Tuesday: Double Red and Black

Welcome back to HJC for the Tuesday post. The well is drying up here on the blog; we're down to a lonely pair of concepts in today's post. If you're looking for ideas for a concept, or even better, a series, I have a few suggestions:

- NHL Alternates: We all know alternate jerseys are coming back in the fall, but what will they look like? This has been my most recent series, and I took the approach of showing what I want to see. You could also take a guess at what Adidas will actually come up with, if you're looking for more of a challenge.

- Frozen Four: Smaller schools are usually the most competitive in NCAA college hockey, but this year, 3 Big Ten teams are in the Frozen Four. Do the schools need a do-over? Special jerseys to mark the event? Take a look at Minnesota Duluth, Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame and see what you think.

- NHL in Seattle: We've seen a few over the past few weeks, but there's certainly no consensus on what they'll even be called. This could be a great, creative opportunity to make your team name, and also for logo if you're feeling ambitious.

Also to get your creative juices flowing, we have a new competition! We took a hiatus to focus on The Season, but we're back on our regular, two-week competitions. This is a little more challenging than usual competitions, because you'll be working with an expansive color palate in atypical combos. Check and the rules, pick your color combination, pick your team, and get to work.

COTW March 16-22 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

Colour Swatch Competition entries (due Friday, April 6 @ noon ET)

Noah B.- Team Ontario

Speaking of creative series, Noah sends in his Team Ontario concept in his Canada series. I'm not sure what the basis for the color choice is here; the provincial flag is the Union Jack with a secondary symbol, which Noah has applied to the crest. The Union Jack of course is red and blue, so I probably would have preferred blue instead of black for this set. I do like that the green from the crest logo was taken out for black, and the leaves were left gold to stand out boldly. For the striping pattern, the single red stripe in a field of white plays off the crest logo really well, especially with the black accent stripes surrounding. The yoke also fits the crest nicely. I wish Noah would have left the same striping pattern on the white, because the white jersey loses the it, and the introduced one is a weaker theme.

Grade: B

T.C. M.- Chicago Blackhawks

Friday's writer has been the busiest artist as of late, today sharing a Blackhawks alt. The basic theme of this looks like a simplification of previous designs in Chicago history. I've noticed that a jersey mostly uncluttered by stripes is much, much better received by a contemporary audience, for kudos to TC for taking a tradition to the Adidas' aesthetic. The negative space created by the separated chest stripes creates a strong design element without being overpowering. The cuff and hem stripes fit the pattern well and give the jersey just enough to keep if from being stale, but without the red and white, however, the gloves do. A black outline around the numbers would help their legibility, especially around the bottom half. A more colorful version of the C logo would help this set, that way it would better fit the iconic primary logo, and the letter C itself is also getting lost in the black, as that shade of red is fairly dark.

Grade: B+

My COTW nomination goes to TC's Chicago Blackhawks. That's it for today. Yep, just two. Fire up your imaginations, and send in your best. We need 'em. Have fun, and keep your stick on the ice.