NHL: Defunct Franchise Redesigns

[dgnmrwrw]

This idea was mentioned by some people during my NHL and Minor League Hockey redesign series. I liked the idea of updating the old (some of them very old) franchises' identities. Basically I'm trying to take the franchise, whenever they folded, and give them a 21st century look. I've been throwing around a few ideas and sketches since then, and I've finally began to complete a few things and I'm ready to post them. There's no rhyme or reason to the order I'm doing these in, and I'm not sure which teams I'll be doing. (There's definitely no need to request teams here: there aren't that many defunct franchises anyway.) So, here's the first team:

#1: Hamilton Tigers

Hamilton, ON // Folded 1925

I wanted to keep a tiger head with the same general perspective as the primary logo, while still modernizing it's look and rectifying some of its quirks. I would have liked to have it face the left, like the old logo, but the top of it was interfering with the C/A patches, so it just seemed easiest to flip it. The wordmark is custom and very simple. I based its style off of the old H-Tigers logo, and I wanted to keep it simple and strong, with relatively wide letters.

The old colors were black and yellow. The new colors are charcoal gray, medium gray, and bright orange.

The uniforms are pretty simple, with traditional striping mixed with modern style, such as the lack of waist stripes. Medium gray as the primary uniform color. I wanted a unique color palette, and no one in the NHL wears gray predominantly. A modernized H-Tigers patch is on the shoulders. The alternate uniform is charcoal and is based on the Tigers' last uniform before they folded. The stripes are a bit wild, I know... but it's an alternate. I also wanted to do an updated full-body tiger for the alternate crest. The wordmark appears in gray and orange on the bottom of the back.

[Shumway]

That primary logo is fantastic. I'm not sold on the gray primary uniform (orange might be a better fit for a "tiger" team), but otherwise, the uniforms are solid as well. I really like the alternate jersey...maybe a little less for the sock stripes, but hey, it's unique.

[Phitin]

Yeah, that primary logo is basically perfect, but I'm not feeling the gray jerseys either. It looks really dreary and out-of-place next to that awesome logo.

By the way, is there a place where I can view all of your previous designs (NHL Rebrand and Minor League Hockey Rebrand)? I went to the old threads and it looks like you removed them all from your photobucket account

[Don]

IMO the league needs more gray, and brown, so you've hit a home run with me as far as the color of the uniforms, but it could use horizontal stripes, I dislike that NHL has these types of uniforms but its good that most of those teams are getting rid of the templated stuff and putting in more hem stripes.

[Cyclone20]

Nice Job, the wordmark reminds me of iowa state and that is not a problem its a solid identity and you did well

[ThePreacher]

I LOVE this idea!!!

Can't wait to see what you come up with next (Toronto St. Pats, Arenas, Montreal Wanderers, Maroons, et al!)

ps) Can I make a request for the first two West Coast teams to compete for the Stanley Cup? (Seattle Metropolitans and Portland Rosebuds - Also, the Vancouver Millionaires)!!

Thank you =D

[aci]

Both logos are awesome, the number font is great, and I like the alternate jersey.

On the other hand, the colouring of the home and road, especially the grey home jersey and the road uni's number colouring, definitely leave a lot to be desired.

Gotta say it again, great work on the logos!

[CJworks]

Love the idea of this new thread, and the logos are never dissapointing. Love the primary logo. Excellent rendering on that one. The full bodied reminds me alot of the Bengals, but nonetheless, it's a great rendering.

Uniforms are nice as well, not sure about the charcoal, but it looks alright.

Nice work once again.

[ThePreacher]

Requests:

- Montreal Wanderers, Maroons

- Quebec Bulldogs, Nordiques

- Toronto St. Pats, Blue Shirts, Arenas, Tecumsehs

- Pittsburgh Pirates/Philadelphia Quakers

- Brooklyn/NY Americans

- California Golden Seals/Oakland Seals/Cleveland Barons

- Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars/Detroit Cougars/Falcons

- Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts

- St. Louis Eagles

- Portland Rosebuds

- Seattle Metropolitans

- Vancouver Millionaires/Maroons

- Winnipeg Jets

- New Westminster Royals

- Spokane Canaries

*Note: I have no desire to see the North Stars or Whalers re-branded, as I find both of their logos to be both flawless and timeless. All other teams mentioned on this list could benefit from a re-branding.

[Phitin]

Requests:

- Montreal Wanderers, Maroons

- Quebec Bulldogs, Nordiques

- Toronto St. Pats, Blue Shirts, Arenas, Tecumsehs

- Pittsburgh Pirates/Philadelphia Quakers

- Brooklyn/NY Americans

- California Golden Seals/Oakland Seals/Cleveland Barons

- Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars/Detroit Cougars/Falcons

- Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts

- St. Louis Eagles

- Portland Rosebuds

- Seattle Metropolitans

- Vancouver Millionaires/Maroons

- Winnipeg Jets

- New Westminster Royals

- Spokane Canaries

*Note: I have no desire to see the North Stars or Whalers re-branded, as I find both of their logos to be both flawless and timeless. All other teams mentioned on this list could benefit from a re-branding.

Apparently you didn't read the first post where be said there's no need for team requests in this thread.

[CS85]

that's one of the best tiger logos I've ever seen anywhere. Fantastic job! I think you should live and die with a pewter color instead of the dual-grays. Bring in some burnt orange or something to balance the bright orange and add a bit more color. I think the alternate jersey has potential but the logo looks strange on it. I don't think you should do an encircled logo as is the trend, but maybe emphasize hamilton on it, ala dallas stars, but with more flair. Just my $.02

[lancebridwell]

Not loving the alternate. I get what youre trying to accomplish with the stripes, but it's too busy. Also, the tiger looks like a bucking bronco, maybe make his rear end a little less elevated?

[rvrdgsfn]

Just when you think he's done it all, he's back again. Great stuff on Hamilton, can't wait to see what else can be done.

[les3couleurs]

The primary mark is unbelievable. It looks really like a classic modernized. The wordmark is simple and efficient. Uniforms are not my favorites from your library, but they are still better than average. One thing I'd look at are the alternates socks. Could it work to leave some space without stripes at the top and bottom? I find completely striped socks a bit much. See Habs alternate.

Can't wait to see what you have in store! Are you done with the defunct minor league teams? You said that you'd post them back in lower quality at some point, I'd love to see them again I missed some of them.

[skier14]

I love this redesign. The primary logo is amazing.

I like the unfomrs a lot. The alternate reminds me of the old princeton football jerseys:

Im looking forward to seeing the rest of this thread.

[kbaker19]

Loved your minor league series, and I can already tell I'm going to love this one.

[dorshak]

Can't wait to see the North Stars if you do them, your work never disappoints me keep it up.

[vicfurth]

I actually have a couple gripes with the logos. They're really well-rendered, don't get me wrong. I like the idea of bringing a team 80 years into the future/present.

The primary, I think, could stand to go without the taper behind his head. It evokes motion well, making the logo sleek. However, the contrast between the sleek, modern logo and the borderline drab uniforms doesn't really do it for me.

The secondary logo is also well-rendered. It seems to be "flailing" at the air rather than pouncing, though. It looks less tiger-like and more like a (sorry for the analogy) 8-year old girl just learning gymnastics. I think the angle of the back legs throws off the whole feel of the secondary crest.

[north dakota]

Wow, that is a great redesign, I can't wait until the next one.

[dgnmrwrw]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. Some thoughts:

I agree with the alternate socks being busy. I wasn't sure if it would look odd to have a lot of stripes (which I wanted, to match the sleeves) that almost-but-didn't-quite span the entire sock, so I went with the full stripes. But I'll definitely go back and change that.

I also agree with some of the comments about about the full bodied tiger logo being somewhat awkward on the back end. I was trying my best to make it look like he was "bounding": tigers tend to do that, often hopping through the tall grass instead of flat-out running. I think I'll try making him more horizontal and address those back legs. My reference picture was taken from a strange angle, so the back legs were definitely the toughest thing to get right.

As far as the colors go, I really wanted to do something different, which is one of the reasons I focused on gray (also, I just really like the "two grays" look). I thought about using orange as the primary jersey color, but the logo then sort of faded into it instead of standing out. I think the colors will probably staying as they are, and (in general) I'll be putting more emphasis on unique color combinations in this series.

I'll work on the changes and have an update... whenever I can get to it. Soon, hopefully.