Finally, Some Concept Art
I really feel bad for having gone so long without a concept art post. It's not as if I didn't have anything on deck, either. A friend of mine would say if I really felt bad, I'd stop doing it. I just wish I had more time to dedicate to the blog the way I did over the summer when most of you started visiting.
But it's a tough job, finding the time to add new content daily and I just want you guys to know I'm giving it my best. I'm lucky to get polls up every day so I just wanted to say I appreciate your understanding. And eventually I know I skipped the Freak Out Friday last week (we should have one this week) and I will update the bracket as soon as I have a chance. (By the way, keep the emails coming. It's the only way I know whether anyone is still interested in the site.)
Anyway, I have some fan made logo and jersey designs to share from my inbox. Allow me to take you on a trip to California in what will be one of the longest concept posts in a very long time.
I wanted to start with something really well-designed. As part of what I understand to be a school project, this designer painstakingly created an entire identity for the Anaheim Ducks — whose current logo was, to my surprise, eliminated from competition in the first round of the Quest for the Worst.
At least tell me you guys would vote this one down.
But while I mock the current logo, it does have its redeeming qualities. For instance, a simple improvement would simple call for a dropping of the "UCKS." As such.
My favorite logo still has to be this one, though. 
One of a kind, I tell you. Obviously, they would've looked so much better raising the Cup in that sweater.
Now let's head to L.A. where we've got a couple of options. The first one keeps the colors while simplifying the uniforms.
The second suggests switching the silver to gold and toying with past logo designs.
I know you guys tend to mock it, but I love that king logo. I love everything about that logo! Especially it's subtle asymmetry. But for what it's worth I hated the jerseys it was worn on. Yes, they were different and interesting, but at some point you have to realize you've got a gray gradient wrapped around your jersey. And then it just get weird.
Speaking of weird, I could never understand why the San Jose Sharks unveiled a "full shark" logo and consigned it to the shoulders. My feeling is you put it front and center.
Then you take the new fin logo and put that on the shoulders, which this artists did not do. And staying on the weird tack, check out this blue jersey.
Yeah, it didn't work for the Bruins. It certainly doesn't work for the Sharks. Consider the effort applauded, but really, no.
However, this brings up a good point. In the digital age, the hue is often mistranslated and sometimes the Sharks look like they're we're a greenish teal and sometimes they don't. What about a complete switch to blue? 
Now for a little something out of left field. A lot of folks bemoaned the introduction of orange but few have even considered letting go of the teal. Until now.
Notice too how the diamond-shaped fin logo appears on the shoulders of these sweaters. I like it but it's very lackluster in the color department. Maybe some teal accents or something to go along with that orange. I don't know.
Anyway, I thought we had a nice Californian crop of artwork tonight. As always, I welcome your thoughts below in the comments.
19 comments:
Those last Black and White Sharks Jerseys look really sharp. Especially the black, which really makes the orange pop (plus goes better with the fins at the shoulders). Plus, the change from the teal accent on the shark design to a gray are perfect.
But with just black and white now it comes off as being a Dallas ripoff. Also, the scheme looks similar to Anaheim's designs, which is just about sacrilege to any real Sharks fan.
I like that purple duck. Except for the fact that it's purple. Why purple?
But I think the best Ducks logo I've seen is the D (minus the -ucks). A small change, but a night-and-day improvement. How have they not done this yet?
That's my shockingly teal-free Sharks design, by the way. I tried taking out the orange and leaving the teal, but it just didn't look as good. (I don't usually comment on my own designs, but my website got cropped - wererevolting.com.)
I noticed the similarity to the Dallas design, but in the Reebok league, where most teams wear slight variations of three or four basic templates, I don't think it can be called a ripoff.
I didn't notice the color scheme similarity to the Ducks. Lots of teams wear similar colors, too, but considering the rivalry it probably wouldn't fly. Too bad.
I like the first concept with the duck's head. However, I think the purple and gold would be more suitable for the LA Kings. I would like the idea of dark green and orange for the Ducks. Green for the mallard duck's head and orange for its bill and for Orange County. The NHL needs to get back to more variety in team colour schemes and conservative simplicity in uniform designs. The NFL and the NBA have a variety of colour schemes among their teams and their merchandise sales are always high. Too much black in hockey.
Tthe king's head logo looks quite nice actually. Some people say that logo's like that are verging on the AHL cartoon style but, really, wouldn't most ahl logos be an improvement over their nhl counterparts?
I especially like the shading done on a majority of logo's like this king's head. It's the small things like that that just make it seem all the more likable.
I went with the purple and gold because mallard ducks are usually purple and green, and i feel that there arent enough teams with purple, i had original concepts that had teal as the dominant color, but it just didnt look right. The reason i chose to do the home jerseys in purple was as andre said, too much black in hockey jerseys, do i tried to eliminate black all together, replacing it with an extremely dark purple. I cant stand the combination of orange and green, it kind of disgusts me which is why i tried to find a more suitable replacement. Thanks for posting my concepts and thanks for the comments.
-Mark
I meant Forest Green, not teal.
I absolutely love that second Ducks concept, the orange and green one. It's truly fantastic, especially compared to their current primary, which is, imho, tied for worst in the league with Atlanta and Carolina.
That concept involving the the duck-shaped hockey mask doesn't seem to have a "D" in it.. it just looks like it says "UCKS". I won't deny, though, that I adore that mask logo and always have. Though cartoony and obviously Disney-ish, it's just so visually appealing, not to mention completely bomb ass. Sorry haters!
the kings old man logo looks really good on the new jersey, i am surprised... good job to whoever designed those, i think they would work nicely
and having a purple ducks jersey, it doesnt really make sense since their crosstown rival has purple as a major color in their jerseys, i dont think i could take two purple teams meeting 8 games per year
Pretty good work on the Ducks overhaul. I'm not sure about the purple as others have stated, but the jersey design itself is nice. No goofy piping and the stripes appear to be complete! Hooray!
The only problem I see is that on the dark jersey the duck's head almost disappears.
What's that second one supposed to say? Vucks? Oucks? Xucks? I'm trying hard to find an S so that I can make the obvious "Sucks" joke, but it doesn't appear to be possible. Bah.
George Parros sure has a nice mustache.
jacob. didn't mean to come off as crass. objectively speaking, i actually really like the look of the jerseys, which i did say in the first part of my comment.
but the sharks fan-subjective view in me struck me as not right to have a Sharks jersey look so similar to two of their divisional rivals. but then again, i'm a proponent of seeing a design with lots of dark gray and black (lots of sharks are gray in real life)
i do agree that an all teal in with the current design would look weird though.
I'm a big fan of that long Ducks concept... that looks pretty darn sweet, something the league could get used to.
I do have to laugh though... when someone puts so much effort into work like that, wouldn't you think they would at least spell Scott Niedermayer's name right?
Yeah, I forgot to mention that, when i realized it I figured I'm in art school, no one here watches hockey, and no one will notice, and they did not, I was waiting for someone to catch that.
That Ducks Logo Would Look Pretty Sharp be it Purple or Green. Looks similar to the Old Capitals Logo.
The Sharks Jersey at the Bottom is Also Perfect, Except it's missing Something Mainly in the middle stripe and on the shoulders...Teal or another Colour Anyone??
No worries, Washington. I'm a long way from San Jose and I wasn't thinking about their rivalries when I designed these. Glad you drew my attention to the problem.
Yea, that last Sharks Jersey with the Black/Orange is sharp.
No thanks on the blue sharks jerseys! I love the colour of them, even though they don't show up on TV or the computer usually. They look awesome in real life!
Not many Sharks fans are fond of the orange. For one, I don't think it goes with the teal, second its way too close to the hated "Ucks" as you once put it. Third, the black and orange bottom jerseys look good, but they look like the SF Giants! and again too much like the Ducks. The teal is a big part of the Sharks. I admit we need to pick, teal-green, blue-green, teal, or blue and not keep going back and forth.
I'll do some creations on NHL 09 and send you some photos over to the icethetics.
Oh and the Ducks purple Jersey and new logo is very very intriguing and promising. purple and gold is rare in sports especially hockey.
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