With Haiti In Mind

Want to donate? RedCross.org

Last night I posed the notion that creating Haitian concept jersey designs (I know, ice hockey in Haiti) could be a small way for Icethetics artists to bring a little awareness to the earthquake disaster victims. Nothing big, but a few of you did decide to get involved.

Here's some of the artwork I've received in the past 24 hours.

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Brendan Klein	Brendan Klein sent in this concept, with blue elements evoking the watery nature of the island nation. The sweater is based heavily on the Haitian flag, as are most of the concepts you'll see here. The name on the back of the jersey is that of René Préval, the president of the Republic of Haiti since 2006. Not sure where the 47 comes from, but it is a fun prime number.
Matt McElroy	Matt McElroy submitted this one, incorporating all the colors of the flag and even the seal.
Connor Hanley	Connor Hanley played the gradient game — last seen in the NHL on the 2001 Vancouver Canucks third jersey. More astute readers might also note the typeface used for the numbering and lettering — it's what the Canucks wear today. Just saying.
Marty Thompson	And finally, while Marty Thompson's designs may lack the polish of other concept art you see on Icethetics, it certainly does not lack the spirit. The flag pretty much says it all.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this. Well done! And if you're still working on a submission, don't stop now. I'll keep posting them as long as you all keep sending them!

Update on Sunday · Jan 17 · 2010 | 9:42 PM PST by Chris

A couple more just came in. Check them out.

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Hunter Gingras

Hunter Gingras offers up not two but three concept designs for the mythical Haitian hockey team's sweaters. All are created on the same basic idea but it would give the team three options when dressing for a game. A wordmark is splashed across the front while the seal found on Haiti's flag adorns the shoulders of each jersey. For what it's worth, the red one totally makes me think Caps in the '80s.

Jake Slavik

And for something completely different, Jake Slavik couldn't decide which color to go with for his jersey, so he opted for the rare half-and-half. Bold move. He also pitched the flag seal in favor of his own unique wordmark — and an inexplicable Nike logo on a Reebok Edge jersey. We'll figure that one out later.

Update on Monday · Jan 18 · 2010 | 11:33 PM PST by Chris

The Haiti memorial concept art just keeps coming. Thank you guys a ton for participating!

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Jeff Wozniak	Jeff has come up with one of the most complete identities for the fictional Haitian ice hockey club. The well-designed crest stands out on very sharp jerseys. You'll notice Jeff has incorporated the various elements of the flag seal in his logo. Though the striping comes awfully close to crossing the line of what's tasteful, I'm still quite impressed with the effort put in. If only we could actually do something real with one of these awesome jersey designs.
Brad McPelican	Brad has taken a different approach with his white concept jersey. The shield on the front is rather bold as are the multi-colored stripes evocative of Caribbean art. It's simple but that's why it works.
Brett	Lastly, Brett sent in this jersey design, which I think is quite possibly the most realistic of any submitted so far. If a nation like Haiti were to ever actually field a hockey team, I'd be willing to bet that little time would be spent being overly creative with the jerseys. Brett also dug up a bit of hockey/Haiti trivia to share: I actually found out that there has only been one person to ever play in the NHL that was born in Haiti, his name is Claude Vilgrain and he actually played for my Philadelphia Flyers for two games in 93-94. Also worth mentioning is Georges Laraque, who now plays for his home team, Montreal Canadiens. While Laraque himself was born in Canada, his parents are both from Haiti. As of last Thursday, he was still waiting to hear from family members in the devastated region.

More to come tomorrow.

Update on Tuesday · Jan 19 · 2010 | 10:43 PM PST by Chris

I'm really stunned by the response to the idea of creating jerseys for Haiti. As some of you have mentioned, it would be incredibly cool if a pro team somewhere could pick up one of these designs, manufacture them, and hold an auction for the earthquake victims. Fingers crossed!

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Uncleben	This is another great design for Team Haiti that has me impressed. Lots of bright colors and two different and beautiful crests. Very nice work here!
Brendan Anderson	Brendan just sent in his design today. Very simple and subtle. I particularly like the idea of opposite-colored sleeves. That's a new one.
Wize	This one has an awful lot of stripes, doesn't it? It may be a bit much, but at the very least it captures the essence of the Haitian flag.
Bill Blazina	Bill came up with a unique crest for his concept jerseys. I think it's the first time we're seeing the country's silhouette used as a design element. The only problem is that it vanishes a bit on the blue jersey. This would've been a good opportunity to swap the blue with white on the crest (and the captain's C).

I don't know how many more concepts I'll receive from you guys, but as long as they keep coming, I'll keep adding them to this post. Thanks so much for participating! (By the way, I sent a small donation to the Red Cross' Haiti relief efforts on behalf of Icethetics and you guys!)

Update on Sunday · Jan 24 · 2010 | 8:13 AM PST by Chris

Got a few more in the last couple of days.

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Glen Cuthbert	Glen put together this Haitian concept jersey, a recolored version of the Florida Panthers' new third. I like the addition of gold to the sweaters. That's something we haven't really seen yet — and we've seen an awful lot of these already.
Ethan Proulx	And Ethan just submitted these attempts. I think whether you prefer the red or the blue, it's probably still a little too busy to ever be an actual uniform design. And what's up with the multi-colored pants?