Wednesday: HJC Unboxed

Been saying it for awhile, but won't be saying it again for awhile

It’s Wednesday, my dudes.

It's also Boxing Day, my North-of-the-Border dudes.

Today, well tomorrow, marks the end of an era here at HJC. Long known for our daily concept posts, we head in a new direction starting this Friday. Well, starting tomorrow honestly, as Thursday's post is going to have its own flair as we prepare a Viking Funeral for the concept posts we've poured so much of ourselves into over the years.

I say all this as someone who's been writing for the blog for just over a year (Ben and I both joined on at the beginning of October 2017), so I can only imagine the dedication and vision that Ryan and Sean (Jets96) have for making the blog better. It has been such a distinct pleasure to bring you all news, hot opinions, and concept feedback over the past year. It has helped me grow as a designer and I hope it has had the same impact on at least a few of you. 

That being said, though the daily concept posts are going away, we certainly aren't. Like I said, Ryan and Sean (and the rest of us here at HJC) truly want the best for the site and we are extremely excited with the direction the blog is headed in the new year. We ask that you respect that vision and look forward to having your ride along in the journey. This year has been one of exploration for the site and we've found some avenues that really speak to us, so we're looking forward to bringing those to the forefront in 2019.

As we look forward, its also important to look back. Like I said, Ben and I joined on at the same time in 2017 and its been a pleasure working with him and the rest of our staff since. Just as we've made many realizations recently at HJC, Ben has come to the realization that life is taken him on a different path than HJC as he heads into 2019. Ben, with his architectural design background, has provided a fresh viewpoint on so many different concepts and topics here at HJC and I couldn't have asked for anyone better to have shared my jersey review infancy with.  As I said earlier in this post, its been a distinct pleasure Ben. Thank you for all you have given us at HJC and I only hope that we've given at least a fraction of that back to you. Keep your stick on the ice!

On to the concepts!

REMINDERS:

COTW December 14- 20 vote (ends Friday @ noon EST)

Jersey Nerds Podcast (new episode every Tuesday!)

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Sook - Chicago & Northwestern Railroad

With Adam's transit series all wrapped up, we head back to the rail lines with Sook's concept for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. While there's a lot you could say about this concept, you certainly can't fault him for lack of creativity. First, despite its strangeness, I actually like the striping pattern here. It's like if Atlanta wanted to be a couple notches more unique with their one-shoulder look. Simplifying it on the back was a good call too as it keeps from cluttering the numbers. With the jersey so unique, I think a solid green helmet would've been a better pair. The rest of the gear looks solid though. The last thing I'll touch on is logo choice. First, I would've recolored the shoulder logo to match the yellow and green scheme (also would've shrunk it a bit since its a bit large as is). The jersey also begs for a chest logo. I know you're inspiration is a train here, but you've got to have some kind of chest logo to convince me this is actually a hockey jersey.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

Certainly appreciate the creativity, but can't overlook the lack of the chest logo here. There are some things a hockey jersey simply cannot live without.

Vaughn R.- ECHL Winter Classic

If an ECHL Winter Classic seems weird to you, check out Monday and Tuesday's posts to get a look at what Vaughn's going for. Rather than keeping the Classic exclusive to the NHL, Vaughn extends it to the AHL and ECHL affiliates of the competing teams, leading to this match-up between the Atlanta Gladiators and Indy Fuel. We'll start at the top with Atlanta. As a team that doesn't use any white in either of their primary jerseys, its nice to see the Gladiators in a white sweater. That being said, though this is a very nice jersey, its a little to similar to the Newfoundland Growlers' (the ECHL's newest team) away jersey for me to see it as uniquely Atlanta Gladiators. The Fuel seemingly take some inspiration from the Hawks barberpole jerseys of old while altering the pattern to create something unique to Indy.I like the look overall, but can't get on board with the bottom black stripe not having a thing white one behind it to match the rest. Its also bothersome that the chest logo isn't quite centered on the chest striping. It's a bit too far to the top as it currently stands. That all being said, certainly a match-up I wouldn't mind seeing hit the ice in South Bend.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Love the idea, but each look needs a couple updates before they're battle ready.

That's all for today folks. 

Can't go without COTW Nomination on my last daily concepts post. She'll be headed Vauhn R's way for his ECHL Winter Classic Concept.

That's it for my weekly Wednesday posts here at HJC. We'll seee you tomorrow for the Final HJC Daily Concepts Post. Be sure to check it out, we've got something special in store for ya! 

JB Designs, signing off.