S.O.S. by s. (Sochi Olympic Sweaters by sparky)...Finnish Plaid

[sparkychewbarky]

Nike has almost completely botched the 2014 Sochi Olympic Hockey Sweater redesign.

...And that statement, after studying most of the public's response, is as much an observation, as it is an opinion.

As a hockey fan, and a lover of the international game, I am pissed at Nike for turning the process into some sort of self-serving experimental vehicle for it's tacky gimmicks and wanky designs.

What the hell is happening out in Beaverton?

Lately, Nike "designers" have been turning football uniforms into bad super-hero costumes, and seem intent on doing the same to Sochi's puck-chasers.

These are the national uniforms of proud hockey nations...not the ever-changing garish garb of the Oregon Ducks!

Ken Black, Creative Director at Nike, defensively proclaimed that the 2014 Olympic Hockey Concepts are the work of 6 Designers over the course of two years.

He failed to mention what fields these designers may have specialized in.

I'm guessing;

Rainwear Fashion ...

Wallpaper Design...

Awning Fabrication...

There are currently at least 3 threads on these Concepts' pages, re: redesigning the Olympic sweaters.

No wonder.

Let's see what the CCSLC can come up with...

[sparkychewbarky]

Canada

Imagine trying to convince this hockey nation, (where the game is like a religion), that fake sweater laces are somehow good for our hockey soul.

It's like trying to pawn off fake scotch, to a lover of the peaty whiskey.

Nike's Canadian effort provides good argument that a nation's uniforms should be designed by the residents of that nation.

A Canuck would have immediately picked up on the similarity between Nike's design and the logo of Canada's flagship chain of gas stations.

Petro-Canada kind of owns the "leaf-in-a-box" look... (and isn't that leaf an EXACT copy of the Petro-Leaf?!)

Nike wanted to pay tribute to the classic '72 Summit Series sweaters,

so with that noble intent in mind, I came up with this geometric logo...

The '72 'logo' was actually the striping pattern on the sweater...there really wasn't a 'logo' in the traditional sense.

So, I kept to that approach with this design...

[sparkychewbarky]

Czech Republic

Nike wanted to do a Czech "flag" sweater, so they came up with this...

(It's the one on the right)

Now it looks nice, but if I'm a Canuck player on the 'away' team, flying down centre ice with the puck on the attack, all I'm gonna see on a back-checking Czech to my left, is the white side of his uni.

In the split-second world of a hockey game, you don't have time to decipher "Is he on MY Team?".

Nike just may have designed a sweater that won't be (or shouldn't be) worn in the tournament!

The Czechs have a real nice heraldic coat of arms, so I didn't change it at all, and only designed a Czech-banner helmet sticker...

A better idea for a flag-sweater, would have been to put the flag on the sleeves.

It's a lot less confusing, and the triangular blue shape makes a nice space for the numbers.

Up next ...U.S.A. and Russia.

[nas1787]

That Czech sweater is a beauty!

[Jake88]

I like the smaller details of the Czech one as much as the bigger ones. Like the flag on the pants and collar insert.

[GriffinM6]

That Czech white sweater wins! You get $10,000 for designing that beauty!

[Lycan38]

Both look fantastic. Definite upgrade over what Nike has done. Wish they would stick to ruining football and leave hockey alone. Can't wait to see what you have in store for the U.S. and Russia.

[MrWonka]

I hate to brag (even though any concepts are better than these) but I made 12 better concepts in a week than those people did in two years. I seriously think that teams should go to these boards and decide their look. (Could probably even pay less) These are very nice. I especially like the Czech jersey. The thing I don't really care for with the Canada jerseys is how the side panels connect the logo/stripe. I think the logo you had with 'Canada' script under would look very sharp on it's own.

Regardless, both better than what was unveiled.

[sparkychewbarky]

Thanks for the feedback guys...

Russia

I really don't know what to say about this one.

It's supposed to be a 'winged' sweater, but from the front, the wings are just a big white blob.

The design accentuates those awful cupped, pinched shoulders.

I hate the "doily" designs around the neck.

This sweater, like the Nike Czech home sweater, is confusing.

There's dozens of ways to design a uniform, but let's use the same agenda as Nike imposed on itself...

A winged sweater created from the silhouette of the Russian coat of arms (COA).

I'm gonna put two small COA logos up on the shoulders, and have the side numbers down a bit on the arms.

To do that, I needed to tweak the COA logo to have the wings slope downward, and to simplify the COA for a smaller application.

So, I reworked the Russian Coat of Arms...

The longer wing feathers will work better as a winged silhouette on the arms.

I knocked back the contrast on the winged outline by making it a 'watermark' on the aways, and using two colours of similar value (red and blue) on the homes.

With the COA crests up on the shoulders, The "RUSSIA" wordmark can be raised up onto the chest where it should be...

Have you noticed that Nike hasn't used any shoulder patches with this series?

I guess the traditional patches wouldn't leave enough room up top for their shiny :censored:.

[sparkychewbarky]

I hate to brag (even though any concepts are better than these) but I made 12 better concepts in a week than those people did in two years.

You're bang-on MrWonka!

[MrWonka]

I hate to brag (even though any concepts are better than these) but I made 12 better concepts in a week than those people did in two years.

You're bang-on MrWonka!

And by 'these' I meant the actual Nike Designs. Not yours Sparky haha. Just to make that clear.

[sparkychewbarky]

U.S.A.

I think I was most disappointed with the American offering from Nike.

It wasn't the worst, but I expected Nike to at least get the U.S. uniforms 'right' with the great iconic elements that are available to work with...

The stars and stripes, the red, white 'n blue, and big, bold U.S.A. letters.

Instead, we get a 'timid' looking, long-sleeve t-shirt with sparkly shoulders and small chest logo.

This sweater does not proclaim "USA, USA!".

I didn't do anything new here.

I put big, bold U S A letters on a diagonal (It's been done before)...

And placed a (mostly hidden) wreath of stars in behind the letters.

The font has a frontier feel to it...

I've knocked Nike for trying to turn hockey sweaters into football jerseys;

However, if there was one uni to have 'football striping', wouldn't it be the Yanks'?

So, I set this set apart from the others by giving it football-style shoulder stripes,

and placed the two three-star groupings (from the main logo) down the sleeves.

The end result is kind of a combination of the Washington Caps, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Team U.S.A..

[MJWalker45]

I love that USA uniform kit. Especially the shoulders and sleeves.

[colinturner95]

YES!! Someone else believes in the shoulder stripes on a hockey jersey. Bravo!!

[Lycan38]

Fantastic look for the USA. Love the shoulder stripes.

[mbannon92]

Great work all around, Sparky. I especially like the design on the Canada sweaters and the Czech sleeves. Not a fan of the Russian "wing" pattern, though yours is better than the real offering. Also not 100% sure if I'm digging the USA sweaters. I like the design--it's unique but fitting--but the crest just doesn't seem right to me. It doesn't scream Team USA.

[sparkychewbarky]

The thing I don't really care for with the Canada jerseys is how the side panels connect the logo/stripe. I think the logo you had with 'Canada' script under would look very sharp on it's own.

I'm partly agreeing with you MrWonka, so I removed the contrasting side and arm panels on the home uni so the logo would stand alone as a pattern.

I liked the contrasting panels on the aways so I kept them.

I placed a small logo-patch up on the right chest on both home and away.

I also simplified the arm stripes to a simple chevron style.

Thanks for the input MrW.

[sparkychewbarky]

I love that USA uniform kit. Especially the shoulders and sleeves.

YES!! Someone else believes in the shoulder stripes on a hockey jersey. Bravo!!

Fantastic look for the USA. Love the shoulder stripes.

Thanks guys.

The shoulder 'football-style' stripes seemed to fit the U.S theme.

Appreciate the feedback.

[sparkychewbarky]

Not a fan of the Russian "wing" pattern, though yours is better than the real offering. Also not 100% sure if I'm digging the USA sweaters. I like the design--it's unique but fitting--but the crest just doesn't seem right to me. It doesn't scream Team USA.

Hi mb. Thanks for dropping by.

I might try tweaking the US logo a tad later on, if I get the time. It's close, IMO.

I agree with you about the Russian concept.

I'm not a big fan of the winged sweater either.

It's a nice (but not original) idea as a third jersey for a semi-pro team... but it's kinda tacky for a national sweater.

However, I thought I'd give myself the same challenge, as Nike had self-inflicted on themselves.

I knocked the Nike version for the fact that the wings didn't look too wing-like; and then created something that didn't look too wing-like either. (duh)

Mine were too 'stripey', so I gave them a little more form.

I also removed the shoulder patches, and put that logo down on the pants.

As much as I like the traditional shoulder patch, that sweater just had too much 'goin' on' on it.

[sparkychewbarky]

Sweden

Viking legend has it, that Nike and The Swedish Ice Hockey Association fought tooth and nail during the design process.

Apparently, SIHA wanted to rightfully keep their fantastic, historic, iconic looks, while Nike wanted to do their Oregon Ducks thing.

After seeing the 'compromise', I would have loved to have seen what Nike was initially trying to float up the Swedes' fjords!

Why the need to have no arm stripes?

It doesn't look better. It doesn't make a statement.

Does it reflect some wanky artistic theory? I don't know.

Hey, I'm all for 'outside-of-the-box' thinking,

but there's good 'outside-of-the-box' stuff (Windell and Discrimihater),

and then there's the 'outside-of-the-box-just-for-the-sake-of-being-outside-of-the-box' crap (I'm tired of typing 'outside-of-the-box')

that seems to be Nike's M.O. for this Sochi campaign.

For the Swedish uniforms, I went with the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" game plan.

The only thing that I created was a new "Viking Ship" logo that resembles SIHA's logo.

SIHA likes to put their round logo up on the left shoulder or chest, but I don't think that they're allowed to do so for the olympics.

This logo should be O.K. to use...

Other than the above-mentioned slight change, there was no need to alter Sweden's iconic look at all...

(Please excuse the blue hues. I can't seem to get them right)