Thursday: Another Outsider's Perspective - Early 1900s Pt. 2

What happens when you let a Pens fan/jersey nerd redeisgn their bedroom?

This!

I had this idea a while back and it finally came to fruition just a few days ago when we (my family and I) finished it up. I figured it would be cool to share since it was jersey related, just an idea for you guys if any of you'd like to use it.

Anyways, let's continue the Another Outsider's Perspective Series:

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Note: These logos are from the early to mid 1900s and were much simpler than modern logos, so she may have a lot less to say about these than she did for the more complex logos of the current NHL like a few weeks ago. They are also being reviewed a bit more based on current design standards, as opposed to accounting for the time period, to see maybe how they'd stand the test of time if they were never changed.

Detroit Cougars 1926-30
The blackletter typeface is an odd choice for this logo, but works because it matches the curvature of the shield around it. There isn’t much to say about this logo since it doesn’t really incorporate the ‘cougar’ aspect anywhere within it.

Pittsburgh Pirates 1929-30
For a logo of its time, it’s not as bad as the others in this era. The illustration of the pirate’s face is starting to show evidence of modern day graphics, where details are minimized or condensed as opposed to exaggerated by patterns. If I was to ameliorate the face, I would ensure that it is more vertically symmetrical (with the exception of the hat and bandana). If you look closely at some features, like the ears, loop earrings, and the outline of the beard, they do not match each other, and this can be adjusted. The typography is not too bad either.. one aspect that can be improved is kerning the letters a bit to ensure that each has enough space.

Philadelphia Quakers 1930-31
This logo possess some really endearing qualities of hand lettering. Every letter is different in curves, size, and each hole’s shape (known as the counter) is unique. One thing that confuses me is the approximate 45 degree angling and why it was implemented. I’ve actually gone in and changed the orientation of the word so that it would be perfectly horizontal just to see if it looks better, and it’s not bad at all.

St. Louis Eagles 1934-35
This logo is extremely busy: from the eagle on the bottom, to the typography. To start off, the eagle has way too many strokes on its body and shapes that could be taken out and hold no purpose to the animal. For example, the red ‘points’ on the eagle’s white feathers are not necessary and don’t add anything to the image. On the same topic of the head area, the eyes do not need to be black… it looks piercing and is the only instant where black appears in the entire logo. Also, there is a white shape in between the eagle’s legs that can be taken out and serves no purpose. Finally, the typography is extremely skewed, which can be seen in how the letters S, at the start and finish of the word, thins out.

Montreal Maroons 1935-38

The letter M in a maroon colour… creative. The letter itself looks extremely condensed, but that could just be my opinion.

New York Americans 1935-39

The most dominating aspect of this logo, the letter Y, appears to be thick only to fit between the letters R and I in Americans. This isn’t the only case where shapes appear to be manipulated only to fit between other forms. Another example of this is seen in the blue background and red stroke that surrounds the entire logo. The red stroke is not only different sizes around each edge, but is also angled for no apparent reasoning. Also, the six stars at the top of the logo do not interact with the logo and seem to be placed as an afterthought. This can be improved by incorporating it around the logo in another way, whether it be shrinking the stars to be placed around the blue shape, or any other idea.

Brooklyn Americans 1941-42
This logo contains the most simple compilation of shapes for a logo. A confusing aspect of this logo is the strange empty spacing in the centre, which doesn’t seem to be placed for anything. Also, the top right corner of the logo isn’t pointed like the rest of the corners, which should be fixed. Finally, some letters are and shouldn’t be manipulated from its original state, such as the letter C and S in the word Americans.

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First off, congrats to J3 for winning the HJC Open! It's a tough thing to do, just ask the other 30 of us who entered (including the round robin). Also a congrats to Brooks, it's just about as hard to make it to the final two too, you can't discredit that.

This week we're back to simplicity in the voting department, with the COTW vote and the 365 Club Comp. entries.

COTW July 22-28 vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)

365 Club entries (due Friday @ noon Eastern)

Speaking of the 365 Club Comp...

Brooks F.

Jimmy T.

JJ A.

Ryan C.

Noah B.

Vaughn R.

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Brooks F. - Chicoutimi Sagueneens

+The light blue promotion is a good move.

-Not a huge fan of the full length yoke though. Gives it a bit of a dated look like this.

+I like the striping on the alternate, it sure is unique. The logo used there is also better.

-It's understandable since it is their primary logo, but it's not great for the primary jersey logo. The elements in it are too small to see from a distance.

-I'm not really feeling that typeface on the home and aways too.

-I don't think light blue pants would work, and it throws off the color balance a bit. I appreciate stepping out of the box there though.

Overall: 7.5/10

Brooks F. - Drummondville Voltigeurs

+Definitely another out of the box, unique design, but it also fits with the Voltigeurs' current look.

-Just like the last one, it has a bit of a dated look.

+I do think the typeface works better here though.

+Good use of an alternate logo and color on the third jersey.

-The striping looks a bit busy on that one though, with 5 stripes in such a pattern.

Overall: 7.75/10

Lucas D. - Pittsburgh Penguins

(I'm just going to review these together since it's just SD,DC (the acronym I just made for Same design, different colors)

+Unless it's just me, this looks like a twist on their second jersey style. I think it works great for a fauxback.

-The black/gold jersey has a bit of a modern/vintage look, so I think the design would be best with a regular collar.

-The C path looks a bit out of position to me.

+I like the choice of recoloring the logo for the blue version,

-But I'd make the triangle white, or just keep it gold (for the golden triangle). When those two blues are used like that in the logo, they bleed together a bit from a distance and therefore don't contrast enough.

-I'd love to see a light blue yoke on the blue jersey to really bring the vintage look back.

Overall - Black/gold: 8.5/10

Overall - Blue: 8/10

Ryan C. - Edmonton Oilers

-I'm usually not a fan of a design-less hem. This is no exception. I think that's more of a personal preference though.

+I like the direction the logo is going.

-I think the wordmark inside is a bit too early 2000s looking for my liking though. The top of the outline from the oil drop would look better if it didn't stick out from the white stroke on the circle though.

+I do like the striping pattern.

+Good color balance.

-The shoulder patch could use a bit of a thicker white outline.

Overall: 8.0/10

Zeke G. - St. Louis Blues

+I like the return of red. I also like that you didn't make it too prominent. it works best that way.

+Nice and simple striping pattern

-The arm stripes should be the same thickness as the hem stripes.

-I think the white on the cuffs goes too high. It just looks awkward in that position. The other option in my opinion would be to continue it until the arm stripes.

-The St. Louis in the logo is pointless, it becomes illegible from a distance.

-The name outline looks too thick.

-This concept looks pretty rough and pixelated in general. I'm pretty sure the problem lies in the template, because I've tried the bitmap version of this template before I learned vector. I'd recommend either re-tracing the template, or just using a different one, unless you have another idea.

Overall: 7/10 

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And that's all for today's post. I hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all again next week.