Olympic Spirit, Part II
This is an extension of Thursday's post. Concept art has just been flying in over the last couple of days and some of it is pretty awesome!
 Glen Cuthbert |
Glen put together this blast from the past. Call me crazy, but this would be an awesome alternate jersey. Much better than the U.S.'s New York Rangers-based third. Plus, that's just a great all around crest. Where has it been all these years? |
 Matt Marczel |
While we're on the United States, Matt is looking for a return to something a little more recent. Personally, I think USA Hockey needs a new logo. |
 Jared LeBlanc |
Jared has put together concepts for several countries, including this Canadian one I really like. The black goes away, as it should, and another shade of red is added for contrast. I'm not sure so about the alternate jersey. May be a little too red. That's Russian territory, right? |
 Jared LeBlanc |
Now, I take back what I said yesterday about Elias' Swiss design. Nothing against it, but this is just too cool. At first glance, it may seem plain — which is what I accused the current Swiss jerseys of being — but really take another look. That's just a really sharp design. |
 Jared LeBlanc |
The only one of Jared's concepts I'm not crazy about is this one. Sweden arguably has the best jerseys in this year's tournament, but I feel like this re-imagining takes away from that. |
I've still got more artwork waiting in the wings. Keep checking back for updates!
Chris
As promised, I've got more international concept art to share with you this evening as we all enjoy the U.S. and Canada here in the prelims. As I write this, they're getting the second period underway.
 Jared LeBlanc |
The prolific Jared LeBlanc didn't leave out the United States in his collection of Olympic-flavored uniform artwork. Here's his set with a dark blue third jersey. I don't care much for the USA Hockey logo — and I'm glad to see it's nowhere to be found at the Vancouver Games... |
 Eric Westhaver |
...But I do like the U.S. shield used in 1976. Eric Westhaver has worked up full uniform designs not just for the U.S. and Canada but pretty much every other team in these Olympics. So rather than displaying them all here, I'd recommend you check out his online gallery. He's got a lot of uniform designs on display, including alternate jerseys, for all 13 countries represented in Vancouver. He's even included his player template for anyone interested. |
 Matt McElroy |
Now for something a little different. China may not have fielded a men's team this year but that hasn't stopped Matt from thinking outside the box and submitting this design. Very cool sleeve design and interesting to see the player's number on his pants. Certainly something I've never seen before. |
 Brendan Anderson |
Kazakhstan didn't qualify for the 2010 Olympics either but Brendan has put together this rather unique design based off the national flag. It's actually pretty cool. When was the last time you saw a hockey uniform in those colors? (And don't tell me about the Seals unless you can prove you went to a game.) |
Keep the concepts coming. I'll continue posting Olympic-themed artwork throughout February!
Reader Comments (23)
I really like the white Swiss logo with the swiss cross in the red stripe very creative.
The swiss jersey is excellent, way better than yesterday's...
I think that Canada concept looks too much like a Latvian jersey.. I really do like that first USA sweater though. How far back is that from anyway? It's a winner for sure.
not a big fan of Canada's jerseys, just stick with one red and keep it simple!
i like the USA eagle logo and concur that the stupid flag USA logo needs to go
the swede jerseys are nice but dont mess with a good thing
and the swiss....WOW...thats amazing at first i didnt like the simplistic design on their olympic jerseys but they have grown on me immensely since seeing them in action and then there is these, the simplistic concept with some neat touches that almost disguises it, great concept, swiss hockey should take note
Sorry to say but these Canadian ones really suck. The strips and lines look horrible on all 3 jerseys. Back to the drawing board.
I really like the swiss design but being swiss myself, we are very critical the the cross is white. We dont wanna look like the red cross. But in all i like the retro feeling to it. GJ Jared Leblanc
The USA eagle logo was worn for the 1976 World Championships. I'm working on a road version, too.
USA: I love their current jersey so much. It's vintage style, got a nice font, and looks great despite being very plain and simple.
Canada: I know this sounds expected, but what I'd love is to see the Maple Leafs' alternate jersey (and a dark counterpart) in red, instead of blue. I love their alternate so much, and to see it in red would be perfect.
Switzerland: their current jersey disappoints me, but I don't know how I'd like it. They're kinda in the same boat as Canada because they have the same colors, and one specific symbol for their nation.
Sweden: you can't change what they have. It's perfect in every way.
can someone explain to me why norway , canada and finland had to change their logo because the IOC didnt want their official IIHF logo ?
Under Olympic rules, they're corporations and aren't allowed to have their sponsors as the logos.
Hey MM, if you're the same person that designed the US jersey then I wouldn't be talking...
That was not me as MM, who posted that comment earleir. I'm not the type of person who'd post a comment bashing someones art work. As for my design, I would have liked to have gone with a better logo, but my attempts at designing one failed. I do however agree that that USA flag logo needs to go, I'm sure somebody can come up with a better, and more creative design than that.
Care to explain what's wrong with Matt's USA concept RIK? I personally like the USA logo, and by the way I have really liked all of your concepts as well Matt, especially the Dallas and Chicago ones, nice work!
And thanks for telling me that Elias! I was actually looking for the white Swiss jersey online to see if they used a red cross but I couldn't find a picture, but that's good to know, I'll have to fix that.
No RIK, MM is not for Matt Marczel.
I am just giving my honest opinion about the design as a Canadian. It seems people are trying to get too complicated with the Canadian design. Simpler would be better.
I do not think Matt would as an artist, bash anyone elses design. Matt is correct though, the USA could come up with something nicer than they have. They have the colour scheme to be so good.
Agree 100%. USA needs a new logo.
I personaly like the black for canada, it adds great contrast to the red jersys and makes them pop more.
Jared -- I was looking for the same thing, go to iihf.com and click jerseys on the left
in looking at erics gallery i realized that around half the dark jerseys are red. while all those countries do have red in their flag, i would have liked to see a little variety in the colors. the overall designs are nice though, just a lot of red.
Matt Marczel's USA Design (the second one) is I am guessing a very close model of the current Olympic jerseys with the USA Hockey logo (which I think looks great), is actually the jersey USA wore in the Jrs.
http://usahockey.cachefly.net/WorldJuniors/2009USATEAMPHOTOHOST.JPG
Too much red int he Canadian jersey concept.... and that's coming from a Canadian, although I'm a fan of the black accents because it adds a nice contrast. I'm of the opinion that the best uniforms have a 3-colour combination to them, otherwise it's too bland or over-powered.
The 2 tones of red are interesting - has any uniform ever done this before? I understand the challenge of the Canadian uniform. People are tired of black but all-red is boring too. I'd love to see some radical Canadian designs with other colours - there's no reason we should only use colours from the flag. The old airforce baby blue jerseys are awesome.
Just to correct, the USA third jersey wasn't based on the Rangers, it was a throwback jersey from the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics, where the US won the first of its two golds on US soil.