Spotlight: Six Zero

The IceHL Artist Spotlight series continues this weekend with one of the project's most prolific artists — and as determined by a vote in today's Live Chat. Six Zero, known in the real world as Scott Robbins, had 13 logo sets become finalists. He submitted for many other teams beyond that.

Among his long list of finalists, seen above: the Cavalry, Hitmen, Outlaws, Hellcats, Gators, Nighthawks, Renegades, Scorpions, Sharpshooters, Barracudas, Winterhawks and two for the Sentinels. His instantly recognizable style has brought a level of professionalism to this project that is nearly unmatched.

I asked Scott to share his experience creating amazing logos for the IceHL project. Here's an excerpt of what he had to say.

I remember discovering the IceHL project long after it had already started. One of the other reasons I wanted to take part in the project was to gauge response. I know my own work and hold myself to very high standards, but this was a good venue to see how complete strangers might feel and react to my solutions.

Sports branding is about communicating a personality and identity for a team and not at all like an artist who's expressing himself in a painting. Therefore, these designs can never be about what I want solely; it has to be capable of attracting many people who are willing to wear and be emotionally invested in that identity.

I was most pleased of the Baltimore Blue Crabs crest and, of course, it didn’t make the cut. I also enjoyed doing my liederhosen-wearing Lagers character, which was later converted to a Leprechaun in a freelance poster design. Neither of these were chosen as an Icethetics finalist, but I am very proud of both.

As for background, I am a professional designer and have actually traded in my office chair for the classroom, where I teach Adobe products and design theory at the university level in the northeast. I once entertained the idea of writing up bids as my own sports branding firm, but at this stage of the game it probably doesn't make sense for me to scrap the security of my career to basically start over as a freelancer. Although, stranger things have happened — if a side door to the main stage ever opens, I will certainly be tempted to jump through it!

Your next opportunity to vote for one of Scott's logos will be on Monday when the Tampa Bay Barracudas kick off another week of IceHL logo voting.

If you have a question or comment for him, feel free to add it below. Approved comments will appear within 48 hours of submission. The Artist Spotlight series continues tomorrow. In the meantime, make sure you've gotten your votes in for our available polls before they close!

Spotlight: Ogre39666

The IceHL Artist Spotlight series continues today, filling the gap when we don't have new polls. We're profiling the talented artists whose work is the subject of this project so you can get a better idea of who they are.

Selected at random, our second artist of the series is Steve Pace, working under the pseudonym Ogre39666. Steve submitted artwork for several IceHL teams and his persistence paid off when his Atlanta Arsenal logos, submitted on November 16, were deemed by readers to be among the Top 3 in a group of seven.

I asked Steve to tell us about how he came up with his finalist set. Here's what he told me.

I tried keeping things simple and a bit classic looking. For inspiration, I looked at the Georgia state flag, and decided that the colors and star motif could be nice elements to include in a logo.

Personally, when I hear the word "arsenal" I tend to think of cannon, which in profile, are simple, strong, and easily recognizable. So I decided to use it as the cross-member of the "A" and encircle it with stars Ñ simple-looking, but I think the simplicity gives it a classic feel.

For the secondary, I felt I had strong elements, so all that was needed was some re-arranging. Instead of using the cannon as the cross-member, this time I used a star with an inset cannon to reinforce it and since the points of the star and "A" matched up, it worked well.

For the wordmark, since Atlanta ends with "A" and Arsenal starts with "A", I decided to use just one between the words. This allowed me to use the "A" from the primary and bring some continuity to the set. The use of a single "A" also meant there would be six letters on each side so balance wouldn't be a problem.

If you have a question or comment for Steve, feel free to add it below. Approved comments will appear within 48 hours of submission.

You'll be able to vote on the final Atlanta Arsenal logo on August 28. Tomorrow, we kick off another week of polls with the Winnipeg Winterhawks. Next weekend, we'll look at two more artists in the Spotlight. 

Spotlight: Nick Matarese

The IceHL took the day off yesterday but it's back this weekend to kick off the Artist Spotlight series. This series will fill the gap on days when we don't have new polls, profiling the talented artists whose work is the subject of this project. The order of this series has been chosen at random.

We begin with Nick Matarese, whose lone submission came to me on November 13 for the North Carolina Nighthawks of the Southeast Division. The following logos were rated by readers into the Top 3 of a class of 13 logos.

I asked Nick to talk about his artistic background and his inspiration for the Nighthawks logo. Here's what he had to say.

I am a graphic designer for Adidas. I graduated from the University of Delaware with a BFA in advertising/graphic design from the Visual Communications Department. While there I was also a four-year collegiate athlete with their ice hockey team (goalie) to which I am now an assistant coach.

I have designed other sports logos, including the Tatnall School's new hornet logo. I'm working on the Philadelphia Thunder (Junior A hockey team) and I redesigned the uniforms for the University of Delaware's ice hockey team — which the Long Island Gulls are also using as their third jersey this year.

Disappointingly, I got hooked onto Icethetics when the project was halfway over so I only had time to do logos for one team. When choosing the Nighthawks I wanted to design a logo in which the viewer was engulfed by the wings. I drew many designs and had research images of anything from birds to 3D models to X-Men characters to get the flow of the wings they way I wanted.

The tail and head were made as one with the body to give it an almost mythical feel, non-specific to any actual species (hence no feet). I liked having nothing but black and shades of grey to go with that dark mythical feel but it was missing something — that's where I added the lime green to make everything pop. For the secondary logo I wanted to make a profile of the beak and eye, yet still make an N.

mataresedesigns.com

If you have a question or comment for Nick, feel free to add it below. Approved comments will appear within 48 hours of submission.

The top three logos for the North Carolina Nighthawks go up for a vote this Tuesday. Tomorrow, the Spotlight will be on Ogre39666. New polls resume Monday with the Winnipeg Winterhawks.

IceHL Artist Spotlight

Our IceHL logo voting schedule says we're taking today off. But no new poll doesn't mean no new content. This afternoon I wanted to mention the people behind the amazing logos you're voting on. After all, they didn't just happen out of thin air. Twenty-five amazing logo designers put their time and talents into this project.

Throughout the next six weeks of the voting process, you'll be hearing from many of these designers — from their educational and professional backgrounds to their inspirations for their IceHL logo designs. On days when we don't have new polls, expect to see an Artist Spotlight.

We'll profile the first artist on Friday but today I'm offering an overview the entire group. Artists will be listed along with their finalist logos. (A quick disclaimer before we start, the Chris Smith listed here is NOT me.)

CHRIS SMITH

SIX ZERO

CRAIG C. WHEELER

ROCCOT

TDOG

EDDIE RAY DESIGN

JOHN WRISTON

SEAN COX TATTOO

TONE LOC PRODUCTIONS

JFRED	JOEY LIGHT
SHAWN STEADMAN	ERIC POOLE
EMILIS ACUS	SIGMA KAPPA
DAVE DELISLE	OGRE39666
LLP	SOUTHPAW DESIGN
NICK MATARESE	JASON NEW ERA USHER
DAN STOVER	TROZ32
PAPLOO	PHO3NIX

All 25 artists have done incredible work to be here at this point in the project. But only a third of the logos you see above will actually represent IceHL teams come September. Voting picks up again tomorrow with the New York Guardians — one of the toughest choices you'll have to make over the next six weeks.

We'll take a break this weekend (my brother's getting married) but I hope to have some Artist Spotlights ready that will auto-post. Then it's back to the voting grind on Monday morning.