Collection 4: Ivall Redux

I've got a handful of new concepts to share from Mike Ivall. He's tackling Predators, Thrashers and Islanders as well as revisiting the Bolts and Leafs.

Knowing the Lightning are looking to ditch the black and silver and go with a blue/white color scheme, Mike thought perhaps they might try a two-tone blue. Personally, I'm a fan.

A lot of you have been asking about how to make your own concept art. Unfortunately, there's no simple or quick way to throw stuff together. Most of the designers who submit work are very talented graphic artists with knowledge of image editing software. If you want something free to get started, look up something like Gimp or Inkscape. I'd love to put together some kind of tutorial, but it's not really that simple. I will try to get together some templates at some point though. So keep an eye out for that.

Third Jersey Theories

Today's batch of concept art deals with a handful of teams with new sweater designs on the way. While we wait for official unveilings, our concept artists get to work on some predictions of their own.

---

Alex Valvo	The Sabres will unveil their new third jersey on Sept. 18. All right, technically these aren't third jersey concepts, but the expectation is that the Sabres will promote their current third jersey to home status — while adding a white version for the road. That's the concept Alex is offering up today.
Jekabs Elerts	We keep hoping for the Lady Liberty logo to return when the Rangers unveil their new third jersey in November. That's what Jekabs has for us — though he likes to work with the Nike Swift jersey template, as opposed to the Reebok Edge standard. Regardless, it's a solid sweater design.
Jekabs Elerts	The Penguins will use the 2011 Winter Classic to launch their new third jersey. Jekabs's guess is that they're going with this 1967 replica. But since they're the home team, it probably won't be a white jersey — but you never know. The Sabres wore white when they hosted in 2008.
Ryan Haslett	I'm a big fan of this one. Ryan, a prolific concept artist, has put a unique spin the much-maligned Islanders jersey from the mid-90s. Not a bad treatment if you ask me. Perhaps if the Isles had done something a little less radical and a little more like this, fans wouldn't have rioted so much. I like that font, by the way!
Connor Hanley	The Whaler talk these days has been intense. More on that in an upcoming blog post. In the meantime, Connor joins Howard Baldwin in hoping for the NHL's return to Hartford. Such a great logo. And solid uniforms all around.
Jack Martineau	And finally, while the Canucks aren't actually planning a new third jersey — that we know of — I decided to toss Jacks' concept into this post as a bonus. The logo used on the jersey just won the NHL secondary logo tournament here on Icethetics.

As always, feel free to email in concepts. I'm working on adding a bunch more to the Facebook page this weekend.

Strauss NHL Rebrand VII

This is the Strauss NHL Rebrand series, Part 7 of 10, in which graphic designer and hockey fan Elliott Strauss gives a makeover to the National Hockey League. If you're new to this series, I highly recommend catching up on the first 18 teams to which he's given new looks.

Now we move on to his latest updates, which include the Senators, Sharks and Islanders. Elliott has provides commentary on his work in bold text.

---

Elliott Strauss	Not much change in the logos here, but the vegas gold returns in favor of yellow. This is one of my most modern uniforms designs. Number font is custom. The alternate keeps the same side/hem design as the home/away, but adds a new arm striping scheme to match, and the pants still match up on the sides. Definitely looking at a unique uniform design here. The striping is unlike anything we've seen ever — in real life or in concept. I'm rather liberal when it comes to concept designs. I like things you don't often see. But personally this strikes me as a tad disjointed, mixing what I'd consider a classic-looking logo with a very non-classic sweater design. That being said I'm a huge fan of this 2D Sens logo and I wish we could see it on a uniform one of these days. I'd even prefer it to the vintage "O" jersey that's been talked about. But that's just my opinion.
Elliott Strauss	The colors return to teal-black-silver, and orange is out. I modified both primary and secondary logos, simplifying in some places, dropping the fade on the patch logo.   The shark fin-based striping pattern on the sleeves is somewhat subtle. The uniforms are modern and busy, but I think they'd look decent on the ice. The alternate is based on the diagonal stripes they use on the black alternate currently. Burnt orange has always been part of the Sharks' color scheme but was introduced as a uniform accent in 2007. While I like that look, Elliott has certainly taken the Sharks' identity to the next level by losing it. And the only the critique I have is that the crest could probably use a white stroke on the home sweater so as to add some contrast. Otherwise, a great update to a team that's always had a distinctive identity.
Elliott Strauss	This might be my favorite of the series. I took the fisherman era wordmark and swooshy wave from the primary logo. The lighthouse is original and takes the perspective of the wordmark. The four-stripe motif stays on the patch logo and on the arms of the home and away. The numbers continue the drop-shadow from the wordmark. Finally, an orange alternate uses a more classic stripe scheme. In one of the biggest revamps of the series, Elliott digs into the Isles' past to find an incredible look hidden within one of the most despised designs in sports logo history. He calls this his favorite of the series and I'm inclined to agree. And it's about time for the Isles to ditch their '70s-era logo anyway.

Working on more concept posts for this week. Tons of great artwork coming in that I can't wait to share with you guys!