Blue Jackets Concept

[hockey week]

I know the board isn't too keen on recolors, but I've had this idea in my head since seeing the Jackets play the Wings, and I wanted to flesh it out. First off, I think the Jackets need to move away from their current look. It's nice, but they've pretty much hit the end of what they can do with it. If it's time to start building up, it's time for a new look, and based on how many of the suckers you see at Nationwide Arena, I think the third jersey is the right choice. What I've done here is, I think, pretty obvious, but worth actually doing. The home is the same, but with vintage white avoided, and the original number font kept (which I think is more Civil-War-esque than anything else they've had). The point is to be realistic, so I avoided being extra creative with rank insignia (which has been done on these boards in better ways than i could produce anyways), and kept the third simple, different, and civic-minded.

The problem is, the jerseys don't lend themselves to having an alternate logo on them, with the contrasting shoulders and whatnot. I'd like to think of some kind of hybrid between the Ohio flag (which Ohioans seem to love; it's everywhere) and the current secondary logo with the hat (because that's the most accurate representation of where "Blue Jackets" comes from: those uniforms), but haven't figured that out yet.

C&C?

[sonny]

A couple things to consider, I love the classic, clean look but I would eliminate the roundel and just use the cannon with another element, perhaps wrapped in the Ohio flag.

Secondly, and this may just be personal preference, but I despise that number font. I actually like the set they use for their current alternative.

[OhioSportsMan61]

interesting...have you thought of maybe basing the home and roads off of the your alternate? i think that it would be a little more unique, and has the potential to look sharp and classic. i personally like their current alternate, but as an alternate....just my opinion, but i dont think a road white based off of it will ever look good. great work tho on the alt tho!

[fouhy12]

I really like them! Just use the font from the current alt on the home and road. The current font works on the alt though! I also feel like the light blue could be a little lighter(think Thrashers' home)

[ns80]

Agreed this is what look the team needs. They need to steer away from the current Ranger-like scheme.

[hockey week]

Some updates based on suggestions. First off, a white version of the alternate:

Using the lighter blue on the sleeves makes for a more unique jersey. I tried using an Atlanta blue, and it really was too bright. Looked a lot like something the Penguins should wear as an alternate. I can post one, but it was nothing spectacular, unfortunately.

And something a lot different. I'm not exactly happy with the logo yet, I would really like some comments on what might improve it, or if it's not worth improving. Obviously very little of the artwork there is mine, I've just rearranged it.

I figure the red can be a color seen only in the logo, like Winnipeg, the Steelers, Buffalo's red eye, etc. Obviously the buckeye is a "cannonball" bursting out the side of the logo, with stars as "shrapnel" around it, obviously referencing the Ohio state flag. I tried using the more smooth-edged Cleveland Barons state outline, but after comparing the two, decided that it 1) looked odd next to the detailed cannon, 2) it's the 21st century and we can have detail, 3) the Red Wings had a tremendous amount of detail in the 30s, maybe the detail will add to the vintage look anyways.

Thoughts? C&C?

[CS85]

A good start, but the cannon "blast" of the flag is awkward.

[Whittier S]

I really like your original set here. I find the shooting flag to look forced and cheesy, and has the same problem the current Blue Jackets branding has--the flag is backwards. I think you should experiment with just using the cannon--no map, no roundel, no special effects, just play with the cannon and see what you come up with.

[ns80]

Heck with the kepi recolor logo. That would look nice on a white, navy, or powder blue jersey.

[hockey week]

I'm actually kinda surprised how good the cannon looks on light blue, with or without an outline. That was my big problem, would it look good on something other than white? Any thoughts on these options?

[habsfan1]

The cannon on light blue with an outline would look good on a vintage jersey. That's the only one I would use.

[fouhy12]

The cannon in the state outline would be a good shoulder patch. Add that to the current set and it is pretty much perfect!

[hockey week]

I think I finally have a finished product. The more I looked at what I've done so far, I liked the state outline in white more and more. It just seemed right. The big cannon was good, too, but having it alone makes the logo look gangly, like there should be more to it, especially below the cannon. The state outline still looks ok on the white, it's just less visible. If teams wore white at home, I'd go with just the cannon, but since they don't, I took the collegiate/baseball solution and put the city on the road, something that you guys seemed to like anyways. Anyways, here it is, complete with gear:

[CS85]

I like the finished product.

[ns80]

This would make too much sense though for Columbus to go along with a nice concept like this.

[Cody21]

My only critique is this isn't really fixing anything. The alternate is a great jersey, but the jersey as a light blue alt is awful. Can you try and bring back Stinger???????

[Morgan33]

The home jersey looks great but do we really need another jersey with a diagonal script. It's becoming such a cookie cutter aspect. The look would be stronger if both jerseys featured the same primary logo.

[hockey week]

The home jersey looks great but do we really need another jersey with a diagonal script. It's becoming such a cookie cutter aspect. The look would be stronger if both jerseys featured the same primary logo.

Honestly, there aren't that many diagonal-text jerseys in the league anymore. Just these, and one is going away:

It's used just as often as the "drifting slightly upward to the right", and nobody has complained about that:

Or arched lettering over center:

But let me give you my reasoning why I went for that, because honestly, the logo still works on the white, it just looks more minimalist, kinda like the Jets blue jersey. This is a team that is suffering from a lack of identity. Anything to make them more readily identifiable is a good thing. That's why I included the state of Ohio, and the secondary says the full name. On the road, you need to identify yourself even more. Baseball has this figured out, with many teams wearing their team name at home and the city name on the road. Combine that with the fact that white jersey sales trail behind dark jersey sales across the league. How do you make the white more appealing? Make it the more civic-minded of the two. If people want to show off "Columbus", they do it with the whites. Plus, nobody does a home/road mismatch like this anymore. Sure, there's the cobbled-together Wild, but nothing on purpose. I think it would add a bit of novelty to the team as well. So anyways, that's why I did it. I'd certainly introduce a text-based third if I didn't have that white one, but I really like the white one

[speedy]

You know, I quite liked that bursting flag cannon. Maybe the execution was a bit off but the idea was great. If I were you I'd play around with different treatments and see where it takes you, haven't seen that idea on a Jackets concept yet.

[colinturner95]

I think that red should still be somewhere, other than that, good job.