Ice Cap's NHL Concepts: San Jose Sharks

[IceCap]

6 hours ago, MCM0313 said:

Like the royal blue sweater there - I like that shade a lot better than the navy that they currently overemphasize. Was the royal blue supposed to be the primary? Your description makes it seem that way.

No, I kept the navy as the primary. The light royal blue is the alternate, but it's based off of the original Jets' 1972-73 primary.

 

6 hours ago, MCM0313 said:

Anyway, could you repost the original Stars and Wild designs? I never got to see them and they aren't showing up now. Did you delete them?

No problem Sorry about that, they were accidentally deleted when I was cleaning up my imgur.

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

 



 



 
 

 

[IceCap]

On 2017-04-30 at 0:54 AM, Walter Sobchak said:

I like the fixes you've made for the Jets. The pants stripes are a great addition, but I suggest using the ones from the heritage classic uniform. Just replace the throwback jet with the modern one between the stripes.

I really like that idea!

 

 

 

[IceCap]

The Calgary Flames

 

The Flames are a team with a general identity but no consistent look. They made it to two Cup Finals in the 80s wearing the red, gold, and white scheme they inherited from their time in Atlanta. They won one of those Finals, defeating the Canadiens and becoming the only non-Montreal based team to win the Cup in Montreal.

So you would think that would be their iconic look. That being said? They haven't worn it as a primary uniform in twenty-three years. They've been a red, black, and gold team since with many claiming that the black helped the two primary colours "pop." They haven't had the same success since adding black. Despite that they've actually worn the black for one season longer than they wore just the red and gold, counting the Atlanta years. My preference? I think the black works for them as an accent colour. And given its longevity? It's just as much a part of the Flames' scheme as red and gold.

The problem with the black was that it's been overused. A passable black alternate became the primary for a few seasons, and it supplanted white and gold to become a dominant secondary colour once the primary returned to being red. Black can work for the flames, but not in the way it's been used since 2000.

So I went back to the only Flames set that got the colour balance right, in my opinion. The "podium" set, used from 1995-2000. It was a victim of 90s over-design, but I've always felt the base was solid. So I kept most of the design intact, with an aim to ground it just enough to work as a contemporary uniform. The podium stripe has been removed, giving the design a standard waist stripe. I also ditched the italic number and name font, choosing to instead use something more traditional.

The alternate is based off of the black horsehead alternate. The biggest changes, aside from the primary logo, come in the form of the number/name fonts and the alternate logos. The original black Flames alternate had red Cs for some strange reason. I used the white C with consistent outlining.

The alternate logo is where I draw from the current Flames look. The horsehead was, to be frank, terrible. The CF/Mountain logo, on the other hand, was a great faux-retro mark. So I dropped the horse completely and used that in its place.

 

 

 

 

[IceCap]

The Vancouver Canucks

 

The Canucks are truly baffling. They jump from identity to identity, only to end up where they started. That's well enough, but then they keep the generally ill-regarded logo from the previous set in a lazy recolour, and load up on far too many alternates. The orca. The retro stick-in-rink. The new stick-in-rink. Johnny Canuck. Johnny Canuck V. The Vancouver Millionaires throwbacks. The recoloured Millionaires patch. Two versions of the VC monogram. Even when they settle on a colour scheme they still don't know how to commit to a look! So this concept was a bit like the Wild. A lot of identities to chose from, with a lot getting left on the cutting room floor in the name of narrowing it all down to a concise identity.

I used the 1970-72 look as the base. It's a short-lived sweater, but it's the best the team has ever had. In my opinion. The striping is bold, and the Vs on the sleeves are distinct enough without being overkill ala the later Flying Vs. I didn't go fully retro though. The name and number fonts and the logos all come from the current set. I took the logos from the alternate in particular, switching them around. The Johnny V is now the primary, with the updated stick-in-rink (you know, the one that actually looks like a C) as the alternate. Johnny Canuck should certainly be the focus of the Canucks' identity, but I have concerns about how the full-bodied version looks as a primary. The Johnny V may be a bit goofy, but it's overall an effective mascot/monogram fusion. Plus the V primary is a subtle tip of the cap to the Millionaires' old look.

Speaking of the Millionaires? I didn't want to lose that Millionaires patch completely. It just looks so good in blue and white! I did swap the silver out for green though. I dumped silver from everything, in fact. The silver outlines on the Johnny V and the stick-in-rink were replaced with white ones. I didn't want to just make the recoloured Millionaires logo the primary logo for the alternate though. That would run into the current set's problem. The alternate and primary home would look too close. So I thought about it. I liked the Millionaires patch as just that. A small patch. And you know what other uniform I really like? Switzerland's 2010 Olympics uniforms. So I set out to do something like that.

 

 

 

[IceCap]

The Washington Capitals

 

The Washington Capitals' current look was immediately lauded in the fallout of the Edgepocolypse around the latter half of the 2000s. It's easy to see why. Whatever you think of the Caps' original wordmark logo, the new one was a technically proficient update. The W/eagle alternate was clever and well-received, and the return to red, white, and blue was welcomed after the dreary 90s revamp lost even more colour with the promotion of the black alternate to primary status. Add in the fact that the Capitals' new Edge look didn't use a template like so much of the rest of the league at the time? It easily stood out as one of the best of the initial Edge offerings. 

Of course the limitations of Edge sweater design proved to not last long. Teams like New Jersey, Chicago, and Boston proved you could have straight stripes and hem stripes and cuts right out of the gate. Eventually most of the initial Edge designs fell away as teams figured it out it was remarkably easy to adapt traditional designs to the new cuts. New cuts that, as it turned out, would grow to resemble the previously used CCM/Koho cuts and materials. The tighter fits and sweat-resistant material proved very unpopular.

So the Capitals' current set hasn't changed all that much. The socks were altered, and a throwback alternate was added. Other than that though? Nothing much. The lower standards of the immediate post-Edge league have risen, and the Caps' uniforms aren't nearly as praised now as they were then. I wanted to create something for the Capitals that was in-line with the more traditional direction league aesthetics are heading in without resorting to a straight throwback or the faux-retro Winter Classic design.

First, I decided what I was keeping from all three sweaters in the current set. The W/eagle is good enough to stand as the primary, so that's what I used. I kept the current updated wordmark logo as the wordmark and alternate, and kept the idea of the stars on the sweater as a design element from the current throwback alternate. I didn't keep the old throwback wordmark logo though. It was just redundant with the updated version in its place. I also kept the current name/number font.

For striping I decided not to reference the throwback pattern too much. I didn't want to keep any of the late/mid 2000s Edge pattern though. So I looked to the flag of the District of Columbia as a reference. That allowed me to integrate the stars into the design in a more subtle manner than the throwback manages. I used the wordmark alternate on one shoulder, but opted to use the DC flag itself on the other. Mismatching shoulder patches is something I think can work, if limited to a team or two. The flag has become such a visible symbol for the residents of the District, and the uniform striping was based off of it. It made sense to include it.

The alternate is an homage to the 1995-2000 primary road uniform. I didn't keep the colour scheme, or the logos. Instead I opted to slant the wordmark logo so that it followed the diagonal waist stripe, much like how the original had the slanted eagle. I kept the W/eagle on the shoulders to homage the Capitol Dome alternate the 1995-2000 sweaters used.

 

 

 

 

[thecoffeecake]

I've said for years that the Caps need to update everything, including their logos that I think are terrible. I like what was done here with the stars and the throwback alternate design.

 

Really cool alternate Canucks concept. Not many different jersey designs in hockey these days.

 

I like the idea of Ottawa using their vintage as a primary, but I also like the senator they used before this one.  It'd be neat to see people play around with it.

[IceCap]

The Las Vegas Knights

 

This one's a bit different. I actually modified the team's name, twice. I changed "Vegas" to "Las Vegas," as I admit I'm biased towards proper names and all. This is reflected in the helmet wordmark. I usually don't highlight these, but this is such a minor change that isn't immediately obvious.

The second change comes in the form of dropping "Golden" from the nickname. It's just "Knights" now. We don't know what the uniforms for this team will look like, but I actually did try to keep the home and road striping within the realm of what we're probably going to get given hints dolled out here or there by team management. Once I laid it all out? It became obvious there's very little gold. So just "Knights" will do. It's a better name anyway.

So as far as the logos go. I dropped the team's primary entirely. It just looks too much like the Army Black Knights' logo. It's no secret that was the inspiration, but it's FAR too close for comfort. So I used the team's alternate, the Las Vegas star with crossed swords, as the primary. It's a strong enough mark to work in that capacity, I think. The star ties the identity to the locale in a way a Spartan helmet pretending to be a knight helmet never could. The crossed swords tie in with the "Knights" nickname. "Las Vegas Knights," all said without a single letter in one image.

As I said, the colours and striping were kept as close to what I expect the finished product to be as possible. The slate grey is the primary colour, with black and gold as secondary colours. The hint of red seems a bit random, but is keeping with what Bill Foley hinted would be the case with a single red stripe to make the look "pop." I took the idea and tried to make it as nice as I could. I took the golden Las Vegas stars from the wordmark and arranged them in a stripe down the pants, just for a bit more character.

The alternate is where I had a lot of fun. One of the names being thrown around was "Las Vegas Neon Knights," and I just thought that was coolest thing. So I used the concept for the alternate sweater. Only black from the primary scheme remains, and it's used as a base. Neon gold, orange, and blue are used for the stripes and highlights. It's a huge departure from the primary identity, but it's also brash and obnoxious. Like Vegas. It's probably not strong enough to work as a primary look, but as an alternate? I could see it being really popular.

 

 

 

[DTConcepts]

That is one crazy alternate.

 

I understand your reasoning for dropping their current logo, but the shield/star logo doesn't belong on the front of a jersey. It's a shoulder patch.

[MCM0313]

7 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

The Las Vegas Knights

 

This one's a bit different. I actually modified the team's name, twice. I changed "Vegas" to "Las Vegas," as I admit I'm biased towards proper names and all. This is reflected in the helmet wordmark. I usually don't highlight these, but this is such a minor change that isn't immediately obvious.

The second change comes in the form of dropping "Golden" from the nickname. It's just "Knights" now. We don't know what the uniforms for this team will look like, but I actually did try to keep the home and road striping within the realm of what we're probably going to get given hints dolled out here or there by team management. Once I laid it all out? It became obvious there's very little gold. So just "Knights" will do. It's a better name anyway.

So as far as the logos go. I dropped the team's primary entirely. It just looks too much like the Army Black Knights' logo. It's no secret that was the inspiration, but it's FAR too close for comfort. So I used the team's alternate, the Las Vegas star with crossed swords, as the primary. It's a strong enough mark to work in that capacity, I think. The star ties the identity to the locale in a way a Spartan helmet pretending to be a knight helmet never could. The crossed swords tie in with the "Knights" nickname. "Las Vegas Knights," all said without a single letter in one image.

As I said, the colours and striping were kept as close to what I expect the finished product to be as possible. The slate grey is the primary colour, with black and gold as secondary colours. The hint of red seems a bit random, but is keeping with what Bill Foley hinted would be the case with a single red stripe to make the look "pop." I took the idea and tried to make it as nice as I could. I took the golden Las Vegas stars from the wordmark and arranged them in a stripe down the pants, just for a bit more character.

The alternate is where I had a lot of fun. One of the names being thrown around was "Las Vegas Neon Knights," and I just thought that was coolest thing. So I used the concept for the alternate sweater. Only black from the primary scheme remains, and it's used as a base. Neon gold, orange, and blue are used for the stripes and highlights. It's a huge departure from the primary identity, but it's also brash and obnoxious. Like Vegas. It's probably not strong enough to work as a primary look, but as an alternate? I could see it being really popular.

 

 

 

That's not neon gold, that's neon yellow. I like the whole set though.

[wildwing64]

Really enjoying this series so far! But here are my thoughts on your most recent works.

 

Caps: Looks fantastic. I love the flag-inspired striping. It's simple creativity at its best and I don't know why the Caps haven't already thought of this. However, I don't think the flag needs to be a shoulder patch when this element has already been emphasised on the uniform. I also don't think the wordmark works well as a shoulder patch, it's one thing to have it as the chest logo, but on the shoulder it looks like it would be awkward and unreadable. Honestly, I think the main set is good enough to not need any shoulder patches.

 

Knights: Las Vegas Knights is such a better name that it's not even funny. I have to admit that I prefer the helmet logo, but I get why you changed the primary to the swords. The main set looks fine, though the striping could use some more red to liven it up. Otherwise you've done just as well as what can be done with such a drab colour scheme. As for the alternate, now that's where it's at! So wonderfully retro and vibrant and way more befitting of Las Vegas. I don't know if I'd prefer it as the main set, but I'm definitely feeling this one.

[IceCap]

On 2017-05-08 at 6:06 PM, Zeus89725 said:

I understand your reasoning for dropping their current logo, but the shield/star logo doesn't belong on the front of a jersey. It's a shoulder patch.

 

17 hours ago, wildwing64 said:

I have to admit that I prefer the helmet logo...

 

Here's the Knights with the helmet logo as the primary.

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, wildwing64 said:

However, I don't think the flag needs to be a shoulder patch when this element has already been emphasised on the uniform.

I replaced it with the wordmark logo. Of course that's not ideal, but I feel it can be justified by keeping the wordmark on the sweater in some form. Think of it as a legacy mark.

 

 

[ItDoesntMatter]

These are all really well done. I like the new updates, but I think the Knights alt looks better with the star on the front. I don't think the helmet translates well to neon.

[New York's Greatest]

My verdict on Las Vegas, Knights look better with helmet logo on the home and away, Alternate looks better with Las Vegas star logo.

[wildwing64]

And now that I've seen the helmet logo on there, I'm not sure if I prefer it or not

[Brass]

On 4/30/2017 at 1:31 PM, Ice_Cap said:

I really like that idea!

 

 

 

 

DAMNIT. This is nearly identical to the concept I'm working on for my redesign that I was going to post before the '17-'18 season kicks off; including the pants striping!

 

I still love you. Great concept. The third is beautious.

[IceCap]

On 2017-05-10 at 0:05 AM, ItDoesntMatter said:

These are all really well done. I like the new updates, but I think the Knights alt looks better with the star on the front. I don't think the helmet translates well to neon.

Yeah, that's where I'm at. The helmet really doesn't work with the neon scheme, regardless of how you try to do it. Live and learn though.

 

On 2017-05-09 at 6:52 AM, wildwing64 said:

Las Vegas Knights is such a better name that it's not even funny.

I really have no idea why that wasn't viable. The London Knights were apparently a stumbling block but then they said they hadn't even talked to their lawyers and weren't asking for money...so I have no idea. I guess Foley just really wanted [Insert Colour Here] Knights for his Army fetish? I donno. It's going to be such a confusing identity. I just tried to do something workable with the materials they presented

 

On 2017-05-10 at 2:06 PM, New York's Greatest said:

My verdict on Las Vegas, Knights look better with helmet logo on the home and away, Alternate looks better with Las Vegas star logo.

That's probably the best all-around solution.

 

On 2017-05-10 at 3:50 PM, Brass said:

DAMNIT. This is nearly identical to the concept I'm working on for my redesign that I was going to post before the '17-'18 season kicks off; including the pants striping!

Great minds and all

 

On 2017-05-10 at 3:50 PM, Brass said:

I still love you. Great concept. The third is beautious.

Thanks man I've missed doing these. This has been a blast. And I know my concept output slowed down until this thread, but rest assured...

 

[IceCap]

The Los Angeles Kings

 

The Kings, like the Canucks, Padres, and White Sox, have probably had more identities than they probably should have had. Thankfully they seem to have become more White Sox than Padres and Canucks, having finally settled on a scheme. And like the White Sox? It's black, silver, and white.

The Kings were a laughing stock for most of their early history. Lousy attendance and underwhelming on-ice performances regularly defined them. Then they got Gretzky. His first season with the team coincided with a switch from the Lakers-esque purple and gold to Raiders-esque black and silver. Gretzky never won the Cup with the Kings, but they did make the playoffs regularly under his tenure, including a trip to the Finals in 1993. Attendance was up, and the NHL credits Gretzky's stint in LA with helping spur on the Sunbelt expansion. So while Gretzky's tenure lacked a Cup championship? The Kings were never more relevant. The post-Gretzky years, defined by the black, purple, and silver medieval look, saw the team return to their roots in the basement. A goalie carousel and a few early playoff exists. Nothing really to write home about.

Then the Kings brought the black and silver look back. It wasn't a complete retread. The fonts and crown logo used in the previous set were retained, and the sweaters featured Reebok Edge-style piping. Still? The Kings won two Cups and solidified black and silver as their look.

For the concept...I like the general layout of the current Kings set. There were a few things I wanted to change though. The wonky curves of the initial Edge cuts they still use have been replaced by straight curves we now know the Edge system could implement the entire time. I also ditched the "medieval" font. It's a holdover from one of the team's least successful periods. And to be honest? I've just never liked how it looks.

The logos were interesting. The current primary isn't perfect, but I don't hate it as much as some people. I've never liked the crown though, and the LA in the "medieval" font has never done anything for me. So I returned to my favourite LA Kings crown logo, the logo used during the Gretzky years. I've always loved that crown. It hits the sweet spot between the overly ornate original crown and the overly modern current crown. So I stuck that in a solid silver shield, and moved the 90s Kings wordmark (a personal favourite) to the helmets. I did use one thing from the "medieval" look though, salvaging the hockey playing lion with sunglasses from the Kings' 2000s shield logo as the alternate.

I used silver/grey as the basis for the alternate sweater, as I think this past season really showed how well that can work. The sunglasses lion is kept as the alternate, and the pattern is generally based on the striping of the 2000s "medieval" look. The logo, however, is a niche favourite. The Kings' Burger King logo returns as the alternate's primary.

 

 

 

[New York's Greatest]

Love how the Kings came out my only suggestion is to make the Captain's "C" on the Alternate black in the inner most part of it to make it  more visible and to bring a little more contrast to the uniform

[MCM0313]

On 2017-05-14 at 1:18 AM, Ice_Cap said:

The Los Angeles Kings

 

The Kings, like the Canucks, Padres, and White Sox, have probably had more identities than they probably should have had. Thankfully they seem to have become more White Sox than Padres and Canucks, having finally settled on a scheme. And like the White Sox? It's black, silver, and white.

The Kings were a laughing stock for most of their early history. Lousy attendance and underwhelming on-ice performances regularly defined them. Then they got Gretzky. His first season with the team coincided with a switch from the Lakers-esque purple and gold to Raiders-esque black and silver. Gretzky never won the Cup with the Kings, but they did make the playoffs regularly under his tenure, including a trip to the Finals in 1993. Attendance was up, and the NHL credits Gretzky's stint in LA with helping spur on the Sunbelt expansion. So while Gretzky's tenure lacked a Cup championship? The Kings were never more relevant. The post-Gretzky years, defined by the black, purple, and silver medieval look, saw the team return to their roots in the basement. A goalie carousel and a few early playoff exists. Nothing really to write home about.

Then the Kings brought the black and silver look back. It wasn't a complete retread. The fonts and crown logo used in the previous set were retained, and the sweaters featured Reebok Edge-style piping. Still? The Kings won two Cups and solidified black and silver as their look.

For the concept...I like the general layout of the current Kings set. There were a few things I wanted to change though. The wonky curves of the initial Edge cuts they still use have been replaced by straight curves we now know the Edge system could implement the entire time. I also ditched the "medieval" font. It's a holdover from one of the team's least successful periods. And to be honest? I've just never liked how it looks.

The logos were interesting. The current primary isn't perfect, but I don't hate it as much as some people. I've never liked the crown though, and the LA in the "medieval" font has never done anything for me. So I returned to my favourite LA Kings crown logo, the logo used during the Gretzky years. I've always loved that crown. It hits the sweet spot between the overly ornate original crown and the overly modern current crown. So I stuck that in a solid silver shield, and moved the 90s Kings wordmark (a personal favourite) to the helmets. I did use one thing from the "medieval" look though, salvaging the hockey playing lion with sunglasses from the Kings' 2000s shield logo as the alternate.

I used silver/grey as the basis for the alternate sweater, as I think this past season really showed how well that can work. The sunglasses lion is kept as the alternate, and the pattern is generally based on the striping of the 2000s "medieval" look. The logo, however, is a niche favourite. The Kings' Burger King logo returns as the alternate's primary.

 

 

 

Pretty good for no purple!

[IceCap]

I wasn't happy with the Kings' alternate, so I redid it with the idea to modernise the 1980-1988 set.