Pittsburgh Penguins rebrand

[elliott]

Hello.

I write what will probably turn out to be an essay-length description of this concept in my last 24 hours of my spring semester. Soon, it will be summer break down here in humid GA, and I find it appropriate that I post this concept on the first "real" day of summer, seeing as my last concept post on this was approximately a year ago, last summer. As Biggie says, "things done changed", indeed, things have changed in the past year. Many of you noobs might not know who I am, that's completely fine with me because I don't know who you are, either. I tried to look up all of my past concepts under my profile the other day; to my surprise (and chagrin), I couldn't find anything dating back very far. I guess some old threads just get lost in cyberspace, disappointing because I always love to look back at things from 2, 3, 4 years ago, see how bad I was. I'm off topic. Where was I.. yeah, things have changed. I tried art school, it didnt really work out, and as a consequence, I haven't really been doing much designing in the past year, as I became pretty disenchanted with art as a whole after being turned off by the atmosphere of the art school here at UGA in general. It sucked, and it sucks that I haven't divested much time to art, because I love art, and I used to love coming on this forum, and seeing legit designers that were way better than me, and wanting to be that good.

I'm rambling (no surprise).

I think what I'm trying to say is, the concept forum used to be pretty f'ing impressive. There were some tight contests, and there were even better designers. davidson (obviously), gfb, aao, to name a few. I think people used to like my work, as well, I mean, with so much time invested in making designs for this website, other websites, and freelance design work, it would be pretty pathetic if I didn't hone my skills and create some solid work. My last two concepts (a year ago) were an Islanders rebrand that was well received, and a Penguins rebrand that... wasn't received as well.

That bothered me. SOO I went back. And I redid the concept, as my first attempt to reemerge from the dead, and possibly start posting concepts consistently on this forum. I want to be a good influence for all you guys (I hesitate to use the word "kids", that would be incredibly inappropriate, seeing as I am 19 myself) that are starting out, and being influenced strongly by what is being posted on the concept forum in the present day. Because lets be honest, the concept forum has really gone down the :censored:ter. Granted, there are some solid threads, but overall, what I'm seeing is, largely, paint concepts that take a few hours tops to complete. Fill-in-the-template concepts. Concepts that I hate. I've always hated paint concepts in general; some people know how to use the program effectively, but most are messy and 75% are just images from the main Chris Creamer site recolored. Just download inkscape. Please.

I'm off topic again. (I'm sensing a theme). So yeah, pretty much the thesis of all the bullsh** that I've rambled about so far is: the concept forum is on the decline, and I want to break out something fresh and original.

I redid the Penguins rebrand. I'm not gonna go back and post a link to the old one, if you really wanna sift through I'm sure you could find it if you try hard enough. The old one was black, copper, and wheat. I tried to go for some type of "rust" theme. Doesn't really work for the Penguins. The problem with that concept was the lack of logo variation, the lack of a readable number font, the color scheme, the striping on the jerseys, the overdesigned primary...... ok, so there wasn't just one problem, there were many.

So I went back to basics. Black and yellow, black and yellow. Everything I do, I do it big (TGOD), so hopefully you like my attempt to do it big on this concept. I redid my illustration on the primary, getting rid of the distracting P on the chest of the penguin, dropping the barberpole design on the wings, refining a lot of the line, and giving the penguin a different, fiercer look to his facial features. I think the primary ends up being one of the strongest points of the concept.

The secondary is a frontal view of the same penguin. This went through a LOT of drafts, there was too much white on the face at one point, making it look strikingly like a bald eagle (would have worked swimmingly for a capitals secondary, actually). I eventually came up with this rendering of a front facing penguin, it still might need a little refining, but I think this logo is on the right track.

The circle logo is based on the classic circular logo that they use on the light blue throwback jersey. It includes the new font I used, along with some pinstripes in the background to go along with the pinstripe theme you'll see consistently throughout the jerseys (including some other alternates, which I'll wait to post. I have at least 2 more coming).

Speaking of pinstripes, these were inspired by the black, grey, and yellow gradient jerseys from the early 00s and late 90s. You know the ones I'm talking about, Lemieux wore them in his comeback, I think. That was the inspiration, but I also was inspired by those striking gray-to-yellow gradients, and made the yellow pinstripes fade into the base of the jersey on the home and road. Further, they come into play on the shoulders, making "implied" triangular shoulders, once again harkening the gradient jerseys. You may hate it, but the pinstripes are unique to hockey jerseys, for sure, and I don't see why hockey can't borrow from our friends in baseball and basketball.

The rest of the striping on the home/road is directly inspired by the vegas gold jerseys they wore after the late Lemieux-era jerseys i mentioned earlier. They are truncated by the template I used in a somewhat edge-reminiscent style. It gives it more of a modern look. The road has the diagonal "Pittsburgh", which they have worn in the past, making it appropriate in my eyes, and I always love a good city-name wordmark on an away jersey.

The number font is completely custom, the yellow drop shadow mimics the yellow stripe on the arms, waist, and pants. So pretty much, I went for consistency with this striping pattern, from the socks to the chevron shape on the breezers. Lastly, we have the yellow alternate, I'm personally a fan of the way the white drop shadow looks on this base. Like I said, multiple alternates in addition to this one are on the way, and :censored:s abouta get crazy with those. Think gradients, except way better than the gradients you are thinking of right now .

If you just read all of that, more power to you. If you didn't, I don't blame you, however, I always like to know exactly what the designer was thinking. So, Now You Know (GO Hawks). That's about all I gotta say, smoke blunts erryday. I'm out, leave me some (constructive) criticism, and we'll go from there. Peace.

Logos:

PRIMARY | SECONDARY | TERTIARY | WORDMARK | NUMBER SHEET

[nash61]

I'm really getting a fighter plane vibe off this one. The view looking up the nose at the pilot. The white part of the circle is the canopy, and the two lines on its body form the flight yoke.

The gradient pinstripes work surprisingly well.

Malkin is number 71, not 75.

Lastly, thank you for bringing back yellow. Much better than that vegas gold crap they wear now.

[CAB]

I read the whole thing and I agree with pretty much everything you said about the concepts forum. And I remember all the great concepts that you and people like AAO and GFB make when I first joined, that's what really got me hooked on this site. You always bring something new and inventive, in fact, I can hardly EVER remember you recycling logos, it's always new. You also inspired me to try to be more creativie and make the move from paint to inkscape, because I was sick of seeing the same sub-par paint concepts and I was one of the people contributing to that. Now I'm sort of ranting. But I think one of the main things the concepts forum is missing right now is people like you that made these insanely good concepts. Its great to see you back and that you're giving this another try. I'm on my phone now so I can't see the images very well, but the uniforms look pretty nice. I've often thought that hockey should experiment with some pinstripes. And I can't look at the logos now, but if I check them out later I'll tell you what I think.

So welcome back, and hopefully you stick around awhile this time!

EDIT: looking at the logos now...I like the general idea of the primary logo, but it just seems like a somewhat awkward position for a penguin. I can't really tell what he's doing, if he's flying, waddling, or just has his fins (I think that's what you call them?) in the air. The angular fins also sort of look like paddles to me. But I get what you were going for, trying to match them up with the angles of the triangle. Did you try and see what it looks like with curved fins? It might look terrible, but it's worth a shot. The only other thing that kinda bothers me is the yellow stroke on the right side of the logo. It almost looks like too much yellow, I dunno. I'll echo what nash61 said about the fighter plane vibe on the secondary. It's an interesting take on it, but I think if you removed the triangle in the background it would help tremendously (I mean, you already have one on the other two logos). The penguin also looks a little cross-eyed, I would suggest moving his pupils a little farther apart. No nitpicks on the tertiary, it looks pretty solid and the pinstripes are a nice touch. Oh, and your custom wordmark and number sheet are pretty impressive.

[elliott]

I'm really getting a fighter plane vibe off this one. The view looking up the nose at the pilot. The white part of the circle is the canopy, and the two lines on its body form the flight yoke.

The gradient pinstripes work surprisingly well.

Malkin is number 71, not 75.

Lastly, thank you for bringing back yellow. Much better than that vegas gold crap they wear now.

Ahhh, yes, Malkin is, indeed, 71. Fixing that now.

[CS85]

I really like the alt, the primaries are well rendered, yet the pinstripes are a bit strange. I appreciate the approach to doing something unique, but I don't think I could give this a fair judgment until I saw it on a player model.

[floydnimrod]

Glad you're back to posting concepts again.

I love the striping pattern that's going on here on the home and away.

And I absolutely love that stripe/object-logo combination on the alternate.

I feel like there's enough of each color on the jerseys that the outline + shadow could be removed and it would still look great. But I can decide if the 'Pittsburgh' script would look better with or without the outlines.

[Lights Out]

You've got a really good start here. I like the faded pinstripes and the unique striping, and the return to yellow instead of vegas gold. I'm not digging the font choices (they'd be really hard to read in an actual game) or the diagonal "Pittsburgh" on the road (I like consistency). I think the logos are a great start but they're a bit too abstract. I think you should try to strike more of a balance between realistic/iconic and abstract.'

Overall, great start! I love the effort here.

[chickenfish13]

It's awesome to see someone put a whole lot of effort into a concept. I read through the whole thing, and I have to agree with you. I really wish I had been on here when great concepts were churned out, because I agree that half the stuff on the concepts forum is garbage (no offense, it just is). I can't speak for myself, I don't know if my work is good or bad, I like to think the former but it's up to you guys. I love seeing new logos, that's why I came here, and I really don't like sifting through 10 jersey tweak threads to find a logo design thread. It's great to see you back posting, because it's an inspiration for everyone, and maybe an inkling of what you say will go through the minds of other people, as well as me. Hopefully I didn't come across as a jerk, but I'm just saying what I think.

As for the concept I really like it because it's different and you put a lot of effort into it. I really like the jerseys, better than what I can remember from your previous rebrand. I like the front-facing penguin head, but the way it connects ( or maybe lack of ) to the body seems odd. I really like the retro circle logo with the pinstripes as well, looks really good.

Hopefully you can post a bit more, you know I'm a big fan and I'd like to see some more of these effort-full concepts. Great work.

[Morgan33]

I remember your last Penguins concept... it used a rust tinted Gold as a secondary colour, glad to see you have revisited it.

Using Athletic Gold was definitely the right way to go. The rust you used before was too bland, not unlike the team's current shade of Vegas Gold. The custom number font works really well, I'm tired of everyone using a bloc font as a crutch. However I;m not a fan of how stripes on all three jerseys abruptly end for no reason, especially on the third. That being said I think your just a few tweaks away from something great.

[Frylock]

Just a few comments. Regarding your opinions on the quality of concepts around here, I do think it's worth pointing out that just because something only took a few hours to make doesn't mean it's crap, and just because it took a week doesn't mean it's a prize-winner, either.

On to your creation, I like the colors, but I don't care for the primary logo. The custom font is cool. But overall, I'm not digging the pinstripes. The black jersey reminds me of the Brandon Wheat Kings, and the white reminds me of the Pirates "Family" era bumblebee unis. I think you're going in the right direction, just a little more refining, specifically on the primary.

[jaha32]

I read most of your post, cant say I read all of it honestly but I skimmed. I agree that I hate sifting through all the paint concepts and jerseys tweaks just to find the rare authentic logo, so Im glad youre doing something original here.

I think the pinstripes work. Its not something you usually see on hockey jerseys but it works. The sleeves are also nice. I like where youre going with the primary. I actually think the cartoony Penguins logo in real life is kind of bad. I prefer there 90s logo, so i like your design here since it goes away from that cartoony thing. Im not a huge fan of the fins/wings. I think the could look a little more like real wings, but what you have here is decent. I dont like the straight on secondary logo. It's not obviously a penguin. It's a lot of shapes and it's close to working, but it could be more of a penguin.

[Blitz]

The concept has a very 70's Pirates feel to it.... and it works SO well!!! I am actually a little surprised with how much I like it considering it has...

- Pinstripes

- Gradients

- Bold Yellow

All thing I would normally hate on a hockey jersey... Well Done, Very nice!

[tvko]

I agree with everything you said about the concept forum. Prepare for backlash from those guilty, though.

As for the concept: seriously awesome. I really can tell this took a lot of time, and I'd say you hit a homer here. Yellow sweater is amazing, logo is amazing, fonts as well. Overall just wonderful. The only issue I have is the away: I don't know how legible that "Pittsburgh" would be. But, that's it. Great continuity throughout.

(Your last Pens concept... not so much )

[Logodude]

I don't like the fact that the secondary logo sort of looks like a robot. But the I like the primary.

[redsox1002003]

Great job! Everything just works on these. I would love to see the Pens wear these on the ice. And as the masses stated above, the yellow is much better than the vegas gold they currently have.

[MDC]

You're awesome, dude. You were one of the main contributers when I first joined, and dare I say, an inspiration. I sucked pretty hard with designing anything at first. Not too long ago, I went back, and a lot of things clicked. For some reason, I started making better art. I personally promise to make some concepts this summer. Let's please start filling up the forum with real original logos. My minor league series was going pretty strong, and I started that series with a similar lament to the one you posted. but I think I'm gonna go after some NBA teams now. Anyways, good to see you back.

[bigmike]

I'm not even a hockey fan but I'm just excited to see that your posting again! Like many people have already said, you were(still are) one of the best designers when I joined and its really weird how the concept forum has changed so much. I've lost interest in doing concepts lately but I like to think my most recent football series was "clean" and looked nice despite the fact I used paint for a lot of it. But there is no doubt, most of the concepts here now really suck (no offense to anyone) compared to the ones posted here when I first joined, so I'm glad your back in it and I'll be looking forward to your awesome baseball concepts (If you decided to do them again).

Anyways, like I said I'm no hockey specialist but I love this concept, the uniforms are unique and the logos look great as usual.

[uniguy22]

Sorry but I really don't like this. I think the primary logo needs a lot of work. I think the chest is too large, because the chest is the first thing I see. The fins are too sharp, and I don't like how they come out of the triangle.I think you need more black on the penguin and shrinking the chest may accomplish that. The secondary logo looks like an owl to me and just seems too busy. I don't like the pinstripes on the jersey. They just seem so 90's to me. The black stripe on the front of the third jersey just seems out of place. I would have it wrap around or lose it all together. I really like the wordmark, and I like the number font but I would lose the drop shadow. So while this isn't my favourite concept I am a fan of your other work and its good to see you back.

[Steve-O]

It is easy to say the concept forum is filled with but everyone starts somewhere. That is why we have the concept forum, to post work that can be judged, criticized and applauded. People progress their skills through the use of the concept forum and the feedback given to them. If you don't like sifting through it, don't check it out. Otherwise, check out the "bad" work and comment how they can get better.

As for your concept: I like that it is very original. The penguin could use some refining in his stance and position but it has potential. Perhaps it is the amount of yellow used to define the shape of the penguin that throws it off. Keep it up though, great to have you back Elliot.

[Lights Out]

The problem is, we're dealing with trolls who refuse to listen to constructive criticism, fill up the forum with their half-baked concepts (often with polls as a cheap ploy to keep having their thread get bumped), and often resort to plagiarism.