Minor League Hockey Defunct Redesign

[TrueYankee26]

All of these are awesome, but the Cherokees one is by far my favorite.

[neo_prankster]

These concepts just keep getting better and better. I'd like to see you do the San Diego Gulls when you get a chance.

[JayJaxon]

Beautiful sets all around. Every single one of them are very nicely done.

[dgnmrwrw]

Been away for a while, but thanks for all the positive feedback on Winston-Salem. I'll be posting the next (and last, for a while) team later today.

[dgnmrwrw]

#7: Virginia Lancers // Vinton, VA

I never knew the Lancers growing up, but I loved this nickname, so I wanted to try my luck at reworking the identity. All the info I could find on the Lancers shows them with a text-based logo and red, white, and blue for the colors. I chose purple (seemed like a good knightly/royal color), burnt orange, and silver for the colors. It was very difficult to get the angle for the logo correct, but I'm pretty satisfied with what I ended up with.

For the uniforms, I used sharp orange streaks on the sleeves, with curved silver and white sections to mimic the shapes of plated armor. The crest is a modified version of the primary logo, with a knight with lance charging with the orange flag streaming back from the lance. On the shoulders, there's a patch featuring a V set over a crossed lance and hockey stick on top of a shield.

The alternate uniform is a bit strange, even for a minor league alternate. First, I did a full logo for the crest, featuring a knight mounted on a horse, with his cape billowing behind. I made the jersey burnt orange, but I gave it a purple shoulder yoke (on the front) that then comes down the back of the jersey, terminating below the numbers and at the seams on the sides. I wanted the purple shoulders/back to create a purple "cape," like the knight has in the logo, so that the jersey has a weird, two-toned effect. Really strange, but I kinda like it.

[elliott]

I think that you are really showing off your rendering talents with this series and so far most of these concepts are really really good. However, I think you are using the gray half-shadow thing a little too much, it looks good some times but not all the time. For example I think the latest concept would look better without it.

[ChuckDownfield]

I have been following this series from the start and I must say I love it. I even like this more than your NHL redesign, because it really gives you a chance to show off your creativity and come up with more out of the box designs. I think you may be proving right now that you are the best designer on the boards. I can't wait for more.

[CJworks]

WOW! great job here, the purple and orange look really works here. They have great contrast in one another and that gives this concept a complete look. Just one thing; for the primary logo bring down 'Virginia' a little bit to keep it away from the knight and spear, then combine the purple background with the one used from 'Lancers' so that they're together. (make sense?)

[rvrdgsfn]

Next to the Gades, the Lancers is one of the most beautiful designs I've seen. I hope someone in the sports business sees this stuff, this is a+ work good sir.

[DustDevil61]

That's some good stuff there. Who knew that plum and burnt orange went together so well?

[Burmy]

SERIOUSLY dude, if any new team starts up with one of the past nicknames covered here, they HAVE to get ahold of you to use one of your designs!

[dgnmrwrw]

However, I think you are using the gray half-shadow thing a little too much, it looks good some times but not all the time. For example I think the latest concept would look better without it.

You know, every time I've included that effect, I've begun the concept determined not to use it. But every time, I end up convincing myself that it works conceptually. I did it with the IceCaps ("Hey! Ice! I'll use the shiny silver effect!"), the Polar Twins ("Polar! Like snow!"), and the Lancers ("Oooh! Shiny armor!"). In my defense, I've always looked at a version without it before I decided to include it. Here, I really liked how it played off of the knight's armor above and the implied motion of the lance.

WOW! great job here, the purple and orange look really works here. They have great contrast in one another and that gives this concept a complete look. Just one thing; for the primary logo bring down 'Virginia' a little bit to keep it away from the knight and spear, then combine the purple background with the one used from 'Lancers' so that they're together. (make sense?)

Yeah, I think you mean to do something like I did with the Renegades logo. In the end, I actually thought that looked forced, and I was trying to avoid it here. I considered putting "Virginia" below "Lancers," but then it looked like an afterthought. I'll keep messing with it and see if I can find a better arrangement.

[SPORTSDOCTOR]

HUNTINGTON BLIZZARD, please!

[dgnmrwrw]

#8: Macon Whoopee // Macon, GA

As someone mentioned earlier, this is maybe the greatest nickname in all of sports. Perfect for a minor league team. I wanted to keep the whooping crane mascot/logo inspiration, but modernize the identity (it was a cartoon whooping crane with a hockey stick). So I've done a heavily stylized whooping crane with outstretched wings. The colors are black, crimson, and a sort of goldish tan (there are some silver touches in the logos).

The home and away uniforms are pretty simple, with curved striping on the sleeves. The double-curved black section is supposed to mimic the shape of the black tips of the crane's wings. The crest is from the primary logo: The stylized whooping crane, with a W and an M hidden in the white sections, over a black shield. It's very much like the Washington Capitals' secondary logo in that respect. On the shoulders is a patch with a stylized M with two wings coming out from behind.

I almost did a gold alternate, but I fell in love with the badassery of the all-black look. So I put the M-wing logo on the chest, put the Bird-shield logo on the shoulders, and did a simple three stripe pattern on the sleeves and socks. Minimalist, but I really like it.

[DelayedPenalty]

Sweet merciful crap that's gorgeous! I love the M alternate logo, and the color scheme is beautiful. You've done a fantastic job of fancifying one of the most ridiculous names in all of sports!

[spamspamspamspam]

As someone mentioned earlier, this is maybe the greatest nickname in all of sports.

Indeed. How many other teams are their named after getting it on? (I didn't want to say that word.)

[XFace619]

When you get the chance, PLEASE PLEASE do the entire defunct International Hockey League (IHL), the mid 90s-early 2000s league, not the shell of its former self that is in operation right now. These concepts are phenomenal.

[jeh-see]

If this doesn't go to show you that ANY concept can be better, nothing will. All it takes is someone that knows what they are doing. The Macon concept you have here is light years better than the piece of garbage they wore in reality. Don't owners get the fact that if you have an awesome logo and jersey that fans will drool over they will buy your merchandise, which is revenue, which won't lead to you being in this concept series, aptly titled "MINOR LEAGUE DEFUNCT REDESIGN".

Sweet work, as always. This series is hot, and no matter who you do decide on next, I am sure it will be better than the original as well. Keep it up.

UniJ

[undead]

Awesome work on this series! I've enjoyed every post so far. I really liked your NHL series but this series really let's you spread your wings because your not getting the "it's a good attempt but the Canadiens would never wear that" comments. Keep it up. I'm sure you have a really impressive portfolio by now.

[penguin20]

Fantastic set for the last team. The only thing is the third jersey, I'm really liking the all black look but I'd like to see some waist stripes just to complete the jersey and maybe some red in the collar just to bring it into the jersey a bit more. Other than that I like everything, this is a great series with some really nice concepts.