Rebranding the NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning

[GFB]

Tampa Bay Lightning

I also have an announcement to make... I don't have time to post anything about the concept now... but I will answer all questions in a little bit....

Just wanted to get this up.

Matt

*****************************

Okay... after a busy day of finals, I finally have time to explain and answer questions....

Primary Logo: Some of the obvious changes include no text, nor florida map, but the addition of a hockey stick and sun rays... yes, its supposed to be a sun, with the bolt and the hockey stick completing the other four points.... Another reason for the spikes or rays (whatever) is that I just think they look cool...

Secondary Logo: I'm suprised that you guys haven't picked up on it... yes, there is the "T" and "B" and lightning bolt, but there is also an "L" found between the "T" and "B". So you have Tampa Bay Lightning with a lightning bolt all rolled into one neat little package... i thought it was pretty ingenius myself....

Tertiary Logo: Oh, how can I explain this? Well, I originally wanted to do a Thor-type logo for the Bolts, but I never liked anything I came up with. So then I moved onto a superhero (the Flash) but that fell apart somewhat too (though this guy looks like him a little bit). Finally, I came up with this guy. he's based off of Mercury, the messenger of the Roman gods. I figured that this would be a clever way to incorporate something else besides a lightning bolt...

The Uniforms: I talked to numerous Lightning fans, and after talking to them, I felt that the best way to go for the home and away was a simpler design. The Lightning have always had rather simple uniforms, so I decided to continue the trend. Call me crazy, but I loved those rainstorm jerseys they used to wear. While I didn't bring those back, I did go with a more modern design that would bring back memories of those uniforms....

The Numbers: I wanted to bring back bolt-inspired numbers, so I made a custom number set. It isn't as crazy as the bolt numbers of the past, but it fits the jerseys nicely... I'll post a pic of them when I have a chance later...

Let me answer some comments:

Ian- I never got a chance to finish the body on that one. I may show the head a little later.

(For the rest of you, it was a last second effort at a Zeus image that just didn't make the cut...)

Ginger- It seems as more and more time passes, I find more and more beauty in simplicity. I know that the jerseys are a little plain, but the striping pattern is rather unique (3 different colors on top of each other. I don't think any NHL team uses it, so it is somewhat unique to this concept...). And in my mind, the simple jersey allows the complex numbers and bolts to "pop" a little more... If you have too much complexity, it can easily create a mess of a uniform. (See the new Cincinnatti Bearcat football jerseys for that point)

Glenn- Pretty much the only reason I have the Mercury head in the package is to give it 3 logos. When you guys see a logo that is not used on any of the jerseys, just imagine that it is a rarely used logo for the team. Plus, it helps test the water for any future rebranding as to fan-reaction to it....

K, now for the big announcement! I have teamed up with nhllogos.blogspot.com to become the official host of the rebranding! The purpose of this tag-team is to take the RtNHL series and make it an interactive fan experience. There will be polls to choose the next team, what direction I should take the rebrand, which colors I should use, etc. The goal of the RtNHL series is to give the fans the identity that they deserve... and this allows the series to complete it's goal much more easily than before. You can go to nhllogos.blogspot.com and read more about it there...

The only downside is I will be posting the rebrandings over there now (although I will start a new thread for each rebranding, just no pictures)...

Anyway, thanks to all of you and this summer should be exciting...

Matt

[elliott]

Hooray! Another GFB concept! Very nice. A few things:

The primary logo bothers me a little in the curvature of it. I don't really know what to say about how to fix it though.

Tertiary logo is cool, I just don't understand it.

Font is amazing, as usual. Especially the numbers. Wow!

That third jersey template is excellent. I like it much more than the first two templates. I would consider working the home and away off of that.

As usual, fantastic work.

[lets_go_red]

Great work...as always. Huge fan of the secondary and the wordmark. Kinda curious about the compass deal in the primary...but i guess sea navigation requires a compass and it is Tampa BAY after all. 9.5/10

[officeglenn]

Very nice. I'm especially digging the striping patterns on the alt. The secondary is a bit hard to read, but it's probably the best attempt I've seen at making a TB monogram with a lightning bolt worked in. I'm not digging the tertiary so much; the human head is a big departure from the rest of the package. It's not even used on the unis anywhere, so I'd say dump it altogether. It's just as strong a package, or even stronger, without it.

[josh_cat_eyes]

There are parts of this that are very strong and parts that are not. I love the connection you made to Zeus. As soon as I saw it I was like wow thats cool! I however think that the primary logo should just be the lightning bolt and circle. Your almost adding too much to it and to me it looks cluttered. On another note, I think you should make the blue jersey the away jersey and make the alternate jersey black but put the Zeus logo on it. So in brief:

- Simplify the primary logo

- Dark jersey becomes blue

- Alternate jersey becomes black with Zeus logo on it

[AHcreative]

Awesome work as always man. The font is my favorite, the Lightning should use something similar to that. Love the primary and the secondary TB logo, but the tertiary logo reminds me a lot like of this guy for some reason:

All in all, great work. Hope you keep this project up.

[SenatorJake]

I disagree with Josh... it's perfect the way it is. Black is the primary colour for the Bolts and it always has been. Too many teams use blue.

The only thing that bugs me is the curvy thing on top of Zeus' head, he looks like the grand wizard of the KKK. That is not cool. But I'm sure it was not intended to look that way.

Other than that I say: Another triumph! You, sir, are really good at making hockey jerseys. (pants & socks too)

[AAO]

Awesome. Why don't you show them the other zeus head man!?!? That one was crucial.

[gingerbreadmann]

I hate to be a party pooper, but I have to say that I don't especially like it. I love the primary but I'm not sure the stick is needed and it looks like a compass too much, for seemingly no apparent reason. Just the circle and the bolt would suffice.

Eh, the secondary is OK but I think the B kills it. I don't like it too much honestly. Also I think it is too big/not fit for the alternate jersey.

Like officeglenn said, the Tertiary is cool but it isn't connected to anything and isn't used. I don't see the purpose; it seems to be just there randomly.

The wordmark is stellar, the only gripe being that the bolt comes down too far(especially on the grey outline) and the B in "Bay" looks retarded. I would like to see this on a jersey.

The uniforms are only average for me honestly. It is a pretty plain design, a few stripes here and there, nothing real spectacular. I don't really like them. To me the pants fit more with the whole theme of the cool jagged lightning lines and stuff and I like those a lot better. Plus the pants don't match well with the plain jerseys, so spice those up some.

I also hate the name font, I don't think it goes with anything on the jersey and is too big and bulky. I guess it isn't horrible but I think it should be changed.

What do you know, I don't like the number font either! I think this is another case of it would look awesome with more spicy jersey design to fit the theme. Just not here.

However, I like the alternate a lot better. It is certainly more spicy and out there which I think makes it better here. While the curvy lines don't necessarily fit with the jagged lightning theme I like them. I would just get rid of or thin the bottom two gray underarm pipings. But yeah, I think you shoule design the main jerseys again thinking like you were here, more unique and creative because your logos and number font certainly are.

Overall I think you did a pretty good job here, I mean it is executed splendidly, but I don't think this is on the level of your previous work and needs a lot of fixing. I would say 6.5/10 maybe. Just keep working at it.

[habsfan1]

It's definetely not bad. I like how you found a way to remove the wordmark and added items if you will, to make the logo look complete. Nice ideas with the stick and 4 silver points. Although, I don't know if it's suppose to represent a sun, a compass or some other foreign object. I'd like to know.

The secondary logo would be better off with a less dramatic lightning bolt, because it does not clearly read TB, instead it reads TИB.

I like the tertiary logo, fantastic Idea. It would definately sell to the fans, IMO.

The 3rd jersey reminds me of the Charlotte Bobcats. And I think there's too much silver on the home jersey.

Overall, good job! I'm impressed.

[Flame]

I'm a big fan of your work GFB and can't wait till your next redesign. Here's my opinions:

The Primary is too busy. I'd get rid of the compass and/or the stick to see what it'd look like. The new bolt you made is great though. I also love the new colors.

The secondary logo is the best out of the lot, I think that personally should be the primary.

No idea what the tertiary is, but it looks cool. But I don't think it really works well for the Lightning as a logo.

The wordmark is fantastic!

The jerseys are great too, I like the new number and letting font!

I can't wait till your next redesign, but make it quicker this time!

[GFB]

Edited comments above ^

[GFB]

I can't wait till your next redesign, but make it quicker this time!

The goal is to get 3-5 more done over the summer... so stay tuned!

[TML13]

while this is an improvment over what they have and what they had. i just dont think its that much of an improvment. i think with their colors name etc they can do alot better.

[rcb05]

Primary: Love it! Don't change a thing. It does look like a compass, and I think that kinda makes sense, as others have said, because it could harken to sea navigation, or just weather/maps in general. To me, it works.

Secondary: Good start, but simplify it a bit. The "L" is forced and hard to make out, so just ditch it, eliminating the break in the B. Also, I'd make the T taller.

Unis: Not digging the striping pattern, especially since the top stripes seems thicker than the bottom one. The alt striping works nicely, I'd use that for the entire set. I don't particularly like the name/number fonts, but I can live with them.

[Korbyn]

Finally another concept from you! Alot of people on these boards have been anticipating this concept.

The logo is pere genious. Awesome! It looks so good on both the home and away jersey.

I am actually not feeling the Alternate so much, I would like to see that incredible Tertiary logo on it. Only critism I have is that.

Everything else is put simply, orgasmic.

[Shane Does Art]

The Best Lightning concept I've ever seen!

Great job!

[Flame]

Well now that I know the primary is a sun, I officially like it then..

[AAO]

The problem with it imitating a 'sun' is that they are the Lightning. As far as my K-12 education taught me.....the sun don't shine when theres lightning out. I guess one could use their imagination and con notate the sun being relevant to the city of Tampa Bay. But...it's kind of a stretch.

Or now that I think about it, it could be like yes, Florida is known for its beautiful Sunny weather....but here comes the hockey team, bringing Lightning to the ice.

Or something along those lines.

[NEW.ERA]

I'm loving this

Everything is just done so well, especially incorporating the sun into the main logo