IceHL Artist Makes Mark in ACHA
Friday · Dec 14 · 2012 | 12:11 AM PST
Neat story to share today. It's about one of the artists who contributed his work to the IceHL Project and what he's been up to these days.
Back in 2008, Nick Matarese created just one entry for the IceHL logo design contest. It was for the North Carolina Nighthawks. And it won. Nick's black and neon green bird struck apparently a chord with Icethetics voters. Even today, it remains one of the league's best logos.
But that was then. What's he been doing since? Well if you've ever heard of the Fightin' Blue Hens, you might recognize elements of the logo above. Currently, Nick is the goalie coach for the men's ice hockey team at the University of Delaware — where he actually tended goal for four years. The team is a Division 1 member of the ACHA (American Collegiate Hockey Association).
This season, Nick tells me the organization is celebrating its 40th anniversary. So he pitched in with a logo and jersey design to help mark the occasion. You've seen the logo, so how about the uniforms?
Photo by Tisa Della-Volpe
Nick says the original design he pitched was a little more intricate and not so much of a Montreal Canadiens knock-off, but the cost of such a custom jersey would've been a bit high for a college team.
"I am kind of over the old school look throughout hockey design," Nick tells me, "but it is a big anniversary year and we are playing in an outdoor game in a month so I am ok with it."
Photo by Tisa Della-Volpe
The crest is actually a retired logo no longer in use by the University of Delaware. Nick said he "had to jump through a million hoops" to be able to use it. But it definitely adds to the retro theme of the sweater. Certainly better than just running text across the front as well.
When Nick's not coaching the Fightin' Blue Hens' goalies or designing their anniversary sweaters, he's running his own design firm, Matarese Designs. Right now, he caters to mostly corporate clients, but is hoping to make a run at some minor league hockey or baseball teams in need of a rebrand over the coming year.
It's great hearing from Nick and getting to see what he's up to. With any luck, maybe he'll join us in the first round of IceHL rebranding that will be starting soon.
Reader Comments (6)
The outdoor game referenced in this post will be played at Hersheypark Stadium- the location of the AHL Outdoor Classic between Hershey & Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Delaware will be playing Lebanon Valley College on 1/22/13. I'm not sure if Lebanon Valley will be wearing special jerseys for the event.
Fantastic jersey. I'm in love.
That's no longer the Delaware logo because it is a clear ripoff from the Trinity College (CT) Bantams. Nations longest collegiate win streak at 252 squash matches
The ACHA logo is good, I just don't like how much it blends in with the mid-stripe. The logo looks quite nondescript unless close-up (like the first picture). A buffer outline might have helped, perhaps a larger logo too.
The color scheme works, despite the loud lemon yellow.
these are really neat... great old school jersey to go along with a great old school name... gotta love the fightin' blue hens!
I've been to dozens of Illini ACHA games, and as such I'm very well aware of the looks for teams on that level. That's hands down the best looking team on that level that I've seen.
Major props, looks like it'd belong in the NHL or AHL.