NHL’s New Seattle Kraken Announce Name & Logos

[RyanMcD29]

I'm surprised they were able to keep them in stock, especially given how much of a pain it was trying to find a Golden Knights jersey in 2017 and with all the supply chain issues of the pandemic. I remembered halfway through a class I was co-teaching while administering a test that the Kraken jerseys were coming out today, so I quick got on my phone to order one thinking it was gonna be one of those deals that sell out in like 45 minutes. Needless to say I could've probably waited until after the school day was done

[officeglenn]

 

[sparkychewbarky]

...

 

[BBTV]

Wow - I always thought those designs were painted on.

[pepis21]

7 minutes ago, BBTV said:

Wow - I always thought those designs were painted on.

Bauer and CCM (since Axis) printed their design but Vaughn and Brian's are still doing art like this with cut and sew method.

[Around the Horn]

9 hours ago, sparky said:

...

 

I was hoping one of their goalies would work the tentacle and eye into their pads... Looks amazing!

[JayMac]

I am still not too fond of the name but this franchise has nailed everything else, IMO. 

[CS85]

1 hour ago, JayMac said:

I am still not too fond of the name but this franchise has nailed everything else, IMO. 

Agreed, I've been stunned.  The name was such a misfire, but their efforts have proved that a mediocre-to-bad name can be overcome with great design and thoughtful direction with their style.

[monkeypower]

2 hours ago, CS85 said:

Agreed, I've been stunned.  The name was such a misfire, but their efforts have proved that a mediocre-to-bad name can be overcome with great design and thoughtful direction with their style.

 

We had already seen that to an extent with the Wild as well.

 

Maybe it's just the nature of hockey design where the primary logo is the focus of a brand and the uniforms whereas the name can take a bit of a backseat?

[gosioux76]

21 minutes ago, monkeypower said:

 

We had already seen that to an extent with the Wild as well.

 

Maybe it's just the nature of hockey design where the primary logo is the focus of a brand and the uniforms whereas the name can take a bit of a backseat?

 

This is a good point, though I still think it's easy to argue that Wild remains a terrible name, even if the branding that surrounds it has been appealing.

 

In Seattle's case, I think the branding actually made the Kraken name likable, which is a far more impressive accomplishment. 

[tBBP]

2 hours ago, CS85 said:

Agreed, I've been stunned.  The name was such a misfire, but their efforts have proved that a mediocre-to-bad name can be overcome with great design and thoughtful direction with their style.

 

I would like to take this moment to acknowledge the dang-near polar opposites in approach to branding between the team at adidas in regards to the Kraken and Golden Knights and the team at Nike and, well...just take a look at the Rams, Falcons, Snatit, pre-Brady Buccaneers, and the host of stuff going on in the NBA and now MLB with the CC stuff.

 

Stuff like the Kraken's and VGK's brand identites is  what happens when you place the team you're working for ahead of your own "innovation culture" agenda...

[andrewharrington]

16 minutes ago, tBBP said:

 

I would like to take this moment to acknowledge the dang-near polar opposites in approach to branding between the team at adidas in regards to the Kraken and Golden Knights and the team at Nike and, well...just take a look at the Rams, Falcons, Snatit, pre-Brady Buccaneers, and the host of stuff going on in the NBA and now MLB with the CC stuff.

 

Stuff like the Kraken's and VGK's brand identites is  what happens when you place the team you're working for ahead of your own "innovation culture" agenda...

[SFGiants58]

1 hour ago, gosioux76 said:

 

This is a good point, though I still think it's easy to argue that Wild remains a terrible name, even if the branding that surrounds it has been appealing.

 

In Seattle's case, I think the branding actually made the Kraken name likable, which is a far more impressive accomplishment. 

Besides, Seattle doesn’t have a historical identity as good as the North Stars. The Wild undergoing a “North Stars in all but name” rebrand has been a bit of a position here.

[chcarlson23]

11 minutes ago, monkeypower said:

 

We had already seen that to an extent with the Wild as well.

 

Maybe it's just the nature of hockey design where the primary logo is the focus of a brand and the uniforms whereas the name can take a bit of a backseat?

While I’m not too sure for other markets, I know the Wild have played up Minnesota over Wild for a while. Broadcasters and even team officials tend to say Minnesota, rather than the Wild, when talking about the team. 
 

28 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Besides, Seattle doesn’t have a historical identity as good as the North Stars. The Wild undergoing a “North Stars in all but name” rebrand has been a bit of a position here.

While I did really enjoy the reverse retro for the Wild, I’d much rather see them keep the current branding than try to dress up like the North Stars. 

[seasaltvanilla]

4 hours ago, tBBP said:

 

I would like to take this moment to acknowledge the dang-near polar opposites in approach to branding between the team at adidas in regards to the Kraken and Golden Knights and the team at Nike and, well...just take a look at the Rams, Falcons, Snatit, pre-Brady Buccaneers, and the host of stuff going on in the NBA and now MLB with the CC stuff.

 

Stuff like the Kraken's and VGK's brand identites is  what happens when you place the team you're working for ahead of your own "innovation culture" agenda...

 

I mean the jersey templates are pretty similar, down to thin red stripes...

 

 

 

 

[dont care]

1 hour ago, seasaltvanilla said:

 

I mean the jersey templates are pretty similar, down to thin red stripes...

 

 

 

 

Not really other than they are both hockey sweaters, and both have a red stripe there is nothing similar between the 2 templates.

[The_Admiral]

They're not palette swaps, but you can tell both came from the same place. The sleeve patterns are similar, the logos are conceptually similar, they both favor a not-quite-block number set. They're both good, I think Seattle looks better, but they're of a kind, which is fine enough, I guess.

 

Looking at the goalie pads, I'm glad Seattle's light blue seems to be shifting toward a sea foam green instead. I think they need that to break up the blue and to stay within the vague green/blue theme of Seattle sports (minus a returning Supersonics team, who should never bother with any blue).

[IceCap]

On 9/17/2021 at 4:55 PM, seasaltvanilla said:

 

I mean the jersey templates are pretty similar, down to thin red stripes...

 

 

 

 

The Golden Knights and Kraken are IRL examples of when you see a well done "Entire NHL Redesign" concept series, but all the concepts look kinda same-y. The work is top notch, but it's all coming from one source so that source's preferences will carry on to every design. 

 

With the Knights and Kraken the striping is similar. Not identical but very similar. Both use red as an accent. 

Both use primary logos that merge the namesake of the team with a letter representing the locale. A "V" merged with a knight's helmet for "Vegas Golden Knights." A "S" merged with a sea monster's eye and tentacle for "Seattle Kraken."

Both have alternate logos that merge a nickname relevant item with a locale relevant landmark. Some crossed swords and the star from the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. An anchor and the Seattle Space Needle. 

 

These very much FEEL like jerseys and logo sets that came from the same person or the same team of people. 

 

Granted, this isn't a bad thing. Both sets look good (Vegas' gold alt not withstanding). The similarities are very noticeable to me, but they don't ruin either design. I doubt the NHL's expanding again so I don't think we have to worry about a flood of same-y looking uniforms. The similarities are just sort of curious and neat quirks that reflect the circumstances of their identity's conceptions. 

 

And yeah...while I do notice the same-ness I want to echo @tBBP's sentiments. I'll take Adidas putting teams first over Nike putting """innovation""" over team identity every day of the week. 

 

[monkeypower]

Oh sure, so when somebody says the Kraken jersey striping looks similar to the Golden Knights, that's totally fine and people see the similarities.

 

But when I say the Kraken jersey striping looks like the Ducks, when the striping is way more closer than the Golden Knights jerseys, that's not fine and people don't see the similarities...

[GFB]

“Why do all these pop songs produced by Jack Antonoff sound like they were produced by Jack Antonoff?”