Thursday: Flying Swiss Fish

Happy New Year, ladies and gentlemen!

As the kids go back to school, the teens pack for college, and the adults filter back to the office, we're just getting started here at HJC!

Our COTY Logo Competition has just kicked off so be sure to flex your design muscles on that end. Not only will your design compete for glory in our typical competition voting, but it will also be used on both the COTY itself and the plaque given to the artist behind its design. Its a big one folks, so get crackin'

As usual don't forget our regular concept of the week vote (to determine the last COTW for the 2017 calendar year).  

REMINDERS:

COTW Dec 22-28 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

COTY Logo entries (due Jan. 12 @ noon ET)

On to the Concepts!

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Burkus C.- Switzerland (2018 Olympics)

The Good: 

• Something Switzerland seems to have always struggled with is applying their white cross to the white uniform, the shield solved that problem pretty nicely here 
• Chest stripe and simple striping pattern pair really nicely with the shield

The Bad:

• Jersey has a bit of a Swiss-cross overload with the logo on both the chest and shoulders
• #OB looks good, but could probably benefit from a slightly thicker outline

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• As always, would really like to see equipment on this one.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

A solid look for the Swiss, yet nothing goundbreaking. 

Lucas D.- Washington Capitals

The Good: 

• Navy base? Check. Weagle front and center? Check. Unique striping pattern? Check. Lucas gives us everything we could ask for with this proposed alternate for the Caps.
• I've been playing around with Weagle-wing striping for my Caps entry in the NHL Refresh Series I started this Summer and you've managed to make it look much cleaner than I have in any of my attempts
• Love to see the socks emulating the arm stripes while simplifying the look for the horizontal application
• Recolored Weagle works surprisingly well and really pops off the blue base...

The Bad:

• ...Something's off in the head area though, the eye is really hard to register
• Simple hem looks good, but I'd beef the stripe to be about half as thick

Overall Rating: 9.0/10

As much as I hate the caps its hard not to love this look. Masterful work here by Lucas.

TC Moore.- Florida Marlins

The Good: 

• The Florida Marlins color pallete is much easier to work with than the Miami identity, so way to choose the right path there
• Number font fits the logo really well, and matching the away #OB to the F from the logo is a fantastic design choice
• Nice logo choice throughout the set
• I like how teal is brought to the forefront in each look

The Bad:

• What really sours this concept for me is the striping pattern. Although I know they're a conscious design choice, the inconsistent striping thicknesses between each set bother me a lot more than they should. For example, on the road sweater we have 2 different thicknesses of black stripes, two of teal, and two of grey, and what appears to be 3 different thicknesses overall. All in a look that already has 8 stripes. I appreciate the effort in going after a unique pattern, but this is just too much for my taste.
• Think I'd go with a black helmet on the alternate. Not sure that light of a teal would transfer to a helmet well. 

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• Sock stripes look a bit high again

Overall Rating: 6.0/10

A beautiful approach to the Marlins here by TC, but one with a striping pattern that can't and won't be ignored.

Lucas D. seems to have read my mind with his Washington Capitals concept this week, leading me to extend to him my first COTW Nomination of the New Year.

Got Questions? Send 'em our way by stuffing the HJC Mailbag.