red to match the name and numbers. Also I like the LFK crest in the collar inset, but get the NHL logo off the inside tag, it's not an NHL concept. Striping is clean on both jerseys, but I LOVE the pattern on the road, that being two thick stripes of different colors, then two thin stripes within them of opposite colors. The phantom yoke though needs to go, and the logo on the home red is rather boring when they have a nice shield logo to use. Maybe reserve that star for the shoulders.

Final Score: 78%


Colorado Avalanche Alternate Concept by TG:

We wrap it up with an unusual Avs concept. I don't think I've ever seen a black Avalanche concept that has been executed so well. The logo looks pretty good and the number font follows suit. My question however, is why a black jersey if there's no black in this logo? Blue or burgundy jersey I'd go for, bot not black. That yoke is so good though. Side note, it's weird not seeing Iginla in red yellow and black anymore. Yes I know he was traded a season and a half ago. It's still weird.

Final Score: 84%


The winner of my Concept of the Week nomination is Jake88 and his Washington Capitals Concept!

Well there's only one more week to go for me here. Stay tuned for my final post next week!