OHL Redesign (14/20; Flint uniforms added June 13)

[jwinters]

On 3/8/2021 at 12:27 PM, jbird669 said:

I'm really like the Sarnia Unis!

Thank you! I usually stick to more traditional templates, but I'm pretty happy with the way that set turned out.

 

NORTH BAY BATTALION

I've never liked the Battalion's identity, going back to their days in Brampton. When they moved to North Bay, I wish they would have reclaimed the Centennials name and leveraged the railroad theme. However, renaming teams is outside the scope of this project, so I've tried to make the best of it. My primary logo is a simplified, more serious version of the team's current logo. The alternate is a callback to the original Centennials logo but Battalion-themed, with tank treads instead of locomotive wheels. The sleeves of the current jerseys are a total mess, so I consolidated the stripes and chevrons into one coherent element of the design.

 

Let me know what you think!

[Guest darkpiranha]

The Sting logo and especially the uniforms are fantastic.  Sweet as, uh, honey.

[FCMacbeth]

7 hours ago, jwinters said:

 

Let me know what you think!

I like the new secondary logo here, where it blends in the current branding with the past. Not so much with the new primary logo, though. He looks creepy instead of badass, and I want it to be back to the drawing board. As for the jerseys, with the exception of the third jersey, the main set isn't my favourite compared with what North Bay currently wears. The chevrons on the current set's sleeves feel like what an average army uniform look like. It's not the worst, but your redesign disappoints me. At least the third jersey is impressive to look at, especially (like I said) the secondary logo.

 

Also, if possible, can you make a camo version for them?

[Karnage84]

On 3/7/2021 at 4:41 PM, jwinters said:

I'm glad you like it!

 

I know I said I didn't know what to do with North Bay, but I've been playing around with it and I think it will be my next team. Until I have that done, here are logo and uniform updates for Sarnia. Putting the hive inside an 'S' worked even better than I thought. The updated primary logo removes all the outlines, which were bothering me, though as a result it doesn't really work on a yellow background. To make up for that, I've made the home jersey purple and the alternate yellow. The alternate follows a similar format as my Hamilton alternate, with a yellow base and no white, but where the Hamilton alternate referenced the 1920s Tigers, this alternate is based on the Sting's original 1994 uniform.

I really like this set for Sarnia. Really sharp look. The hive in S logo looks awesome. 

[jwinters]

22 hours ago, Friedrich Stuart Macbeth said:

I like the new secondary logo here, where it blends in the current branding with the past. Not so much with the new primary logo, though. He looks creepy instead of badass, and I want it to be back to the drawing board. As for the jerseys, with the exception of the third jersey, the main set isn't my favourite compared with what North Bay currently wears. The chevrons on the current set's sleeves feel like what an average army uniform look like. It's not the worst, but your redesign disappoints me. At least the third jersey is impressive to look at, especially (like I said) the secondary logo.

 

Also, if possible, can you make a camo version for them?

 

I'm glad you like the Centennials tribute! Honestly, I had a hard time coming up with a suitable primary logo and that's why I ended up with a simplified version of the current one. It was in part inspired by the Kitchener Rangers' alternate logo. I considered a tank logo instead, but that was more bellicose than I wanted. If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it!

 

I'm not at all familiar with military aesthetics, so I can't speak to the similarity of the current set to the uniforms of the Canadian army or any other military force. Perhaps the design looks good on a combat uniform, but I think it looks bad on a hockey uniform. I wanted to maintain the air of a military uniform, with earth tones and chevrons, but make it look more like a hockey uniform.

 

I usually don't like camouflage sports uniforms but this is one case where it might work, even if only for a warm-up jersey. I'll have to think about that. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

15 hours ago, Karnage84 said:

I really like this set for Sarnia. Really sharp look. The hive in S logo looks awesome. 

 

Thank you, I really appreciate that! The Sarnia concept seems to be one of the more popular ones from this series.

[Karnage84]

On 3/15/2021 at 9:07 AM, Karnage84 said:

I really like this set for Sarnia. Really sharp look. The hive in S logo looks awesome. 

When I take another look at it, I am curious how it might look with the following changes:

- Using the yellow as your base (incorporate sublimated honeycomb in the purple)

- White arm and hem stripe (in between the thinner purple stripes)

- Bee logo with white outline

- White outline around the purple numbers

 

The purple/athletic gold look is a really unique and surprisingly really good combo. I'm curious to see if it's almost being wasted as a secondary jersey and could look really good as a primary. 

[jwinters]

On 3/16/2021 at 9:33 AM, Karnage84 said:

When I take another look at it, I am curious how it might look with the following changes:

- Using the yellow as your base (incorporate sublimated honeycomb in the purple)

- White arm and hem stripe (in between the thinner purple stripes)

- Bee logo with white outline

- White outline around the purple numbers

 

The purple/athletic gold look is a really unique and surprisingly really good combo. I'm curious to see if it's almost being wasted as a secondary jersey and could look really good as a primary. 

 

Thanks for the idea! Here are a couple different approaches to a yellow home jersey:

I don't think the white outline suits this logo very well, but it looks strange without any yellow too. I'm also not a fan of sublimating the honeycomb in purple instead of yellow. I'm glad I tried it, but I think I'm going to keep what I had before. If it's any consolation, I would expect the yellow alternate to be worn fairly frequently.

 

I finished my logos for London today, so my plan is to post them with uniforms tomorrow.

[jwinters]

LONDON KNIGHTS

I hate London as a team, but I've got to admit their green/black/gold, much like the Dallas Stars used to use, is a great combination. They just tend to use it poorly, over a wide variety of templates over the years. Now they have a North Stars-esque look, which isn't bad on its own, but I don't think it matches London's identity. I'm using darker shades of green and gold, along with a new knight's helmet logo. They've gone back and forth several times between an older, simpler version and a newer, more robotic version. I think the latter has a better shape but the former has better details, so I compromised. The secondary logo is a combined 'LK' monogram in calligraphic style and the alternate logo is the tree from the flag of London inside a familiar shield. The home and away are pretty straightforward, the alternate uniform uses the split black and green look of the shield, and then I also made a Color Rush-inspired alternate in just green and white.

[jwinters]

I meant to mention this above: London has worn at least two different jerseys with the team name written diagonally across the chest. I can't understand why they would crib something so closely related to their division rival Kitchener Rangers. I wouldn't expect the New Jersey Devils or New York Islanders to wear something like that, just as I wouldn't expect the Red Sox to start wearing pinstripes now. It's lazy and defeats any kind of team identity.

[vtgco]

I really like the halved Knights jersey; it's a really unique idea that works really well with these colors! Only thing is that the sleeve stripes are a bit too thick.

The green and white jersey is nice but a bit out of place in a set that already goes a few directions.

The tree logo might be better with a white outline to match the other logos.

 

Like others have said, the main Sarnia update with the S-hive logo is awesome. I think I prefer the set with the unoutlined bee on the purple jersey, rather than the newest version.

 

The Battalion looks good, and I love the tank logo. I always appreciate a classy era combination! The face logo is fine, but something about the rounded, flat hat is a tad off from the Picasso-style angular face; still an upgrade from the real thing. I'd maybe go green helmet at home.

 

Your latest version of Oshawa is really nice. I like the crown logo and the shoulder striping, and both work well with the most recent color scheme.

Personally feel like Sudbury worked better in green for the trees, and the blue nickel kinda threw me off. The new logo is definitely the best version yet, though, so it'd be fair if you just wanted to call it a day on the Wolves.

 

More good work, and sorry to take so long between responses.

[Guest darkpiranha]

Is that LK logo something that already existed or did you create it?  I love it either way.  It should at least grace one of the third jerseys as the primary.

[Karnage84]

On 3/21/2021 at 12:53 AM, jwinters said:

 

Thanks for the idea! Here are a couple different approaches to a yellow home jersey:

I don't think the white outline suits this logo very well, but it looks strange without any yellow too. I'm also not a fan of sublimating the honeycomb in purple instead of yellow. I'm glad I tried it, but I think I'm going to keep what I had before. If it's any consolation, I would expect the yellow alternate to be worn fairly frequently.

 

I finished my logos for London today, so my plan is to post them with uniforms tomorrow.

Personally, I think you hit it out of the park with the first yellow jersey. It looks really sharp IMO. 

[IceCap]

20 hours ago, jwinters said:

I meant to mention this above: London has worn at least two different jerseys with the team name written diagonally across the chest. I can't understand why they would crib something so closely related to their division rival Kitchener Rangers. I wouldn't expect the New Jersey Devils or New York Islanders to wear something like that, just as I wouldn't expect the Red Sox to start wearing pinstripes now. It's lazy and defeats any kind of team identity.

Because the Knights suck, and they know it

Anyway I wanted to say I love this series. Seeing your work on our hometown Rangers has been a delight!

[jwinters]

17 hours ago, vtgco said:

I really like the halved Knights jersey; it's a really unique idea that works really well with these colors! Only thing is that the sleeve stripes are a bit too thick.

The green and white jersey is nice but a bit out of place in a set that already goes a few directions.

The tree logo might be better with a white outline to match the other logos.

 

Like others have said, the main Sarnia update with the S-hive logo is awesome. I think I prefer the set with the unoutlined bee on the purple jersey, rather than the newest version.

 

The Battalion looks good, and I love the tank logo. I always appreciate a classy era combination! The face logo is fine, but something about the rounded, flat hat is a tad off from the Picasso-style angular face; still an upgrade from the real thing. I'd maybe go green helmet at home.

 

Your latest version of Oshawa is really nice. I like the crown logo and the shoulder striping, and both work well with the most recent color scheme.

Personally feel like Sudbury worked better in green for the trees, and the blue nickel kinda threw me off. The new logo is definitely the best version yet, though, so it'd be fair if you just wanted to call it a day on the Wolves.

 

More good work, and sorry to take so long between responses.

 

Don't worry about not commenting right away, I really appreciate the feedback whenever it comes!

 

I'm glad you like the jersey halved down the centre! I figured it might be a polarizing design, but I had fun with it. You're right about the sleeve stripes though, I updated them to match the socks:

 

 

You're right that the green and white uniform doesn't really work with the set; maybe I was subconsciously channelling the St. Pats uniforms the Leafs wore last week. Right now the tree-in-shield is only on the alternate uniforms, so I left out white to match the third jersey. If it ended up on another uniform, I would plan to add a white outline.

 

I agree with you on Sarnia; the outline on the bee doesn't work for me, so I'm keeping purple as the primary.

 

There is a bit of a mis-match in the Battalion logo, I'll revisit that and figure out how to either round out the face or make the hat more angular. The green helmet is a good call though, here it is:

 

 

My biggest motivation for keeping Sudbury in blue is to distinguish them from the Everett Silvertips (I am planning to redesign the WHL eventually too). Here's the home uniform with shades of blue swapped for shades of green, though, and I think it does look good. It could work as a St. Patrick's Day uniform at the very least:

 

 

The blue nickel on the alternate is not ideal, but I prioritized making the jersey grey, since it's supposed to look like one big nickel. I played around with the colours to make the base navy and the nickel grey and I think it's actually better, so thank you for inspiring the update!

 

 

5 hours ago, darkpiranha said:

Is that LK logo something that already existed or did you create it?  I love it either way.  It should at least grace one of the third jerseys as the primary.

 

Sorry, I should have addressed that before! It's my own design, but the team has used a similar monogram before, usually on the side of a helmet. I decided to stick with the helmet for the alternate because it's so iconic of the Knights. I felt putting the LK on the front would be a bit like the Leafs wearing a jersey with TML on the chest. It is an interesting idea though, here's what it would look like on the alternate:

 

 

2 hours ago, Karnage84 said:

Personally, I think you hit it out of the park with the first yellow jersey. It looks really sharp IMO. 

 

Thank you!

 

39 minutes ago, IceCap said:

Because the Knights suck, and they know it

Anyway I wanted to say I love this series. Seeing your work on our hometown Rangers has been a delight!

 

Thanks so much! It's great to hear from another Kitchenerite!

[jwinters]

FLINT FIREBIRDS

 

It's been a while, since I'm not as inspired by the remaining teams, but I've got logos done for Flint. When I first heard the name after they moved from Plymouth, I assumed it was based on the importance of the automotive industry in Flint and in Michigan more generally. Instead of leaning on that, they went with this gothic sort of theme and weren't even brave enough to make orange or grey their primary colour, instead keeping Plymouth's navy and remaining one of the eight blue teams in a 20 team league. I've amended that by promoting orange to primary, eliminating navy altogether, and creating logos based on muscle car imagery.

 

[vtgco]

This primary Firebirds logo here is not a bad idea, but it's hoping for some more dynamism here. 

More than anything, I think it'd really benefit from a tail and maybe a second talon to ground it vertically.

I'm far from mastering it myself for my own concepts, so I wouldn't blame anyone for not doing it, but I feel like maybe this would be a good time for a non-uniform, tapered outline. A heavier outline towards the right and bottom would probably add some more character to this concept.

 

I like the flame/gear logo idea; it just needs an outline to match the primary, I think!

 

Also, the gray/orange color scheme is really pleasant. Definitely has a Detroit-area, industrial vibe (at least to an outsider who's never been) and more so than any actual Detroit team's color scheme...

 

I think the Firebirds brand seems really hard to work with, especially because what they have now is so nice, but I think you've got some good ideas to base a full design from!

[jbird669]

That London Knights all green jersey is slick!

[Karnage84]

14 hours ago, jwinters said:

FLINT FIREBIRDS

 

It's been a while, since I'm not as inspired by the remaining teams, but I've got logos done for Flint. When I first heard the name after they moved from Plymouth, I assumed it was based on the importance of the automotive industry in Flint and in Michigan more generally. Instead of leaning on that, they went with this gothic sort of theme and weren't even brave enough to make orange or grey their primary colour, instead keeping Plymouth's navy and remaining one of the eight blue teams in a 20 team league. I've amended that by promoting orange to primary, eliminating navy altogether, and creating logos based on muscle car imagery.

 

I think that you need to work on this one. Flint calls itself "Vehicle City" and I have to imagine that the team is called the Firebirds because of the Pontiac Firebird. So I would lean into that with the logo, bringing in the muscle car inspiration, etc. They are mostly known for the gold on black or black on red. I like the orange but it just feels like a missed opportunity to really flesh out this identity. 

[jwinters]

16 hours ago, vtgco said:

This primary Firebirds logo here is not a bad idea, but it's hoping for some more dynamism here. 

More than anything, I think it'd really benefit from a tail and maybe a second talon to ground it vertically.

I'm far from mastering it myself for my own concepts, so I wouldn't blame anyone for not doing it, but I feel like maybe this would be a good time for a non-uniform, tapered outline. A heavier outline towards the right and bottom would probably add some more character to this concept.

 

I like the flame/gear logo idea; it just needs an outline to match the primary, I think!

 

Also, the gray/orange color scheme is really pleasant. Definitely has a Detroit-area, industrial vibe (at least to an outsider who's never been) and more so than any actual Detroit team's color scheme...

 

I think the Firebirds brand seems really hard to work with, especially because what they have now is so nice, but I think you've got some good ideas to base a full design from!

 

Good points, thanks! I'll see what I can do to liven up the bird, and adding an outline to the gear/flame logo should be an easy win.

 

3 hours ago, Karnage84 said:

I think that you need to work on this one. Flint calls itself "Vehicle City" and I have to imagine that the team is called the Firebirds because of the Pontiac Firebird. So I would lean into that with the logo, bringing in the muscle car inspiration, etc. They are mostly known for the gold on black or black on red. I like the orange but it just feels like a missed opportunity to really flesh out this identity. 

 

Pontiac Firebird inspiration is what I was going for for sure! Hence the gear, the fat, bold letters in the tertiary mark, and the primary logo, which is intended to evoke the Pontiac Firebird logo without being a straight-up copy. Any ideas how I could strengthen that link in the logos? I'm reluctant to go straight to a car logo; I'd rather keep it a bit abstract if possible. I'll try out some red/gold/black variations as well, thanks for the idea!

[Karnage84]

17 hours ago, jwinters said:

 

Good points, thanks! I'll see what I can do to liven up the bird, and adding an outline to the gear/flame logo should be an easy win.

 

 

Pontiac Firebird inspiration is what I was going for for sure! Hence the gear, the fat, bold letters in the tertiary mark, and the primary logo, which is intended to evoke the Pontiac Firebird logo without being a straight-up copy. Any ideas how I could strengthen that link in the logos? I'm reluctant to go straight to a car logo; I'd rather keep it a bit abstract if possible. I'll try out some red/gold/black variations as well, thanks for the idea!

It is minor league... I think you could have two exhaust pipes create opposing F's (FF). Maybe re-create the Pontiac Firebird logo but in the styling of the old Washington Capitals eagle. https://images.app.goo.gl/2yUEEYvm5vubSqKBA

 

I don't think that you have a black/vegas gold team right now, so it would change things up from the usual red/blue or blue/red. 

 

For the orange - I would go with a "Semi-Pro/Flint Tropics" themed alternate BUT... do a much better job than what the Firebirds actually did. Because theirs looked like a crappy practice jersey. It isn't often that a fake team from your town is arguably more popular than your actual team. It's minor league - better to have some fun with it.