Sunday: These Are The Concepts You're Looking For

Hello everyone and welcome to another Sunday post.

Without getting into too much detail, watched Star Wars last night (awesome, go see it.), stayed up late talking about it, slept in with a whole post to write. The force may be strong in this one, but so is procrastination.

So the big bit of jersey news coming lately is that the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs will have new jerseys and logos next season. To be honest, I'm more excited for the Panthers redesign, it is definitely needed, and there is tons more room for creativity than with the Toronto redesign. With Toronto, if you change too much, the diehards will be upset, but change too little and the design will likely be weak.

What other NHL teams could use a full logo + jersey overhaul?

Anaheim? Not a chance.
Arizona? Going back to their previous jerseys would be an improvement, but no.
Boston? Nope.
Buffalo? Not yet, maybe in 5 years or so.
Calgary? I love the logo, but the jerseys could use fixing.
Carolina? Same as Calgary, redo the jerseys.
Chicago? A total overhaul would be awesome, but they're current historic look is still good.
Colorado? New jerseys for sure.
Columbus? No need for an overhaul yet.
Dallas? Their last overhaul went great, so wait a while for a new set.
Detroit? A new look might be nice, but no need to change their classic look.
Edmonton? Burying the past and reinventing the future might be a good idea for this struggling team.
Florida? I like their logo, but this upcoming overhaul is well-timed.
Los Angeles? Not a huge fan of this look, but it can stay for 5-10 years before changing.
Minnesota? Leave the logo, but the jerseys could use a major fix-up.
Montreal? Yeah, right.
Nashville? Like Dallas, they have a good new look and should use it for a while to see how it ages.
New Jersey? A total change-up is an intriguing idea for the Devils.
NY Islanders? Only if Edmonton refuses to ever change. If they have a new look, NY should not.
NY Rangers? Like Chicago, could be awesome, but there's no real need.
Ottawa? Couldn't hurt, their total look has never really reached its design potential.
Philadelphia? Nah.
Pittsburgh? Maybe if it involved their old yellow look, or going way back to double blue.
San Jose? I'd go back to their vintage look, but that's just me.
St. Louis? They're good for now.
Tampa Bay? Unless they plan on pretending to be Toronto forever, yes.
Toronto? Maybe, but it'll be super tricky to pull off.
Vancouver? They have a good thing going with blue/green, but an update to their look wouldn't hurt.
Washington? I'd say so. Their alternate handles the past, so let's have a new main set.
Winnipeg? Besides an alternate, this team needs to leave their design alone.

Do you guys agree or disagree with any of that? Let me know in the comments.

Alright then, time for concepts.

COTW Dec 13-19 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Prince George Cougars Top 5 vote (ends Friday @ 10:59pm Eastern)

 HJC Magazine - Emin Z.

So this is a concept of a concept blog's magazine? Awesome! My day job in the print industry sees me making and printing magazines all the time, and I've always thought a magazine for HJC would be a cool idea. The design of the cover is a little blocky, and should have the title banner on the top and the competition banner on the bottom like you have it, but have one big picture with headlines and subheadings of other features in the magazine. I can't really rate this in relation to other concepts on the page, but this is a really awesome idea for sure!


Dinamo Minsk - Artem S

Tones down the really unnecessary light blue from their current jerseys.
Keeps unique arm style that they use and look great in.
Using their true logo instead of a roundel is a good choice here.
Removes the goofy looking piping from their current set.

It looks great and is executed well, but besides the piping and recolouring there isn't really anything new that this concept brings.
You need to add ID to your concepts.

Overall: This is a good fix-up, but not much of a concept. 7/10



Lokomtiv Yaroslavl - Artem S.

I don't have much to go by so this is a tough one to review. Like the last one, there's nothing really wrong with the execution of the concept, but it has the exact same template as above, and as far as I could tell these jerseys are pretty much exactly what they've worn before. Also, there's no ID on the concept. I'll skip the rating for this one, but it does look nice.



 Sherbrooke Phoenix - Brooks F.

Their current jerseys are a little plain, these have a better design to them.
Yokes are unique and look good with this set.
Colours are well balanced.
Stripe and side panel designs look great.

For consistency sake, the pants should have 3 stripes.
The back number on the blue jersey could use a thicker blue outline. That number doesn't seem to stand out well.
Should have the QMJHL patch somewhere on the jersey.

Overall: I like their current set, but this is definitely an improvement. 8.4/10




 Chicago Blackhawks - Jake C.

The idea itself is cool. Using a burnt red and vintage white with an old logo would look great. They've done a black jersey similar in idea, but this fauxback would have better potential.

No ID
No Name or TV numbers on the back side.
Logo and back number are too big.
 "A" Patch is too small.
No hem stripes on the back.
Simple black stripes aren't really enough for a jersey like this.
Logo rough and pixelated.
Needless whitespace on the concept image.

Overall: This is a perfectly good start, but needs a ton of work and polish yet. 5.5/10




Ohio St. vs Michigan -  Matt G.

Similar jersey styles, with stripes and vintage logos, that stand out enough from each other to be great jerseys on their own.
Logos and traditional stripes work well together.
Equipment is well designed.
Definitely a believable set.

Stripes could be a little thicker.
Pants and gloves might look too modern for the classic feel the jerseys have.

Overall: All we need is an outdoor rink and this would nearly be a perfect visual match-up. 8.6/10




Sarnia Sting -  Tyler K.

They use to have some cool, bold jerseys, but besides their alternates they've really toned it down. This would be a good, simple yet bold redesign.
Colours are well balanced on all jerseys.
Alternate looks the best of the bunch. Nice throwback feel too it.

Socks are perfect for the alternate, but should match the arms on the main set. They just look terribly out of place.
The chest stripes on the main set might work better as hem stripes.
TV numbers on the white jersey should be a different colour.

Overall: A nice redesign. An improvement in theory, but needs a bit more work before its ready. 7.6/10



Columbus Blue Jackets - Zeke G.

Stripes give the set a more classic feel to it.
Vertical yoke stripes look cool with this type of set.
Colours are well balanced.

Stripes aren't all the same sizes or angles.
Logo and back number are too big.
Number font is awful. I don't know why Columbus uses it in the first place.
No need for the Captain patch to be on the left.

Overall: Not a bad design, but tons of execution fix-ups are necessary. 6.9/10



Carolina Hurricanes - Lucas D.

These are obviously the Carolina Panthers colours, but they wouldn't look bad as full time colours for the Hurricanes either.
Curved arm stripes are simple but look nice.
Nice addition of the warning flags. Less effect with different colours, but still looks cool.

Font is a little boring, and should have a thicker black outline.
The hem should have a white stripe on both sides of the "flags" design.
Arms needs something more to them. 

Overall: Cool idea, there's potential here. 7.6/10



My COTW nominee today is Matt G's Ohio St vs Michigan concept.

Don't forget to vote for your favourite Cougars Competition entry as well as for COTW. And let me know in the comments what NHL teams you think need a total overhaul to their look.

Thanks for reading, have a merry Christmas, and see you next week!