Strauss NHL Rebrand X
Sunday · May 2 · 2010 | 10:54 PM PDTTime for the big finale. Here is the final installment in Elliott Strauss' NHL rebrand series. His descriptions appear in bold text.
 Elliott Strauss |
I think this is one of the more interesting concepts of the series because it gives a fairly drastic change to an untouchable team. I updated the familiar shield and brought back the Lady Liberty logo. The diagonal stripe on the uniforms has the same angle as the wordmark and is meant to match the diagonal sash on the primary logo. The wordmark/numbers contrast the sleeve stripe order on the home and away jersey. The alternate is almost an exact replica of the pre edge alts, but the silver is dropped in favor of royal blue. Definitely a shock at first glance — in a good way. All the key elements are still there. They just don't look the way we're accustomed to seeing them. This is one of my favorites of the entire series. |
 Elliott Strauss |
Originally I had left some gray in here, but considering the nickname represents the Union army, I found the color gray pointless, as this is what the Confederates wore. I think these uniforms are inspired by the original jerseys for the franchise. The red pants stay and a blue insert with star on the pants match up with the panel that you can see on the road jersey. I created no alternate because a red jersey would go against the nickname and another blue jersey would be redundant. Straight after one my favorites is my least favorite of Elliott's series. I'm not here to put down anyone's work but this set feels lazy. Gray was never one of Columbus' colors. It's always been silver. It's an important distinction. Without the silver, the star in the logo looks out of place. And the Blue Jackets made a second blue jersey work in 2003. Just a little creativity is required. Now with that out of the way, I love the jersey design! The sleeves are cool and so are the stars under the arms. It's a little like the stripes on the armpits of the Lightning's jerseys. Adds an interesting visual element when the players raise their arms to celebrate a goal. |
 Elliott Strauss |
I feel that the Johnny Canuck V logo is the best they have, so it becomes the main crest in my design. The orca stays, just modified, and has a much less prominent role. Green and blue also stay, as I like this unique scheme. I've always wondered what a green alternate would look like, I think this simple striping pattern would make the blue stand out on the green. Here I applaud Elliott's use of an existing logo because the Canucks have never had a more uniquely identifiable logo in their arsenal. It's just a shame they haven't put it to good use yet. And for what it's worth, the whale doesn't look half bad on green. |
There it is. All 30 teams as envisioned by Icethetics concept artist Elliott Strauss. Do you think you have what it takes to rebrand the NHL? Send in your concepts and show us you can think outside the box when it comes to branding pro hockey!
Reader Comments (21)
Are we gonna see a re-Rebrand of the Kings' concept from a while back?
The Canucks is the best of the series by far, i mean its awesome.
BTW will Elliott RE re brand just wandering
As a Jackets fan (who's waited loooong for this update), I agree with your analysis. Love the jersey design, don't like the logo.
The stripe on the Rangers uni seems very "Mighty Ducks" to me.
There's a reason they don't wear those anymore.
All the Rangers need is the Lady Liberty logo. DUH!!! Never has there been a more obvious choice in sports history. Use that darkblue as their primary, make a white version, and use the primary as the alternate. Classic.
Overall the series was a bit of a let down in my opinion, lots of great work but when it comes to a "RE"brand series i expect to see every team with a completely new identity regardless of history, (see boston). I did enjoy the work Elliot did but i feel cheated by the fact that most of his logos came directly from existing logos!
I want to stress that im not criticizing anyones work, i just wanted to see more!
Love the Canucks concept, but I'd rather scrap the Orca and keep the Stick logo. Great series alltogether! Who will step up to the plate to rebrand next?
Hate the Rangers. That is ugly.
I don't know why people dont like the Jacket logo, I think that set is the best in the series. I also love the Canucks.
I'm a huge CBJ fan and have been waiting a while to see their concept. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with the lack of creativity for the logo. I love their current logo and was hoping for something more original. Have to agree losing the "silver" was a bad move. The sleeves and pants look pretty sweet, but had a hard time loading the larger page. All in all, evry rebrand was a blast to follow. Migyt there be a vote for the best one?
Rangers= EPIC FAIL! It's not an "updated" shield, he used one of the old shields from before they got it looking good. Overall, Lady Liberty is the only thing that saves this concept.
Blue Jackets= Excellent. Not too drastically changed, because what they have right now is good. Getting rid of the shoulder yokes and adding creative arm stripes makes this one of my favorites.
Canucks= Not bad. Nice to see Johnny Canuck get some face time (FINALLY) Not really digging the numbers and font, but the jersey design is good.
Everything about the Rangers' rebrand is a huge mistake except for the slightly lighter shade of blue, which I actually like better than their current color, and the return of the Lady Liberty logo. Other than that, the diagonal striping makes it look like a girl scouts uniform and the roundness of the primary shield neither modernizes the look nor makes it a true rebrand. I also don't like that there's one stripe on the right side of the backs of the home and away kits.
On a positive note, I must say that the Blue Jackets' and Canucks' rebrands are far, far superior; the Blue Jackets ones seem like they could be viable replacements for their current threads. Also, I'm really digging green as a primary color for the 'Nucks. Perhaps the unused V.C. logo could make a better shield though for that third.
Sorry for the stinging criticism, but as a lifelong Rangers fan, I truly can't imagine anything else from what they've already got unless it's absolutely phenomenal.
who's the next rebrander, Chris?
The bottom stripes on the canucks jersey seem to come up far too high off the waist.
we should do a tournament except with these rebrandings best logo from each team. just saying
As nice as it is to see the Johnny Canuck logo front and centre, as well as a green third in the Canucks re-brand.....the orca should be retired, especially if it came to a green third. Something about a whale on a green jersey with blue stripes surrounded by white stripes seems like it had been done before.....from 1980-1993.....just sayin.
Love the Canucks green third. Even though I hate them, I would buy that in a second.
Love the Canucks concepts. Like most people have said, it's time to say good-bye to the orca. The orca does look a lot better with green trimming, but mixing Johnny Canuck and the orca on the same brand is like mixing oil and water. I would have used the Stick 'n Rink instead. I agree with Glen. The font of the numerals needs to be changed back to the traditional block-style numerals with green trimming. On the greens, I would use white numerals instead of blue. Overall, very sharp concepts!
Canucks rebrand is pretty nice. The others are disgusting.
I hat the stick-in-the-rink. This Canucks concept is awesome and I'm glad he let the orca live on in alt form.
Kill the Orca.
Really like the Blue Jackets jersey there. The Canucks look good too. I like how the concept for the Rangers is outside the box, but if the diagonal stripe is going to be used, the "RANGERS" text should probably be inside it (might look like a beauty pageant sash though). But the main thing for a team whose secondary logo is Lady Liberty, the stripe ends up making it look very Union Jack-ish.
In any case though, it was still enjoyable to see one artist's take on the entire league. Hope to see someone else step up to the challenge.
The Blue Jackets one reminds me a lot of the Columbus Destroyers (of the AFL) old jerseys. I just get that feeling from them