Project: IHA Northeast

First, if you have no idea what the Icethetics IHA Project is then click here to get caught up.

I wanted to have the new division posted yesterday, but my computer issues prevented that. So now that you've seen the Atlantic and West Divisions, today we're heading back east for the Northeast Division. Remember, your job is to take the name and colors and create an identity for a hockey team from scratch. I believe in you!

The response from artists has been phenomenal. You guys have come up with some great logos. The response from many readers who aren't submitting work has been odd. I don't understand the complaints but you can never please everyone. Just have fun with this project!

As I've said, I'll be unveiling a new division every week until we've got all the team names and colors out there. This week we've begun voting on the Atlantic logos. Next week will be the West. The week after will be today's division. This gives you guys two weeks to come up with and submit designs.

Now for the IHA Northeast...

IHA: NORTHEAST DIVISION

BOSTON ROYALS / Boston, Massachusetts
yellow (F8BF24), purple (660099) and grey (BFCFD1)

HARTFORD BEARS / Hartford, Connecticut
green (03753B), blue (09549A) and white (F0F0F0)

MONTRÉAL ROUGE / Montreal, Quebec
maroon (6D0707), red (A90707) and white (F0F0F0)

OTTAWA CAPITALS / Ottawa, Ontario
grey (D0D5AB), navy (0C0A72) and black (202020)

QUEBEC GLACIER / Quebec City, Quebec
red (C20A2D), blue (013463) and sky (AED5FA)

I've supplied colors in hexadecimal format. Should you need RGB conversion, here's a decent resource. By the way, you aren't tied to the exact colors here. Feel free to alter them a little if need be. But please shy away from the standard colors like total black or total white or total red. Remember, be different! As similar as it might be to the NHL, it's not the NHL!

GUIDELINES
Once again, follow these guidelines when submitting your original IHA artwork:

• DO NOT STEAL ARTWORK. I'm surprised I have to say this but a number of people submitted logos from professional teams. This is where you let your own creativity shine through. Send in something original!


• Submit three (3) logos: primary, secondary and wordmark. Use a white background. If your logo requires a white outline (think Lightning or Capitals), then use a gray background with the white outline included.


• Submit vector art if possible. I will accept .ai, .psd and .pdf files. If you cannot submit vector art, you must be able to provide high quality raster art in .jpg or .png files. No .bmp files, please.


• Try to stick to the assigned colors. Change them only if you deem it necessary and then explain why you made the change. Remember, the "fans" chose these colors and they're who you're working for in the end.


• Email them to nhllogos@gmail.com with IHA in the subject line. Please include your first and last name (it will not be posted). Please also submit your nickname which will be public if you don't want your real first name used.


• By submitting your own original artwork to the email address above, you agree to grant permission of its use for online or print publication by Icethetics. Do not watermark your logos or they will not be considered.


• And finally, be prepared to accept feedback and criticism of all kinds!

As always, you can email me questions directly or post them in the comments area. Start designing your logos! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!

Post Delays

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that with my computer currently out of commission, I wasn't able to get to the next IHA division just yet. I should have that along with a ton of third jersey rumor-based concept art posted Tuesday afternoon. At that point I'll also be able to start getting back to your emails. Thanks for your patience!

Monday Morning Variety

I have a bunch of things to mention this morning so I figured I'd condense it all into one post this morning.

• The Atlanta Thrashers never unveiled their new third jersey or anything of that nature at their event over the weekend. An email that went out to fans said they'd get to see "a new look" but I guess that could mean anything. There are new players, new coaches and the new Blue Crew. Take your pick.

• Greg at Puck Daddy came across a fascinating uniform-related bit of information regarding a women's team that played in 1916.

They were called the Edmonton Swastikas. The post is definitely worth a read.

• I've added some new features to the blog over the last few days. Our Rebranding The NHL series now has its own sidebar element. Currently you can vote on the secondary color Matt will use for his Blues logos.

There's a Shoutouts section where I thank the folks who've been kind enough to mention Icethetics elsewhere. There's a new Tag Cloud, with my thanks to Frivmo. And by now you've noticed the Design Opportunities section has yet to be filled in. I'm still working on that one.

That does it for now. Later in the day I've got polls coming plus lots of concept art based off of yesterday's third jersey rumors. 1:13 PM: Check that. I had to take my computer in for repairs today so we'll have to hold off on the jersey art until tomorrow. The polls will be up, no problem.)

Center Ice Bracket Is Here!

The Center Ice Tournament bracket is ready to go. You can already see it in the sidebar. Or see a larger image below. Clicking on either bracket will take you to the full version.

I've made some adjustments as you'll notice. My favorite is no more pop-ups. I never did like that. I've also changed the layout of the bracket to help with the amount of space it takes up. Hope you guys like the changes. I know in the past I haven't been the best at keeping the bracket up to date but I'm going to try to turn over a new leaf with this tournament.

In case you missed it, further details can be found by clicking here. The tournament begins on Monday!

Center Ice Tournament

It's been a long time since we've had a full-fledged logo tournament underway here or on NHLToL. In fact, in the 26 days Icethetics has been up and running, we haven't had a single one aside from finishing up the CHL tournament. So today I'm announcing the first tournament here on Icethetics — it's the Center Ice Tournament.

Your vote will help determine which NHL arena has the best center ice design. The criteria you use to cast your vote is entirely up to you. You just have to pick which one you like better for whatever reason you choose.

There are 30 teams and each one will be included in the tournament. This means two teams will get first-round byes. They have been randomly selected as has the bracket which you will get a peek at tomorrow. But all 30 graphics are ready to go and in no particular order, here they are.

The original ice graphics were created by CanuckFanatic92 at hockeydownloads.com.

They are as close to accurate as I could find. They generally reflect last year's designs so this is what you'll be voting on regardless of whether anything has changed for next season. I recognize that teams celebrating special anniversary or hosting the all-star game tend to use special designs but I'm going with just the standard looks here. If you notice any major inaccuracies, best to point it out right away, though I can't say for sure whether I'll be able to make any changes.

BRACKET You'll get your first look at the new bracket tomorrow and the tournament will begin on Monday. It's going to run basically the same as any other tournament we've done in the past. I think it's been a fairly effective system and you guys already know how it works so what's the sense in changing it?

POLL LENGTH The only major adjustment will be to the number of days a poll remains open. It was previously five days but I'm now cutting that to four. The majority of the votes are cast within the first two or three days anyway.

SCHEDULING A new poll will be posted every day in the first round. For later rounds, polls will be scheduled so that they can be posted on consecutive days. We will have a few days off between rounds as the tournament progresses, but I prefer not to have days off within rounds, if possible.

LAYOUT The individual polls will also have a new layout. If you've voted recently on the CHL championship poll you'll know what I'm talking about. The logos will now be arranged vertically and alongside the radio button you use to make your selection. The logos will also appear in random order when you load the page.

If you've got any questions about this tournament, feel free to ask by emailing me or leaving a comment. Remember, I'll reveal the bracket tomorrow and the voting will commence on Monday. And just because I enjoy teasing you, I'll tell you which poll will be first: Predators vs Bruins.

Reasons To Visit This Weekend

I have a busy weekend planned here at Icethetics. Below are just a few of the reasons you should be sure to visit over the next few days.

CENTER ICE TOURNAMENT
I'll be officially announcing the new Center Ice Tournament along with all that that entails. You'll get a rundown of how this tournament will work — it'll be somewhat different than in the past. You'll get to preview all 30 new center ice graphics which I feel fit nicely with the new look of the blog. And most importantly, you'll find out when the voting will begin!

PROJECT: IHA
The IHA logo design project has been going great! You guys have been sending in some amazing artwork. This weekend I'll be unveiling the finalists for the Atlantic Division team logos. I'll also outline the process for how we'll come to a determination for each team's logo set, when the voting will start, and what's ahead.

CONCEPT ART
I'll have concept art galore to share for the Blackhawks, Blues, Coyotes and others plus a lot of great ideas for third jerseys based on some of the many rumors that have been floating around. You won't want to miss any of it!

Project: IHA West

First, if you have no idea what the Icethetics IHA Project is then click here to get caught up.

Now that you know what's going on, I'm pleased to announce the unveiling of the next division. I'm doing this in no particular order. Last week was the Atlantic Division. Today... the West Division! Remember, your job is to take the name and colors and create an identity for a hockey team from scratch. I know you can do it!

We got an unbelievable response from last week's division. Just wait until you guys see some of the logos your fellow readers came up with. Some of them will blow you away. I'm not posting any of them yet because I don't want to taint the design pool. I'm still accepting logos for the Atlantic, but I'd really like to move on to the West this week.

I anticipate unveiling a new division every Monday for the next few weeks until we've got all the team names and colors out there. I'll have you guys start voting on the Atlantic logos probably next week, the West the week after. The top-voted logos for each team will be included in the IHA Logo Tournament and, of course, the IHA itself.

Anyway, enough chatter, here are this week's teams...

IHA: WEST DIVISION

CALGARY MAVERICKS / Calgary, Alberta
blue (00478A), gold (A79A53) and white (F0F0F0)

DALLAS PATRIOTS / Dallas, Texas
red (A00000), navy (0F1155) and white (F0F0F0)

DENVER MOUNTAINEERS / Denver, Colorado
purple (4D1B67), teal (008B8B) and white (F0F0F0)

EDMONTON SEAHAWKS / Edmonton, Alberta
lime (7FCE0E), blue (002E8C) and black (202020)

HOUSTON COMETS / Houston, Texas
blue (1B3B8B), orange (C86504) and black (202020)

I've supplied colors in hexadecimal format. Should you need RGB conversion, here's a decent resource. By the way, you aren't tied to the exact colors here. Feel free to alter them a little if need be. But please shy away from the standard colors like total black or total white or total red. Remember, be different! As similar as it is to the NHL, it's not the NHL!

GUIDELINES
Once again, follow these guidelines when submitting your original IHA artwork:

• DO NOT STEAL ARTWORK. I'm surprised I have to say this but a number of people submitted logos from professional teams. This is where you let your own creativity shine through. Send in something original!


• Submit three (3) logos: primary, secondary and wordmark. Use a white background. If your logo requires a white outline (think Lightning or Capitals), then use a gray background with the white outline included.


• Submit vector art if possible. I will accept .ai, .psd and .pdf files. If you cannot submit vector art, you must be able to provide high quality raster art in .jpg or .png files. No .bmp files, please.


• Try to stick to the assigned colors. Change them only if you deem it necessary and then explain why you made the change. Remember, the "fans" chose these colors and they're who you're working for in the end.


• Email them to nhllogos@gmail.com with IHA in the subject line. Please include your first and last name (it will not be posted). Please also submit your nickname which will be public if you don't want your real first name used.


• By submitting your own original artwork to the email address above, you agree to grant permission of its use for online or print publication by Icethetics. Do not watermark your logos or they will not be considered.


• And finally, be prepared to accept feedback and criticism of all kinds!

As always, you can email me questions directly or post them in the comments area. Start designing your logos! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!

UPDATE (5:32 PM): Just a quick thing after looking at some of the comments. While all the feedback is more than appreciated, there really is no point to complaining about the colors or names of the teams listed here. I think "roccot" said it best in the comment below: "As a designer are you going to tell your boss/client their name sucks!? Good-bye job!"

This project is for designers who want a challenge. Sure, some of the names and color schemes may be unoriginal, but that's where the challenge lies. Can you create individual identities for red, white and blue teams named the Stars, Americans and Patriots? If not that's okay, but at least try to enjoy the challenge.

Frankly, I was a little surprised by the overwhelming number of people who were upset by the fact that they weren't getting to vote on the teams' names and locations to begin with. Had I known this would be such an issue, I might've considered building a fantasy league from the ground up myself allowing you guys to choose and vote on names/colors.

Unfortunately, doing something like that would be a huge undertaking. How do you organize it with the kind of limited time I have to work on this site? Is it something I'll consider for the future? If this project continues to be as big a hit as it's been so far, absolutely! No question in my mind.

But for now, I just wanted to offer a project where readers could design logos, given a name and colors. It's basically what everyone's doing by redesigning NHL logos anyway — only without the preconceived notions of what the logos should look like. The feedback is great, and if you guys do want to create another fantasy league from the ground up in the future — where you pick the names, colors and design the logos and uniforms — don't hesitate to let me know. I think it sounds like fun.

Project: Branding The IHA

IHA. Get used to that acronym. It'll be sticking around Icethetics for quite some time. No, it's not the Icethetics Hockey Association (I wish), it's the International Hockey Association.

WHAT IS IT?
The IHA is a fantasy hockey league that exists only in cyberspace created by an Icethetics reader named Nicolas. I'm collaborating with him to get logos designed by you guys for his league. We'll get into more details of what's involved with this league at some point in the future. But right now, what you need to know is that it has 30 teams, each with a name and color scheme chosen by its "hometown fans" — but no logo.

The assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to design logos for these teams — if for no other reason than as an exercise in graphic design. This will be a cool project, something to have fun with. Challenge yourself! Do something different!

The IHA is structured like the NHL with two conferences made up of three divisions each. And each division includes five teams. Over the next several weeks, I'll be unveiling the team names one division at a time along with their colors. I'd do it all at once but I don't want to overwhelm anybody.

YOUR JOB!
Today I'm unveiling the first five teams — the Atlantic Division. You can pick one team and focus all of your creative energy on it — or you can try your hand at all five! But it's not as simple as one logo per team. You're creating an identity from scratch!

You need to design a primary logo (usually the jersey crest), a secondary logo (usually the shoulder patches), and a wordmark for use in promotional materials. You may design additional logos to be included in the package but you must have at least these three: primary, secondary and wordmark.

There really aren't any restrictions on you aside from team name and colors as far as the designs go. The "fans" chose those and you need to stick with them. But you do need to give them a unique identity. I'm not going to list ideas because I don't want to taint anyone's creativity.

Without further ado, let the games begin...

IHA: ATLANTIC DIVISION

ATLANTA FIRE / Atlanta, Georgia
orange (E68700), red (A81212) and charcoal (202020)

NEW YORK AMERICANS / New York, New York
red (C80231), blue (131B87) and white (F0F0F0)

PHILADELPHIA TITANS / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
gold (CF9B1F), teal (27577B) and white (F0F0F0)

PITTSBURGH MINERS / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
steel (999999), yellow (D9BB13) and black (202020)

WASHINGTON STARS / Washington, D.C.
blue (30316C), red (980404) and white (F0F0F0)

I've supplied colors in hexadecimal format. Should you need RGB conversion, here's a decent resource. By the way, you aren't tied to the exact colors here. Feel free to alter them a little if need be. But please shy away from the standard colors like total black or total white or total red. Remember, be different! As similar as it is to the NHL, it's not the NHL!

GUIDELINES
To sum up, follow these guidelines when submitting IHA artwork:

• Submit three (3) logos: primary, secondary and wordmark. Use a white background. If your logo requires a white outline (think Lightning or Capitals), then use a gray background with the white outline included.


• Submit vector art if possible. I will accept .ai, .psd and .pdf files. If you cannot submit vector art, you must be able to provide high quality raster art in .jpg or .png files. No .bmp files, please.


• Try to stick to the assigned colors. Change them only if you deem it necessary and then explain why you made the change. Remember, the "fans" chose these colors and they're who you're working for in the end.


• Email them to nhllogos@gmail.com with IHA in the subject line. Please include your first and last name (it will not be posted). Please also submit your nickname which will be public if you don't want your real first name used.


• By submitting your own original artwork to the email address above, you agree to grant permission of its use for online or print publication by Icethetics. Do not watermark your logos or they will not be considered.


• And finally, be prepared to accept feedback and criticism of all kinds!

It may seem like I'm asking a lot and while I am looking for highly-talented artists here, don't be discouraged if you feel you don't fit that category. If you have a good idea that you can't translate into a good graphic on your own, submit it anyway as best you can and it's possible someone more skilled might be able to give it a boost.

I'm sure a lot of you still have questions as well. Post them in the comments area. I'll be monitoring that so I can get all your questions answered. One question I know will be when will I announce the next division? It depends on the response I get for this one. If a lot of folks submit art, it'll be sooner rather than later.

Having said that, get to work and be creative! Put some real effort in! Start designing your logos getting them submitted. I can't wait to see them and show them off!

New Icethetics Features

Quick note about some new features I'm trying out.

As many of you have noticed that you can now post comments while on the same page as the post you're commenting on instead of going to a completely separate page. Figured it might be helpful. The "subscribe to comments" link doesn't exist anymore but my solution to that is at the bottom of the sidebar on the right side of the page.

You can choose to subscribe to all posts or all comments on all posts via RSS. Unfortunately you can't subscribe to a single post's comments as far as I know. If nothing else, it gives you a reason to keep coming back, right?

Also, I've added a star rating system. You can now rate individual posts from 1 to 5 stars. I don't know how you'd decide what to rate a post given the number of concepts I might include in one. I guess it's kind of like voting on which logo is better. Just go with your gut. You can even rate this post. I dare you!

My next step is determining a way to build a concept art gallery where you can rate the designs. I'm not sure where we'd go with that, but I think just having it would be a nice start. It would give everyone an idea of where the majority of visitors stand on the various works of art. If anyone has any suggestions or knows of any great sites that might be able to easily accomplish this, I'm all ears.

That's all for now. I'll be posting those new uniform concepts from Paul shortly.

Getting Some Work Done

As you guys may have notice I'm finally getting some things done here at Icethetics. You can thank the weekend for that. While I'm working, I thought I'd talk about a few things briefly.

THIRD JERSEYS
I've transferred the list of confirmed third jerseys from the sidebar at NHLToL. I'll update it as I learn more. I have to say I'm really surprised at the lack of information about the new jerseys so far this summer. But at the same time I'm not. We spent a lot of time last summer just waiting for the smallest bits of news to trickle out about the Rbk EDGE jerseys.

If you want my input, don't expect to see a whole lot of unveilings until the season gets really close (meaning training camp) or actually underway. If I ran a team, I might want to wait and unveil a new third jersey at my team's season opener to the home crowd. Maybe even as one more way to sell tickets. You know, "Hey, show up and you'll get to be the first to see our new sweaters!"

Don't forget too that some of the teams on the list may not actually unveil alternate jerseys until halfway or more through the season as a way to reinvigorate a fan base. I may be full of hot air (and I often am) but these are just things to consider as the summer progresses. But just remember, any news that should surface will of course be posted right here.

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
I got an email from a reader who had a good suggestion earlier. With so many players — big name players at that — changing teams this offseason via free agency, we might be tempted to get an early glimpse at what some of these guys might look like in their new uniforms. So if anybody wants to paint some new jerseys onto recently signed players, I'd be more than happy to post them.

One example someone made and sent in features former Pens Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone in Lightning sweaters.

As a Tampa Bay fan, I think it's pretty cool.

ToHL LOGO TOURNAMENTS
As mentioned, I'm moving all ToHL content to Icethetics as well. That means the QMJHL Tournament of Logos and the CHL Memorial Cup poll will finish up here. If you scroll down you'll see that today's poll has been posted and you can vote for the Huskies or Oceanic.

Basically, for those of you that haven't been following that site, when we finish with the QMJHLToL, the champion logos from each of the CHL leagues will go head-to-head to determine the overall champion. The Swift Current Broncos and London Knights won the WHL and OHL, respectively.

CENTER ICE TOURNAMENT
I don't have a start date set for this tournament yet but I anticipate getting it going before the end of the month. It'll probably happen after or at the same time as the final CHL poll.

That's all for today. Gotta get back to work now.