Tamrielic Hockey League (Elder Scrolls) - 6/6 Ancients of the Pale

[jackkmart]

Brief Intro

 

I've always been a big fan of the Elder Scrolls franchise and I played hockey from age 5 late into my teens so I decided I would meld two of my interests, along with graphic design, to create some fun, unusual and challenging team ideas for the Tamrielic Hockey League. I think I've finally developed my design/ graphic skills enough I think to really try to have a go at creating some fictitious brands based on some of the more grounded and fantastical elements of Elder Scrolls lore and canon. 

 

I have a pretty bad habit of abandoning projects but I really don't want that to be the case here so I'm setting myself very few restrictions and attempting to make this as easy to produce and post so that I don't get too demotivated in hopes that this project will at least reach some state of completion. 

 

Any who,

I present the first two teams: 

 

Windhelm Cave Bears

 

 

 

First, I'll apologize off the top for the lack of an alternate jersey, I almost always do at least one but I didn't have any ideas I thought looked good enough to post as of yet, but that may change. Both of the first two teams also lack wordmarks and secondary or tertiary logos, but again I hope to rectify this in time as I make revisions to the designs throughout this thread.

 

The bear features isn't particularly menacing but I think it still works and I picture the bears of Skyrim as being a little more goofy than real life bears for some reason. The logo also takes queues from the sigil of Eastmarch which features a bear with a Nordic style swoosh or circle design on its cheek which I've  tried to integrate somewhat on this mark on its brow and cheeks, although it was harder from a front on angle.

 

I also tried to really brighten the highlights on the bears head as I imagine it's cave being illuminated from above by glowing mushroom found in underground structures throughout various elder scrolls games.

 

The highlight also is meant to vaguely symbolize a geyser as well which are found in the Eastmarch, below Windhelm. Blue was the obvious choice here as the heartland of the Stormcloak rebellion and the general association of blue to cold climates. 

 

Any critiques or ideas I'd be more than happy to hear. I would actually really, really, appreciate team, or location suggestions from any other Elder Scrolls fans (or otherwise) because my TES knowledge is not what it used to be having stopped playing video games for a while now. 

 

I do plan to make this a continental league, Skyrim will be represented alongside other regions of Tamriel. Here is a link to a very high quality map of the continent for those uninitiated, I plan to make a 'team map' once I have completed a sufficient number of concepts to help better orient the league.

 

 

 

[jackkmart]

Jehanna Hunters

 

Still in the far north of Tamriel, but no longer in Skyrim we find ourselves in the Breton Kingdom of Jehanna home of the Predat... uh I mean Hunters. Obviously, I've taken massive inspiration from the predators here but after my sketch of the creature (which I'll describe a little bit more about later) I couldn't help but notice the similarities so I had to make them the THL's very own predators. 

 

Ok, so what the hell is the thing in the logo? Well, I'm not exactly sure myself but its supposed to be a "Nubbed Wormmouth" which, based on my research, are local to the northern regions of High Rock (where Jehanna is). Wormmouths in general, however, are present all over Tamriel in different forms though and are closely related to other bipedal reptiles on the continent. They look pretty freaky as well.  

 

The logo itself is very heavily based on the concept art I linked presumably done by an employee who worked on te earlier ES games as this one appears to be done for Shadowkey which came out in the early 2000s.

 

Also, I forgot to mention, but I will likely be using this custom made Nike jersey mockup throughout the series to keep things uniform and progressing quickly. I could release it at some point once I clean up the file enough for it to be usable by other people. On top of that, I do have helmet, pants, and socks also mocked up but I have yet to use them in the designs, again maybe something to circle back to as this series is primarily about the logos, and the branding of individual teams. 

 

Again, any critiques or ideas I'd be more than happy to hear. 

[jackkmart]

Sentinel Redguards

 

Now we move down to Hammerfell. Sentinel, the 'capital' of the Redguard people, hence the name. I wanted a team with slightly more 'boring' branding or a team akin to teams that have names like Canadians/ Americans that solely play off their country of origin, mostly utilizing common imagery and symbols that are associated with said place. Here the Redguards are represented by crossed scimitars below a crescent moon all within a diamond. All three symbols are extremely prevalent symbols in Redguard society. Their version of stars, stripes and eagles basically. 

 

This team is supposed to have a more classical look, no crazy patterns, a simple logo, and a pretty common color scheme.

 

This logo needs some work for sure but I think the foundation is there. Let me know what you think. 

[jackkmart]

Bruma Legionaries

 

Bruma is where the Legionaries call home, a city in norther Cyrodiil which has a significant Nord influence in terms of culture and politics, etc. Regardless, still firmly within the Cyrodiilic borders, the team is  represented by an Imperial Legionary dawned in their standard issue helmet. The teams colors and branding are a take on the redwings as I felt the logo worked best in a monochromatic fashion and red is a color often associated with the Imperial legion and Imperials in general. The white in redwings branding, however, is replaced by 'Iron Grey' which is meant to symbolize weaponry and the strength of the Imperial Legionaries.

 

At first I was really unhappy with the primary logo, but after some adjustments I think I'm ok with it, although something still feels slightly off to me. This is the first concept with a bonafide secondary logo, although it is a little boring. B for Bruma in the style of Detroit's D logo. I think I'll do a map after the next concept is posted to help orient all the teams on the map.  

[jackkmart]

Whiterun Giants

 

 

Another team, back in Skyrim this time. I will likely make another team for Whiterun later on in this series if we get that far as Whiterun is an important city to Skyrim and a very popular location amongst Skyrim/ TES fans due to the role it plays in Skyrim's story. 

 

The giants' logo is not an actual giant, rather their companion on the plains, the Mammoth, nestled in a W for Whiterun. The top of the mammoth's head is made up of a stylized landscape featuring a jagged cliff face behind a row of pine trees, both common landscape features in and around Whiterun hold. The mammoth, like those in Skyrim also sports 4 tusks, instead of the normal 2 most real life elephantids have. 

 

The primary color of the Giants is a deep blue-grey (I've dubbed it 'Whiterun Stone')  that's meant to symbolize rocks of the mountains that surround the city and region. The secondary color is a pale gold often used in various banners and heraldry regarding the city. I've slightly changed this color to be slightly more gold and to be a little darker so it contrasts better and just looks a little nicer. This color to me also symbolizes the vast plains directly  around the city which are home to many of the real Giants.

[jackkmart]

And a quick and dirty map of the teams so far!

[jackkmart]

Ancients of the Pale

 

 

 

The Ancients of the Pale. The Ancients call one of Tamriel's northernmost provinces home bordering the sea of ghosts, with some of the most brutal winters on Nirn. Here is where the first Nords landed before they progressed further into Skyrim before settling at Saarthal. As such I named and designed this team with their ancient relatives in mind. 

 

Their primary logo is an A in the shape of two sword blades subtly engraved with ancient Nordic markings. It's styled after their weapons. The shoulder mark is a jagged crown which was worn by ancient dragon-lords of Skyrim.  The same crown can be seen in a more simplified state on the secondary logo which is an LA Kings style shield logo again subtly engraved with those markings from the primary.

 

Unusually this team is one of few that places their nickname before their location officially being called the Ancients of the Pale. The first two jerseys are their current home and away making heavy use of silver, grey and black. Their first alt is what I imagine a faux retro would look like utilizing a dark cream color and a deep blue with their shield logo on the chest. Meanwhile, their second alternate is a different variation of their home jersey. 

[officeglenn]

I have never played Elder Scrolls, so I can't comment on how these relate to the game, but design-wise they're very well done. The clear references to NHL franchises are enough to keep a non-player like me engaged and scrolling to the next one. In general, I'd love to see the backs of the jerseys with names and numbers; I always find those really add to the overall design of a hockey jersey.

 

Some specific design comments:

• Windhelm: What first struck me is that the bear looks a little goofy, but if they're that way in the game, then so be it. Love the detailing in the sleeve and hem stripes, but I'd either like to see the pattern all go in the same direction, or refine where it meets in the middle of the hem stripe so it's not a double-thick stroke. 
• Jehanna: Yeah, other than wanting to see the back, not much to pick at here. The only thing might be that the perspective of the hunter is a bit wonky; it seems to be totally in profile on the half, but then sort of turned toward the viewer in the bottom half.
• Sentinel: I quite like the logo, actually. Could maybe do without the palm tree at the bottom. On the alt jersey, I'd change the hilts of the swords to the red tones; they just stick out like sore thumbs as they are now.
• Bruma: Love the Detroit-style B; I'd even emphasize that over the face logo. The face logo is quite good itself, though; I know that style is something I struggle with personally. 
• Whiterun: Also a very solid set. Love the tusk details. I would like to see the details of the cliff in the mammoth's forehead match up with the cliff in the secondary logo, just to make it all more cohesive as a package.
• Pale Ancients: Very cool shape on the primary. I'd like to see you use a slightly lighter grey on the pattern inside the A, just to make it a tad more visible. Also, be careful with your beveling, and think about where the light is coming from and how that would affect the highlights and shadows. I'd love to see some beveling on the grey stroke on the secondary logo, just to tie it all together. The base color of the third jersey comes out of leftfield -- it has too much of a yellow tint and isn't found anywhere else in the package. I'd swap it out for a grey tint already being used somewhere else.

[jackkmart]

6 hours ago, officeglenn said:

I have never played Elder Scrolls, so I can't comment on how these relate to the game, but design-wise they're very well done. The clear references to NHL franchises are enough to keep a non-player like me engaged and scrolling to the next one. In general, I'd love to see the backs of the jerseys with names and numbers; I always find those really add to the overall design of a hockey jersey.

 

Some specific design comments:

• Windhelm: What first struck me is that the bear looks a little goofy, but if they're that way in the game, then so be it. Love the detailing in the sleeve and hem stripes, but I'd either like to see the pattern all go in the same direction, or refine where it meets in the middle of the hem stripe so it's not a double-thick stroke. 
• Jehanna: Yeah, other than wanting to see the back, not much to pick at here. The only thing might be that the perspective of the hunter is a bit wonky; it seems to be totally in profile on the half, but then sort of turned toward the viewer in the bottom half.
• Sentinel: I quite like the logo, actually. Could maybe do without the palm tree at the bottom. On the alt jersey, I'd change the hilts of the swords to the red tones; they just stick out like sore thumbs as they are now.
• Bruma: Love the Detroit-style B; I'd even emphasize that over the face logo. The face logo is quite good itself, though; I know that style is something I struggle with personally. 
• Whiterun: Also a very solid set. Love the tusk details. I would like to see the details of the cliff in the mammoth's forehead match up with the cliff in the secondary logo, just to make it all more cohesive as a package.
• Pale Ancients: Very cool shape on the primary. I'd like to see you use a slightly lighter grey on the pattern inside the A, just to make it a tad more visible. Also, be careful with your beveling, and think about where the light is coming from and how that would affect the highlights and shadows. I'd love to see some beveling on the grey stroke on the secondary logo, just to tie it all together. The base color of the third jersey comes out of leftfield -- it has too much of a yellow tint and isn't found anywhere else in the package. I'd swap it out for a grey tint already being used somewhere else.

 

First off thanks for the praise and critique. 

 

I think you're right about the numbers, and I've recently gotten to grips a bit more with font design and manipulation so I will probably get around to posting what names and numbers look like. I do actually have a full template for this jersey/ uniform made with socks, a helmet, jersey back and pant shell but I haven't used the whole thing yet. 

 

For Bruma I found the monotone logo really hard and I'll probably return to it to make some revisions, as with most teams I imagine, I tend to rush the latter stages of a design and need to return to brush up. I'll probably make intermittent revision/ fixing posts as we go where I'll probably address most of your suggestions.

 

Minor edit: with regards to the Ancients' first alternate, I forgot to explain that the banner of the region uses those colors in the post and I meant for that design to almost be a throwback to an old design or something akin to a city connect type jersey. But I played around with it being silver and it does look much better