My NHL Redesign

[Patchez]

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[dgnmrwrw]

I agree with others who said that the logo with the state is a bit bland, it could use something. I would just say mess with it until you get something that will give it that pop.

I looked at doing something to it, like adding "rain" behind the TB and state or adding more highlights/outlines of white to brighten it up, but in the end it was becoming too detailed. I think as long as it remains only on the shoulder, it's ok as is. When I zoomed out from the shoulder with one of the more detailed/updated patches, it just became a big blob.

The waist stripe on the Lightning's home and away jerseys seems a little unnecessary. Since it is the same colour as the pants it just blends in and makes it look like their is no hem stripe at all. I think if you added one or two more stripes in the other colours it would fix this problem and make these already great uniforms even better.

You're probably correct on this point. When I repeated the striping pattern from the sleeves on the waist, the whole jersey became too busy and there was no room for the logo to "breathe." Of course, I thought about going with no striping at all on the waist, but when I've done that people always seem to complain. So I went with a simple midnight blue stripe. It's a major compromise, but I think I'll have to live with it.

So I think Tampa is finished. Next team (only 3 remain!) should be posted soon.

[dgnmrwrw]

#28: Toronto Maple Leafs

A slight modernization/mixing of eras for the primary logo. I like the look of the old school maple leaf (which the vast majority of people seem to prefer over the newer rectilinear maple leaf), but it seems a bit narrow to me and it has some odd places (such as the bottom, which almost looks too fat compared to the rest of the leaf). So I created a new leaf (based on an actual leaf) and rendered it in the older style, but with the newer custom typeface, which I think works really well for the Leafs. I'm sure many people will call for the return of the pre-'66 leaf, but I think this is a nice modernization.

The home and away uniforms couldn't be more straightforward. Classic Maple Leafs striping, with a blue yoke on the road jersey. Simple and clean.

The alternate, however, is a bit different. I definitely wanted a St. Pats-inspired uniform with a green jersey. But instead of going with the original uni with the brown pants and all that jazz, I wanted to give the St. Pats identity an update, and marry the green with the Maple Leafs' blue. So I have a green jersey with simple blue striping (based on a combination of different St. Pats styles) and a Celtic cross logo with an inscribed T and shamrock as the crest. Both the Celtic cross and (of course) the shamrock are traditionally associated with St. Patrick. On the shoulders there is a patch with a shamrock encircled by a Celtic pattern. I considered dropping the Celtic cross logo (because it's such a heavily loaded image of Christianity) and going with an updated text logo, but in the end I decided that the cross makes a better crest, and it's a perfectly legitimate reference to St. Patrick.

[Linus]

- The logo is ok, it isnt great but it isnt bad

- The jerseys are nice but you have to keep the classic Leaf socks

- Would have liked to see a shoulder logo on the home and away jerseys

- The alternate is a good attempt but a definite no, we arent the St. Pats, were the Leafs, anything St. Pats related should be on a retro night or a special event, not a full time alternate. Cant say I like the jersey design either. The logo is pretty cool though, just not for the Leafs

[DelayedPenalty]

I have to agree with Linus on all fronts, so I won't echo what he said. I do like the St. Pats inspired jersey, but I don't think it works for the Leafs, and especially not as a full time alternate.

[SenatorJake]

This is one of my favourite NHL redesign threads to come along in a long time. It sucks that it's almost done. Tragic even.

Would you be interested in continuing it with a couple of concepts based on defunct NHL teams? I think I speak for many here at the CCSLC when I say that we, the fans of your work, don't want to see this thread retired just yet.

In any case, tip of the hat on these bitchin' concepts.

[rvrdgsfn]

Man oh man, the Toronto concept is by far your best. Nicely done.

[Brendan]

The logo is perfect. I think the striping could be a little thicker, and the socks need more striping. Can't wait to see what you have in store for the Canucks.

[chestnutz]

- The alternate is a good attempt but a definite no, we arent the St. Pats, were the Leafs, anything St. Pats related should be on a retro night or a special event, not a full time alternate. Cant say I like the jersey design either. The logo is pretty cool though, just not for the Leafs

says the guy with a st pats logo as his avatar....

[Linus]

- The alternate is a good attempt but a definite no, we arent the St. Pats, were the Leafs, anything St. Pats related should be on a retro night or a special event, not a full time alternate. Cant say I like the jersey design either. The logo is pretty cool though, just not for the Leafs

says the guy with a st pats logo as his avatar....

Yea...and?

I like the logo, never have I said that the Leafs should have a full time alternate based on the St. Pats.

[The_Admiral]

I have qualms. The problem with your neo-retro leaf is that it takes what I feel are the worst of both worlds: an over-detailed repro-unfriendly leaf, plus the increasingly dated Kabel Bold lettering. I like the current simple leaf, and I can see the merits of the '67 leaf, which is different but also a simpler one-color shape. It's that damn Kabel, also used by MTV in the '80s, that makes the Leafs' current Ballard logo look like an artifact of bad '70s design. If you're going to use the more detailed leaf as a throwback to olden days, you really should use a simpler typeface that wouldn't be so anachronistic. I know their current typeface has really become part of the Leafs brand (remember when even the numbers were like this?), but that doesn't change the fact that it's kitschy and ugly and ought to be summarily dumped into Toronto's brimming dustbin of extinguished design trends, though you might have to step down on the Raptors' pinstripes, the Blue Jays' everything (and I like the soccer numbers!), and the Skydome to fit it all in.

As for the St. Pats third, I have to wonder if modern Toronto is too culturally pluralist in 2009 to embrace pagan/Catholic imagery on something that's supposed to unite everybody. Yes, I know the Boston Celtics exist, yes, I know they were the St. Patricks before, but it's too late in the game to spring this on everyone and fashion yourselves as an Irish Catholic hockey club again. While the Leafs have a continent-spanning fanbase much like Notre Dame, the overarching identification with the Leafs comes from being Canadian, not from being Catholic. Would Protestants and Jews, or anyone else who doesn't do the saint thing, be crazy about their team essentially playing dress-up as an Irish Catholic club team? Intrinsically, it's a good logo: you have the Celtic knot, the cross, a shamrock, and a T for Toronto. There's just not a place for it anymore. The brand is too strong to dilute. They have to be the blue and white Toronto Maple Leafs every single day.

[dgnmrwrw]

Not surprised that this team created some pretty hearty debate.

- The jerseys are nice but you have to keep the classic Leaf socks

- The alternate is a good attempt but a definite no, we arent the St. Pats, were the Leafs, anything St. Pats related should be on a retro night or a special event, not a full time alternate. Cant say I like the jersey design either. The logo is pretty cool though, just not for the Leafs

I'll look at the socks again, but I doubt I'll change them. The Leafs socks, while cool, have always bothered me because they clash so much with the simple striping that's featured everywhere throughout their identity. One of my stated goals of this entire project was to create/maintain consistency, which is why I changed the socks (much like the changes I made to the Habs). Of course, I encourage anyone who wants to give the Leafs different socks to make their concept and post it. But for my redesign to fit my tastes, consistency throughout the brand (whenever possible) is key.

This alternate could easily be a one-night-only special event (say, on or around St. Patrick's Day). As I stated at the beginning (and have repeated a few times), alternates should be alternates, which means they are worn VERY sparingly (4-6 times a year MAX), and they could easily be broken out only once a season. I imagine the Red Wings and Devils using the alternates I created for them just as rarely, because that's their style.

the admiral, I was interested to read your post. I think when it comes to the Leaf's primary logo, we are simply on opposite ends of the spectrum. To me the current logo is entrenched in overly simplified and overly geometric 70's-era design. And while I agree with you that the new typeface has become part of the Leafs' brand, I don't find it to be ugly. Rather, I think it's unique and identifiable while still being simple and legible. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on these points.

I do understand everything you said about the St. Pats identity, and I mentioned some of those concerns in my original post. But, as I mentioned above, this would be a very rare uniform. I don't think wearing the Maple Leafs unis for 81 games (plus playoffs, if that were to happen...) and wearing the St. Pats unis for one single game would really dilute the identity.

I'll continue to look at the Leafs. Keep the feedback coming.

[Corvus]

I can't really see using a logo with a cross on it as the primary logo, for the reasons you stated. Especially with TO being one of the world's most diverse cities. I think the alt might work better if the shoulder and chest logos were swapped.

[_RH_]

Pretty cool, but I noticed something about the logo. Most of the leaf comes to rounded "points", but two spots are much more triangular. Those two points are the ones circled in greed. I think what I've circled in green should look more like what I've circled in red.

[aci]

I like your Leafs set- it's a very classic look (the jerseys are very similar to their retro one from a few years ago), the new logo is a definite upgrade, and the matching stripes on the socks is a plus in my eyes.

I'm not sure how I feel about the St Pats jersey, though. Granted, the logo for it is quite good, but the blue and green are fairly similar colours and I don't think the jerseys would 'pop' much on the ice. They could definitely use some more white in them. That being said, there's no reason the Leafs can't be the St Pats for one game a season, especially if that game was in March.

[dgnmrwrw]

Leafs have been updated and finalized. No serious changes. I did fix a few of the points on the outlines of the primary logo that _RH_ brought up. Hopefully they appear a little more rounded at the tips.

I like your Leafs set- it's a very classic look (the jerseys are very similar to their retro one from a few years ago), the new logo is a definite upgrade, and the matching stripes on the socks is a plus in my eyes.

I'm not sure how I feel about the St Pats jersey, though. Granted, the logo for it is quite good, but the blue and green are fairly similar colours and I don't think the jerseys would 'pop' much on the ice. They could definitely use some more white in them. That being said, there's no reason the Leafs can't be the St Pats for one game a season, especially if that game was in March.

Glad someone agrees with me on these points. (Note: there were a few reasons I omitted white from the alternate's striping. I wanted lots of blue to try to bring the green uniform into the blue identity, I wanted to stay true to the old St. Pats' single-color striping, etc.) I really think that if the KC Royals can become the KC Monarchs or the NY Jets become the NY Titans once (or even a few times) a year, then the Leafs can do the same.

So Toronto's finished. Next-to-last team will be up shortly.

[dgnmrwrw]

#29: Vancouver Canucks

The way I see it, the Canucks have had 3.5 markedly distinct identities over the years: The original green and blue stick/rink days; the black, red, and yellow days; the navy, crimson, silver, and blue orca days; and the current orca meets blue and green faux retro days (which I'm counting as the .5 of an identity). That's a heck of a variety, and I don't think where they stand right now makes much sense. The orca logo clearly doesn't fit the rest of the package. The "VANCOUVER" over the logo looks odd. The alternate is WAY too similar to the regular home jersey. The stick/rink logo is sort of clever and worked fine in the 70's, but it's too bland to work as a crest today. And, in general, it seems like the Canucks wanted to force everything to be simple, just for the sake of being simple.

So I've gone in a very different direction for some of this concept, and it might offend some Canucks fans who like their current look. None of the primary crests used by the Canucks have ever properly represented the nickname. Johnny Canuck, however, does. So I've done an updated version of the Johnny Canuck/V logo and used it as the primary. I've also tweaked the blue and green. I like the blue/green/small amount of silver color scheme for the Canucks because there is some history behind it, it's unique to the NHL, and it seems to fit the Pacific Northwest well. I've also given them a basic, strong serif face.

For the home and away uniform, I've created a modern template with green piping and diagonal striping that forms Vs on the sleeves, side panels, and pants. The socks also have slanted striping that forms a V in the front.

For the alternate, I used an updated full-body Johnny Canuck on a green jersey. I wanted a more traditional striping on the alternate. I did several versions of this, but I chose the one I posted here because the side panels (which I'm sure many people won't like) line up with the blue interior stripe on the regular pants. I'm still on the fence about which version of the alternate to use.

[chickenfish13]

Great update on the Johnny Canuck, looks really good. Those jerseys are freaking awesome! I would buy one, and I'm a Calgary Flames fan!

[jchockey]

I'm torn about this concept. I understand that the Canucks identity is one of the hardest to figure out because they've never really had a good concept. I love how you incorporated the V's into the jersey, but I think as a whole the jersey looks odd. For the majority of the franchise's history, the design on the Canucks jerseys have been conservative, with solid stripes for the most part. I'm not too sure how I feel about this. It looks a little too streamlined for a team that is associated with a lumberjack. It could be just me, but I prefer the simple, even if it may be just for simplicity's sake or lack of creativity.

I'm not really feeling the silver on the alt. I think it works much better when using the default white. Great work on the full figured logo and I almost think it might be better as the primary and have the V Johnny as the alt. The striping on the pants for the alt also clashes with the jersey.

[zmspartans]

nice job of incorporating the johnny canuck v logo into a new, cleaner, sharper template.