Sunday: Time for Some Teasers

Hey gang, welcome to another Sunday post.

So each of the NHL playoff series' have played two games so far, and I have learned two things so far: 1) It's not crazy to think that any playoff team can win the cup this year, and 2) Backup goalies will save your life. I'm really excited to see how intense the VAN-CGY and MTL-OTT series' are getting. That is what playoff hockey should be like.

Here on HJC, we're entering the judging stage for our Pairs Competition. We didn't get nearly as many entries as expected, which is sad to see, but is also a testament to the groups that did get their work in. This competition format is really tough, and it takes skills not only to put out good work, but to do so as a team. So good luck to everyone who got their entries in.

Today we have the Teaser videos/photos to showcase, then we will have one presentation per day, then voting. The link to the Teaser page is here:

 http://hjcdesignblog.blogspot.ca/2015/04/pairs-comp-2015-teasers.html

This week for COTW we have a head-to-head battle between two NCAA schools, Alaska Anchorage (by Ben S.) vs Notre Dame (by John E.). Get your votes in and see which school and artist reigns supreme.

COTW vote April 12-18 (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Alright let's get to some concepts!

Guelph Gryphons - Adam R.

Yay: To start things off, we get some Canadian university action here with Adam's Guelph Gryphons concept. To the best of my knowledge, their current jerseys look similar to the modern Calgary Flames look. Meh. This set is a nice old-school set, with really good colour balance and variety, especially with the well designed "Thirsty Penguin Game" jersey, although I have no idea what that means.

Nay: The "C" patches are really inconsistent in size, there are no TV numbers, and you can see checkerboards on some of the jerseys, which is a sign of some transparency issues. Design-wise, the Away and TPG jerseys are perfect, but I'd switch the Home and Alternate, but keeping the stripe patterns as is. So have a black home with their main logo, using the Away stripes, and have a red Alternate with the wordmark and a hem pattern similar to what you have on the current Alternate.

Overall: Execution issues prevent this from being a great concept, but it's still a good one at least. 7.7/10



Winnipeg Jets vs Edmonton Oilers -  Christian C.

Yay: Next up is a Stadium Series match between Winnipeg and Edmonton. I really like the styles you went for here. Winnipeg's jersey looks sharp, with a traditional style but modernized with the font and shoulder pattern. Edmonton's is a really nice design that flaunts both of the team's colours, and throwing away the Oilers history book by being recklessly modern, and I love it.

Nay: Winnipeg's jersey is extremely similar to the New York Rangers Stadium Series jersey. This one has a hem, and a logo instead of text, and a little more on the shoulders, but I don't think it's enough considering Winnipeg has a lot more colours and designs at their disposal. Edmonton's design is perfect, but the numbers are too skinny and need more of an outline, and having a white name on orange isn't the easiest thing to read.

Overall: It has some flaws, and the Winnipeg one could be a little more original, but I'm digging the Oilers jersey. 8/10



Winnipeg Jets - Jack D.

Yay: Hartford? Is that you? Jack's Winnipeg design does one thing really well: including grey as a key part of the jersey. Grey is a cool colour when used correctly, as shown by the Hartford Whalers' final jersey. The style between their jersey and this design is nearly identical, and while it loses a point or two on originality, you can't tell me that this isn't one of the best looking Jets concepts you've seen. Try it. See? You just can't.

Nay: Again, it loses a point or two because as awesome as this is, Hartford did it first. The light blue doesn't contrast well with the dark blue, so using it as an outline isn't working very well. The outlines themselves are too thick. It would be better to use the Jets' wordmark logo on one of the shoulders, instead of this logo on both.

Overall: 1) The last Whalers jersey is probably my favourite jersey of all time. 2) Though not my favourite team, I have a big soft spot for the Jets. 3) Double blue is the key to my design heart. Those 3 things might make me really biased here, but I can't help it. I really love this concept. 8.7/10



Florida State Seminoles - John E.

Yay: Next up is John's Florida St. concept. As I mentioned last time I covered the Florida St., they aren't exactly a hockey school. But that doesn't stop them from having cool jerseys, and this would fit that category. This jersey has lots of character and identity, and the colours are really well balanced. This would make for an awesome Third jersey.

Nay: The "C" patch needs to be a bit bolder and a bit lower. I don't like how thin the hem stripe is, and how much "white space" it creates on the bottom of the jersey, since the top is so busy. I think the logo on the arms makes the jersey just a little too busy.

Overall:  This set is everything an awesome 3rd jersey should be, but possibly a little too ambitious. Either way, it's great! 8.4/10



Edmonton Flyers -  Paul N.

History Lesson: For our last concept, lets go way back to the Edmonton Flyers, a team that existed from 1940-1963. During their years in the WHL (not the junior league we know today), they were the affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, and all-time greats such as Johnny Bucyk, Glenn Hall and Al Arbour played for them.

Yay: As far as I can tell, the Flyers wore yellow and blue. Here, Paul gives the Flyers the Oilers colours. But he makes it different from other Oilers jerseys by making orange the primary colour, and it looks great. The classic stripe style really suits the jersey well.

Nay: The stripes are inconsistently sized, or the blue stripes aren't positioned correctly inside the white ones. Either way, it looks really messy. This jersey is meant to be a classic, but it's not exactly a memorable one.

Overall: Kind of bland, and has some issues. But it's cool to see some old teams getting fresh designs. 7/10



My totally, completely, 100% non-biased COTW nomination goes to Jack D's Winnipeg Jets concept.

So make sure you get your COTW votes in, nominate the concepts you liked on today's post, and head over to the HJC Design Blog (or click the big link above) to check out the Pairs Competition teasers.

Thanks for reading and see you next week!