Jump to content

Rebranding my local hockey team


wildwing64

Recommended Posts

So here's a project that I've been working on - and am looking to possibly propose to the team.

Now I can only name maybe one other CCSLCer who is even vaguely aware of this team's existence, so I'll give a bit of background info to save you all the trouble of Googling it. But yeah, the team in question is the Chelmsford Chieftains, an Essex based ice hockey team founded in 1987 and a member of several different leagues over their 25 year existence. And yeah, ice hockey in the UK is a mess, I know.

The Chieftains name came about because the players nicknamed their player coach at the time "Chief" and it stuck. I'm aware the Native American theming doesn't make a whole lot of sense as to my knowledge there are no Native Americans living near Chelmsford, let alone anywhere in the United Kingdom, but changing this team's name would alienate the fanbase so I'm avoiding that route.

Over their 25 year existence the Chieftains have gone through various different logos which you'll see below:

timeline.png

Along with a multitude of logos they've also been through pretty much the whole rainbow for different colour schemes. First they started off with black and gold (with some red in the logo, despite the one pictured above being black and white), then green and yellow (not pictured, because I can't find it anywhere), then red and blue, then red and black, then burgundy and silver for their 20th anniversary season in 2007-08, and then back to black and gold again, with a different variation of the Boston Bruins template for the past three or four years.

What I wanted to do with this rebrand was to modernise them while bringing their history together, giving them a new logo that's an evolution of the current one but also borrows elements from their first one. I've added red as an accent colour to their black and gold scheme to give them something that's both unique and a subtle way of celebrating their history. I've got two different uniform options to share, one with red and one without. As far as the logos are concerned I've got the primary and a wordmark done but I may add a shoulder patch later Now with added shoulder patch!

chieftainsV2.png

All C&C welcome and appreciated.

mTBXgML.png

PotD: 24/08/2017

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well...it's definitely a better brand than any of the previous ones. I'd work on the logotype though. It doesn't have much personality or really compliment the logo, so it feels like more of an afterthought. I like the colors and your direction for sure, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the comments so far!

I think you need some edgier facial features. Slim up the Leno chin as well. Great start, though.

Come on now, the one they're currently using has it worse :P

In all seriousness, I felt it best to keep the Chieftain looking somewhat cartoony like the existing one so as not to alienate the younger fans who have grown up with the existing logo for however long they've been using it (I have no idea because this info is damn near impossible to find anywhere)

Definitely option A. Only replace the black number outline with red on the dark sweater And go with a red-outer, gold-inner outline on the white sweater.

If I do end up proposing this to the team it'll pretty much be a case of whether they prefer it with or without the red accents. But I'm glad we agree that Option A is the better choice.

But like I said, it's an accent colour, so I don't want to put too much emphasis on red, not when the team has this whole "black and yellow" thing going on. And yes, they even use the song too.

well...it's definitely a better brand than any of the previous ones. I'd work on the logotype though. It doesn't have much personality or really compliment the logo, so it feels like more of an afterthought. I like the colors and your direction for sure, though.

Is it the font or just the layout that makes it feel that way? Either way I'll try experimenting with some different fonts and see what I get.

mTBXgML.png

PotD: 24/08/2017

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

If you wanted to do a really radical rebrand, maybe a Chieftain conceived as an ancient Briton chieftain?

... Y'know, that thought never crossed my mind. And for some reason it clearly didn't with the team either. At this point I imagine they'd be unwilling to move away from the Native American theme after having it for so long, but it's something I might experiment with somewhere down the line anyway.

Thanks for your input!

mTBXgML.png

PotD: 24/08/2017

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.