Sunday: Red and White

Sun's out, gun's out; the Sunday post is Steveless. Ok, that was awful, I'll stop now.

Anyway, this is Tuesday writer Ben guest hosting the Sunday post. Big thanks to Steve for covering me last Tuesday, and to Jets for covering me the Tuesday before. It feels good to be back after a long hiatus.

With the St. Andrew's competition over, things have slowed down for now on the blog, so don't let the lone COTW vote slip your mind. Stop and vote now before moving on to today's concepts.


COTW April 20-26 vote (ends Friday @ noon EST)

Adam G.- Detroit Red Wings

Adam starts today with my team, the Red Wings. Nothing too ground-breaking here; it's a chest stripe the team has flirted with at outdoor games, on the same base as the current look. There's so many classic elements, it's hard to deny the design is solid. There's enough to tell Adam gave it his own creative touch, without trying to reinvent a traditional look. However, at the same time, it's not the most fitting design for the club's identity. The broad stripes are jumping out much more than the logo, which isn't what you want when the logo is as good as the winged wheel. The intricacy of the feathers and spokes of the wheel are getting lost, especially at the outlines of the logo. Moving to the back of the jersey, the arched nameplate isn't going well with the flat chest stripe; it's looking sandwiched between the numbers and the yoke. Chest stripes often present the designer a challenge in how to handle the hem; here, I'm glad Adam included something to prevent it from being too bland, and pairing it with the pant's stripe thickness prevents it from standing out awkwardly.

Grade: C+

Burkus Circus- St. Andrew's College

Burkus sends in his St. Andrew's competition entries. There's something about the thin-thick-thin stripe pattern I've always found attractive; weaving it in on a traditional template, and pairing it with a yoke and stripes sets this jersey up tremendously. The logos were handled well, with the primary roundel on the crest, and the shields make great shoulder patches on the yokes. I would favor the Option 1 set, since the serif font goes better with the traditional template. With an even balance of color on the jerseys, adding a splash of white on the pants would better fit the theme. For the alternate on the Option 1, much of my comments from Adam's Red Wings above apply here, except the shield logo look great on a chest stripe. The Option 2 alternate is a bit out there, but it's close to working. The stripes aren't quite thick enough to work as striping. I can see Burkus wants to have thin stripes from the negative space of the striping pattern of the primary, but they look too much like stitching that was accidentally left visible, rather than purposefully put there. The soccer-style logo on the front looks surprisingly well, and with the leaf on the opposite side, it vaguely looks like the Big Dipper constellation, and creates an interesting asymmetric balance.

Grade: B

Zack R.- St. Andrew's College

The last concept of the day comes from Zack's St. Andrew's submission. The design is similar between the arm and hem, but omitting just one of the thinner stripes is such a small difference, it doesn't make much sense why they're are not the same. Also on the stripes, the color balance isn't sitting well with me. The grey is blending in to both the white and red and doesn't stand out like it wants to. The alternate doesn't have the problem to the same extent, because with the grey yoke and shoulders, it's quite apparent. What I do like about the stripes is how well they compliment the logo. The thinner stripes are roughly the same width as the X shaped element within the roundel, which is a good way to make a coherent design. The same goes for the stripes on the alternate as compared to the font thickness. My last observation on the alternate is the script below the logo is way too small to be legible. I would be best left omitted.

Grade: C-

My COTW nomination goes to Burkus's St. Andrew's College. That'll do it for today. I'll (hopefully) see you Tuesday, not including another unforeseen calamity like tax returns. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.