Carolina Hurricanes Redesign

[sky1324]

Hey all! I've got another concept to share, this time for North Carolina's NHL entry, the Carolina Hurricanes. As some of you may know, I'm not at all a Canes fan despite being from NC simply because they're from Raleigh, not Charlotte. However, some inspiration struck and I've put together a unique design for the Canes.

 

 

 

That's right! Taking inspiration from the Canes' previous alternate logos, I really wanted to lean into the "Carolina" part of the name. With two warning flags being used for a hurricane warning and two Carolinas, it was the perfect opportunity to make something unique for the team. The primary logo is a stylized version of North and South Carolina as storm warning flags in front of a black triangle (the points of which just so happen to match up with Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh, the three cities of the Research Triangle) and flying from a hockey stick.

 

 

I'm not the first person to use gray as the Canes' road jersey, nor will I be the last. But I named it "Storm Gray" and used it as the base of the road. I brought back the italicized font from the 90s and put the warning flag front and center, as it should be. This will help differentiate the team from other red and black teams like the Devils and Senators. On alternating shoulders are North and South Carolina, a nice nod to the two states.

 

 

At home, the Canes don the bright "Warning Red" jersey, a simple color swap of the road. This red is bright than the red they currently use because you want a bright red flag to catch the eye of those who would need to know about a hurricane. This has the additional benefit of further separating the team from other red and black hockey teams.

 

 

Finally, the third jersey completely removes gray in favor of bright red and dark black. It's technically a color swap of the home and road, as the design hasn't changed, but the color blocking sure has and I think it makes this the cleanest use of the "stealth" style of jersey where colors are reduced. It's also the brightest!

 

 

Here's the full set, with all the gear. I put the flag striping on the socks but kept the pants clean. Black pants, helmet, and gloves for the home and alt, while the road gets a gray helmet for contrast reasons. The two states find themselves as the helmet logos, as I didn't think the primary would fit very well.

 

There it is! My redesign of the Hurricanes. I think the team could look really good, but they need to emphasize what makes them special, gray and the flag striping. I think this design successfully pulls that off while giving them a locally-appropriate logo that avoids the "flushed puck" of the current one.

[Brass]

I really like the attempt and the idea behind it, but the logo just looks clunky to me. Not sure how to describe it, but maybe there is a better way to present it? Perhaps just have South and North Carolina joined together? Otherwise, I do admire the idea!

[Blindsay]

1 minute ago, Brass said:

I really like the attempt and the idea behind it, but the logo just looks clunky to me. Not sure how to describe it, but maybe there is a better way to present it? Perhaps just have South and North Carolina joined together? Otherwise, I do admire the idea!

Agreed, the colors are there, the logo is off.

[shark]

1 hour ago, Brass said:

I really like the attempt and the idea behind it, but the logo just looks clunky to me. Not sure how to describe it, but maybe there is a better way to present it? Perhaps just have South and North Carolina joined together? Otherwise, I do admire the idea!

 

Wonder if removing the Research Triangle might simplify this enough.  The states as battered flags is a really solid idea and would stand out more that way.

[Blindsay]

54 minutes ago, shark said:

 

Wonder if removing the Research Triangle might simplify this enough.  The states as battered flags is a really solid idea and would stand out more that way.

Fair point.

[Saturn]

19 hours ago, QCS said:

As some of you may know, I'm not at all a Canes fan despite being from NC simply because they're from Raleigh, not Charlotte.

 

 

 

 

So you've jammed South Carolina into their identity while de-Hurricane'ing it? You're being too overt about it; you can add the state silhouettes as the black in the warning flag. A team named the Hurricanes needs a Hurricane logo especially when they already have a good looking one.

[sky1324]

On 2/28/2021 at 3:55 PM, Brass said:

I really like the attempt and the idea behind it, but the logo just looks clunky to me. Not sure how to describe it, but maybe there is a better way to present it? Perhaps just have South and North Carolina joined together? Otherwise, I do admire the idea!

 

On 2/28/2021 at 5:30 PM, shark said:

 

Wonder if removing the Research Triangle might simplify this enough.  The states as battered flags is a really solid idea and would stand out more that way.

 

I agree that the logo isn't the strongest, but I also think it's about as good as that logo could be. The states don't really lend themselves to a logo like this, but here it is without the Triangle.

 

It's not as bad as I remember it being, but it still feels unbalanced and definitely lacking in black.

 

8 hours ago, Saturn said:

 

So you've jammed South Carolina into their identity while de-Hurricane'ing it? You're being too overt about it; you can add the state silhouettes as the black in the warning flag. A team named the Hurricanes needs a Hurricane logo especially when they already have a good looking one.

 

While SC might work decently as the black box in the flag, North Carolina definitely would not. It's far too rectangular whereas South Carolina is boxier and can fit as the black square. The reason I went with the flags as the primary icon is because the idea of tying the two warning flags with the two Carolinas was too tempting to pass up. And though you nor I might like it, they are the Carolina Hurricanes, not the North Carolina Hurricanes, so they should take advantage of that. As for them having a good-looking hurricane logo, I also have to disagree. It doesn't immediately read as a hurricane, mostly due to the center. If they simplified the logo, sure, it would be great. But right now, I simply don't like the look.