Non Contrasting Jersey Crests

[Gothamite]

From a design standpoint, it is much better to create a logo that will work on any colored background.

Work on any colored background, or have maximum contrast with any colored background?

I agree with the former, but not the latter.

The Jets' roundel works perfectly well on their sweaters, even if the largest circle is the same color as the background.

[andrewharrington]

I definitely prefer it when the logo contrasts with the jersey, and I can see the value in having the exact same crest for both jerseys, but sometimes you have to change it. You can't tell me the old Flames' jerseys would look good with a red C on a red jersey. The White C on the red jersey, along with the red C on the white jersey, is what makes that work. For a team like the jets, I prefer keeping the same logo home and away, but I like the contrast, so I would have gone with a light blue jersey instead of the same dark blue as the outer ring, kind of like the old RCAF jerseys.

[kw11333]

Canucks and the Leafs do it... I am not sure why the Canucks only have on shoulder patch logo though, it would be so easy just to make the stick in the rink logo on the blue jersey white...

Exactly. They made two primary logos, both of which contrast perfectly against their respective jerseys but didn't bother to give the same treatment to the shoulder patches. Only thing holding the set back IMO

Canucks pre lock-out made even less sense, because their 3rd/vintage jersey had the white version of the stick in the rink.

[GFB]

I think switching colors on crests that are letter or symbol-based is perfectly acceptable. Switching colors on designs that are actual depictions of objects (such as the Wild) doesn't make much sense to me because those marks are usually developed with a color hierarchy that gets all thrown out of whack if one of the colors is substituted.

[nash61]

Canucks and the Leafs do it... I am not sure why the Canucks only have on shoulder patch logo though, it would be so easy just to make the stick in the rink logo on the blue jersey white...

Exactly. They made two primary logos, both of which contrast perfectly against their respective jerseys but didn't bother to give the same treatment to the shoulder patches. Only thing holding the set back IMO

Canucks pre lock-out made even less sense, because their 3rd/vintage jersey had the white version of the stick in the rink.

You mean like this?

[andrewharrington]

I think switching colors on crests that are letter or symbol-based is perfectly acceptable. Switching colors on designs that are actual depictions of objects (such as the Wild) doesn't make much sense to me because those marks are usually developed with a color hierarchy that gets all thrown out of whack if one of the colors is substituted.

This is the rule I generally live by, although one color logos (Lightning, Maple Leafs, for example) can usually be reversed if they're non-dimensional, silhouette type logos.

[kw11333]

Canucks and the Leafs do it... I am not sure why the Canucks only have on shoulder patch logo though, it would be so easy just to make the stick in the rink logo on the blue jersey white...

Exactly. They made two primary logos, both of which contrast perfectly against their respective jerseys but didn't bother to give the same treatment to the shoulder patches. Only thing holding the set back IMO

Canucks pre lock-out made even less sense, because their 3rd/vintage jersey had the white version of the stick in the rink.

You mean like this?

Yeah, on the white jerseys, those shoulder patches looked great, but on the dark jerseys, you can barley notice they are there.

[Morgan33]

Heres another one... no excuse for not making the outer circle Powder Blue. It's an alternate jersey

[VancouverFan69]

Canucks and the Leafs do it... I am not sure why the Canucks only have on shoulder patch logo though, it would be so easy just to make the stick in the rink logo on the blue jersey white...

Exactly. They made two primary logos, both of which contrast perfectly against their respective jerseys but didn't bother to give the same treatment to the shoulder patches. Only thing holding the set back IMO

Canucks pre lock-out made even less sense, because their 3rd/vintage jersey had the white version of the stick in the rink.

You mean like this?

Yeah, on the white jerseys, those shoulder patches looked great, but on the dark jerseys, you can barley notice they are there.

I never liked the blue stick in the white rink. It just doesn't stand out like the white stick in the blue rink. I was very happy with what the Canucks did with their current thirds. What makes the latter stand out more is the white inner border forms the 'C'. Even on the original logo, the white inner border adds more distinction between the green border and the blue rink. It's not much different than the Islanders' white NY in the blue circle. Some crests are not meant to be inverted. Crests of the Leafs, Flames, North Stars, and Whalers have a more defined shape, in which inverting makes sense.

[IceCap]

Heres another one... no excuse for not making the outer circle Powder Blue. It's an alternate jersey

There's no excuse for that sweater period.

[whitedawg22]

It's worth noting that high-definition TV have changed design, since the vast majority of fans watch games on TV. 10-15 years ago, standard-definition TVs in the neighborhood of 30" were the norm. If a team didn't have a contrasting logo, it would be invisible to television viewers. Now many people watch games on 45-60" HD TVs, which allows for more subtle designs.

That still doesn't excuse the Hurricanes' black-on-slightly-darker-black shoulder crest, but I think elements like the Jets' or Panthers' blue-on-blue circles are fine.

[Bayne]

I think the topic's argument is a bit pointless.

[Bayne]

Canucks and the Leafs do it... I am not sure why the Canucks only have on shoulder patch logo though, it would be so easy just to make the stick in the rink logo on the blue jersey white...

Exactly. They made two primary logos, both of which contrast perfectly against their respective jerseys but didn't bother to give the same treatment to the shoulder patches. Only thing holding the set back IMO

Canucks pre lock-out made even less sense, because their 3rd/vintage jersey had the white version of the stick in the rink.

You mean like this?

Yeah, on the white jerseys, those shoulder patches looked great, but on the dark jerseys, you can barley notice they are there.

That's so stupid. Shoulder patches are fine being understated. Not everything on the jersey needs to pop out of you. Hence what Carolina recently did with their third jersey.

[Morgan33]

That's so stupid. Shoulder patches are fine being understated. Not everything on the jersey needs to pop out of you. Hence what Carolina recently did with their third jersey.

Theres a difference between understated and invisible. The Johnny Canuck V's on the current alt are understated, the ones on the navy are damn near non existant.

[Bayne]

I think all shoulder patches that are 'non-contrasting' are understated. Only Carolina's black and grey one could be called (partially) invisible.

[IceCap]

I think the topic's argument is a bit pointless.

There's only so many ways to initiate conversation regarding sports uniforms and logos. This site's been around since 1997.

The original question may be off, but it's stimulated conversation regarding hockey sweaters. So just roll with it.

[Bayne]

I think the topic's argument is a bit pointless.

There's only so many ways to initiate conversation regarding sports uniforms and logos. This site's been around since 1997.

The original question may be off, but it's stimulated conversation regarding hockey sweaters. So just roll with it.

You're right. And I have.

[Morgan33]

I think the topic's argument is a bit pointless.

There's only so many ways to initiate conversation regarding sports uniforms and logos. This site's been around since 1997.

The original question may be off, but it's stimulated conversation regarding hockey sweaters. So just roll with it.

I fail to see how anything about it is "off" or "pointless." This is a design board and it's a design question. If we can have a thread about pinstripes, we can have a thread of contrasting jersey crests.

[Discrim]

It's actually a rather interesting thought. As with many issues, I feel it's a case-by-case situation. The Flyers, for example, the P's been predominantly black for so long that it'd look funny in any other coloration. Granted, they no longer wear black jerseys, but that was a case where nothing needed to be changed crestwise. You could make a decent case for the Bruins altering the shoulder crests of their home blacks, though not to black. In that case, I think white would be a better direction to go than black, though in any case, the black trim is rather thick, so it's not like it's that hard to see.

A couple jerseys that I felt had poor contrast, though...the Blackhawks' black alts and almost every white Stars jersey since they dropped the N-star. It's funny though, when the Hawks first rolled out their blacks, there wasn't all that much of a problem with the crest...

But then they removed the crest's outline for some reason.

Moving onto the Stars...man, I'll be blunt, I always hated these jerseys. The black jersey just had a litany of contrast problems (I remember watching them on TV rather frequently, and the green in those jerseys didn't show up very well at all), and gold lettering usually needs to be trimmed in something to show up on white, otherwise you can barely see it from most distances. The DALLAS pants were cool, though, I wish they still had em.

Going onto other sports...don't get me started on these fuglies. I thought these were powder blue when I saw em on TV, and I could barely make out either the number or the oversized Tulsa script. Glad this was a one-off. I hope.

[GangGr33n FTW]

Well, my Isles never have this problem, so.... All jokes aside, this bugs me too. No one has mentioned the Kings (most of their unis) or the raiders silver numbers On whiten(which I love btw) yet??