Thursday: A New Champion
Hey everybody, welcome to a huge Thursday post. There's a ton of things I have to cover today, so let's get right to it!
First off, a huge congratulations to Christian L. for winning the 2014 COTY. It's a concept that looks COTY worthy through every little detail of it. While tons of artists try something, send it in, and move on to something new, Christian has been working on Quebec Nordiques concepts for a long time, using lots of different logos, templates, and designs. Truthfully, there were some misses in these other concepts, but there were also some concepts that could very well have made it as far as his final one. Still, the winning design by him is perfect, and if Quebec ever got another NHL team, it would be a shame if they looked past Christian's design for their team. So once again congratulations to Christian, as well as Dylan for his impressive runner-up concept, and to every weekly, monthly and quarterly winner that make the COTY such a quality award to win.
Next, I'm going to talk about voting. Do you like voting? You better, because there is a lot of voting to do this week.
The World Cup of Hockey Competition has reached the voting stage of the jersey phase. Pick the top 3 concepts for each team, it's that simple. You can even submit your vote via comment directly on the competition page.
After you're done that, there is not one, but TWO COTW votes going on this week, to make up for last week's COTY-only focus. Lot's of great concepts to vote for, but only two will move on to the monthly vote. Who's it going to be? That's for you to decide.
Now I'll talk about the personnel change here at HJC, and how you can get involved. As you know, Caz has left his Sunday position. I admired his honesty and attention to detail in his reviews, and he always had something interesting to share or discuss on the blog. I want to thank Caz for his work on the blog, and I definitely hope he comes back sometime in the future.
But for now, we're one writer short. Caden is taking over Sunday's post, so we're looking for a new Tuesday writer. That could be you! Yes, you! Do you like hockey, jerseys, design, blogging, ranting, or all of the above? Then you should check out the link at the top of the page, download the mock-post concepts, send us your best mock post and tell us why you should be our next writer. I can say from experience that it's a lot of fun and a really fulfilling experience to write on such an awesome blog, and hopefully our next writer will get to feel the same way too.
Alright I think that just about covers everything I need to say, so let's get to the reviews!
Team USA - Matt Mc.
Yay: First up is a stellar Team USA set from Matt. Similar in style to their Olympic jerseys, but with better colour balance, a better match between home and away, a much better font used on the numbers and names, and the gold from the logo becoming a nice secondary colour on the jersey. Like I said, similar to the Olympic jerseys, but a lot better.
Nay: The gold doesn't really contrast well against the white, which hurts the stripes on the Home jersey as well as the outlines on the Away numbers. One of the collars should trade blue for white to have a more consistent pattern. It doesn't really matter which collar, but personally I'd go with the Away one.
Overall: I thought the USA Olympic jerseys were good, but these are great! 8.3/10
North Bay Battalion - Ryan C.
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Yay: Next up is Ryan C's North Bay Battalion concept. As ugly as these colours are, only the Battalion could use them and look good in them. I really like the camo stripes, they're subtle enough to not look ridiculous but gives the jersey a true identity, in the way the old Carolina Hurricanes jerseys did with the flag designs.
Nay: The blacks sides are a dud. Leaving them the primary colour would work much better. The chest and back would look very plain, but hem stripes similar to the arm style would definitely fix that. The white doesn't really fit in with the logo on the uniform, and on the dark jersey you could probably use the vintage white/yellowish colour from the logo, but you'll run into the same problems as the Arizona Coyotes have with their jerseys.
Overall: I'm noticing a huge improvement from Ryan's concepts, keep it up! 7.5/10
Buffalo Sabres - Ryan H.
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Yay: HJC's Ryan decided to pull on my heartstrings for this concept. I've made it clear how much I love the goat-head Sabres jerseys, and this modernization is simply perfect in it's intent. It's actually a little toned down from it's predecessor, something not usually accomplished in modernization concepts, but this looks like it would fit perfectly into the Sabres' jersey timeline, then or now, and is effectively perfect for a Stadium Series game.
Nay: I feel like the hem stripes need to be thicker, or the arm stripes need to be thinner, to create a better balance with the colours on the jersey. Other than that, my only complaint is that this doesn't exist and I can't have one.
Overall: Seriously, I want this. 8.7/10
Boston vs Montreal (Winter Classic) - Steven G.
Yay: Next up is hands down my favourite 2016 WC concept I've seen so far. Both use classic logos that are obviously from their past but close enough to their current logos that they're easily recognizable by any fan. Boston's yellow jersey looks nice, and it's a shame they didn't use yellow more during their history. This is definitely believable and probably the best options for the Winter Classic.
Nay: I like that the Bruins' stripe pattern is original (as far as I know), but it reminds me a lot of the 80's Penguins jerseys. The name on Boston's jersey seems a touch too small. Montreal's jersey looks great, and historically accurate, but it's hard to give extra creativity points to something basically straight out of history.
Overall: Great concept, I'd definitely like to see these jerseys when the 2016 Winter Classic rolls around. 8.1/10
Team USA - Taylor R.
Yay: We end today with another American jersey for the World Cup. And when I say American, I mean REALLY American. It has stars, it has stripes, it has a bald eagle, what else can you ask for? Execution is really sharp, the colours are very well balanced, and I'd actually be pretty excited to see these jerseys in action.
Nay: My only problem is with the stripes. I understand having 13 red and white stripes is culturally significant, but the stripes are too small and squished together, which can get hard on the eyes. Making the stripes thicker would help, but then you're taking up too much space on the jersey. I'm not sure what the best fix for that would be, besides using less stripes.
Overall: As anti-American as I am, I'm willing to say that this is a great concept. 8.4/10
What a good day for concepts! Seriously, all 5 concepts today were really good, and only 1 or 2 small changes from being COTW worthy. But I can only nominate one, and that lucky concept is Ryan H's Buffalo Sabres concept!
Well I'm done my job, now it's time to do yours. Vote, vote, vote some more, and get your mock posts in to apply for our Tuesday writing position.
Thanks for reading, and have a good weekend!
First off, a huge congratulations to Christian L. for winning the 2014 COTY. It's a concept that looks COTY worthy through every little detail of it. While tons of artists try something, send it in, and move on to something new, Christian has been working on Quebec Nordiques concepts for a long time, using lots of different logos, templates, and designs. Truthfully, there were some misses in these other concepts, but there were also some concepts that could very well have made it as far as his final one. Still, the winning design by him is perfect, and if Quebec ever got another NHL team, it would be a shame if they looked past Christian's design for their team. So once again congratulations to Christian, as well as Dylan for his impressive runner-up concept, and to every weekly, monthly and quarterly winner that make the COTY such a quality award to win.
Next, I'm going to talk about voting. Do you like voting? You better, because there is a lot of voting to do this week.
The World Cup of Hockey Competition has reached the voting stage of the jersey phase. Pick the top 3 concepts for each team, it's that simple. You can even submit your vote via comment directly on the competition page.
After you're done that, there is not one, but TWO COTW votes going on this week, to make up for last week's COTY-only focus. Lot's of great concepts to vote for, but only two will move on to the monthly vote. Who's it going to be? That's for you to decide.
Now I'll talk about the personnel change here at HJC, and how you can get involved. As you know, Caz has left his Sunday position. I admired his honesty and attention to detail in his reviews, and he always had something interesting to share or discuss on the blog. I want to thank Caz for his work on the blog, and I definitely hope he comes back sometime in the future.
But for now, we're one writer short. Caden is taking over Sunday's post, so we're looking for a new Tuesday writer. That could be you! Yes, you! Do you like hockey, jerseys, design, blogging, ranting, or all of the above? Then you should check out the link at the top of the page, download the mock-post concepts, send us your best mock post and tell us why you should be our next writer. I can say from experience that it's a lot of fun and a really fulfilling experience to write on such an awesome blog, and hopefully our next writer will get to feel the same way too.
Alright I think that just about covers everything I need to say, so let's get to the reviews!
COTW Jan. 25 - 31 vote (ends Friday at 11:59 pm Eastern)
COTW Feb 1 - 7 vote (ends Friday at 11:59 pm Eastern)
World Cup Top 3 Teams vote (ends Friday at 11:59 Eastern)
Team USA - Matt Mc.
Yay: First up is a stellar Team USA set from Matt. Similar in style to their Olympic jerseys, but with better colour balance, a better match between home and away, a much better font used on the numbers and names, and the gold from the logo becoming a nice secondary colour on the jersey. Like I said, similar to the Olympic jerseys, but a lot better.
Nay: The gold doesn't really contrast well against the white, which hurts the stripes on the Home jersey as well as the outlines on the Away numbers. One of the collars should trade blue for white to have a more consistent pattern. It doesn't really matter which collar, but personally I'd go with the Away one.
Overall: I thought the USA Olympic jerseys were good, but these are great! 8.3/10
North Bay Battalion - Ryan C.
Yay: Next up is Ryan C's North Bay Battalion concept. As ugly as these colours are, only the Battalion could use them and look good in them. I really like the camo stripes, they're subtle enough to not look ridiculous but gives the jersey a true identity, in the way the old Carolina Hurricanes jerseys did with the flag designs.
Nay: The blacks sides are a dud. Leaving them the primary colour would work much better. The chest and back would look very plain, but hem stripes similar to the arm style would definitely fix that. The white doesn't really fit in with the logo on the uniform, and on the dark jersey you could probably use the vintage white/yellowish colour from the logo, but you'll run into the same problems as the Arizona Coyotes have with their jerseys.
Overall: I'm noticing a huge improvement from Ryan's concepts, keep it up! 7.5/10
Buffalo Sabres - Ryan H.
Yay: HJC's Ryan decided to pull on my heartstrings for this concept. I've made it clear how much I love the goat-head Sabres jerseys, and this modernization is simply perfect in it's intent. It's actually a little toned down from it's predecessor, something not usually accomplished in modernization concepts, but this looks like it would fit perfectly into the Sabres' jersey timeline, then or now, and is effectively perfect for a Stadium Series game.
Nay: I feel like the hem stripes need to be thicker, or the arm stripes need to be thinner, to create a better balance with the colours on the jersey. Other than that, my only complaint is that this doesn't exist and I can't have one.
Overall: Seriously, I want this. 8.7/10
Boston vs Montreal (Winter Classic) - Steven G.
Yay: Next up is hands down my favourite 2016 WC concept I've seen so far. Both use classic logos that are obviously from their past but close enough to their current logos that they're easily recognizable by any fan. Boston's yellow jersey looks nice, and it's a shame they didn't use yellow more during their history. This is definitely believable and probably the best options for the Winter Classic.
Nay: I like that the Bruins' stripe pattern is original (as far as I know), but it reminds me a lot of the 80's Penguins jerseys. The name on Boston's jersey seems a touch too small. Montreal's jersey looks great, and historically accurate, but it's hard to give extra creativity points to something basically straight out of history.
Overall: Great concept, I'd definitely like to see these jerseys when the 2016 Winter Classic rolls around. 8.1/10
Team USA - Taylor R.
Yay: We end today with another American jersey for the World Cup. And when I say American, I mean REALLY American. It has stars, it has stripes, it has a bald eagle, what else can you ask for? Execution is really sharp, the colours are very well balanced, and I'd actually be pretty excited to see these jerseys in action.
Nay: My only problem is with the stripes. I understand having 13 red and white stripes is culturally significant, but the stripes are too small and squished together, which can get hard on the eyes. Making the stripes thicker would help, but then you're taking up too much space on the jersey. I'm not sure what the best fix for that would be, besides using less stripes.
Overall: As anti-American as I am, I'm willing to say that this is a great concept. 8.4/10
What a good day for concepts! Seriously, all 5 concepts today were really good, and only 1 or 2 small changes from being COTW worthy. But I can only nominate one, and that lucky concept is Ryan H's Buffalo Sabres concept!
Well I'm done my job, now it's time to do yours. Vote, vote, vote some more, and get your mock posts in to apply for our Tuesday writing position.
Thanks for reading, and have a good weekend!
Thursday: A New Champion
Reviewed by Unknown
on
February 12, 2015
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
February 12, 2015
Rating:
4 comments:
Man, there are some elements on that Sabres one that wouldn't normally work for almost every other team. Something about it though intrigues me with the side panels. COTW for Ryan's Sabres Concept.
Third Ryan for COTW. It would be great for a stadium series game.
These stadium half and half jerseys look great but have one huge flaw. They'd be impossible to play actual hockey in. They make it very difficult to tell the difference between home and away.
Thank you, William.
Derek, I agree to an extent. I like that the designs push the boundaries of what is possible, but the practicality of the trend walks a very fine line.
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