Strauss NHL Rebrand VIII

After a slight delay we pick up with Part 8 of the NHL Rebrand series by Elliott Strauss. Today we see big changes out west and sometimes change isn't really necessary — if you're part of the Original Six.

The Kings, Bruins and Canadiens are featured this week. Elliott's descriptions are in bold text.

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Elliott Strauss	This is the one concept that gave me the most trouble. I went through about five drafts, with secondary logos that included a lion and an interlocking LA, but all secondaries were eventually scrapped. I finished with this rendering of a crown and the lack of purple in favor for the Gretzky era colors of black and silver. The striping is very atypical and was inspired by the old alternates from the mid-90s. Unfortunately I am not happy with the final product here but I'm showing it anyway. I'm thinking about a complete redo, which I will send to Chris if I get around to doing it. It's certainly not as bad as Elliott is making it out to be. But it does look like it is still in the process of being perfected. Is it better than what the Kings currently have? Maybe not. But with a little more work it could be.
Elliott Strauss	Not many changes here. I made the stripes on the arms go white-yellow-white on the home to match the white outlining on the numbers. Same goes for the shoulders, reversed on the roads. A new thing is yellow socks on the roads as well with stripes tweaked to match the arms. Not much has changed at all here. Kudos to Elliott for recognizing some teams are perfect already.
Elliott Strauss	Obviously this team's identity is timeless but lets face it, the home and away aren't consistent, which is slightly bothersome to me. I tried making them correspond more, it's a little hard to even explain my thinking here, but hopefully you can see the consistency this design brings. I actually sort of like the blue backdrop stripe for the logo and numbers, which plays off the current homes. The uniform change is significant and might require some getting used to, but it's certainly not the worst thing we've ever seen. And here again, there are some classic, iconic logos you just can't change.

Just six more teams left to cover in this series. Check back for some very sharp rebrands for the Predators, Canucks and Rangers in the next two weeks.

Black & Blue in Pittsburgh

The playoffs start next week so I figured why not post some concepts in honor of the Stanley Cup champion that's soon to be unseated. My prediction: Sharks vs Caps for the chalice. So here are some Penguins concepts that have been sent in — some dating back over a year!

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Matt Marczel	Is it bad that I still have concept submissions waiting to be posted from December 2008? The first two items were sent by Matt long ago. But I haven't forgotten about them. And now as the Pens mull a third jersey overhaul, they certainly have piqued my interest. The second one, titled Version 3, incorporates a little black and calls back to the logo introduced in 1992. Seems strange in blue. But two more recent black-based designs are also pretty slick. The Penguins seem to like black and light blue, so why not combine them? And while I think the '90s logo is the best the Pens have had, I'm sure a lot of Pittsburgh fans would disagree.
Joshua Heckman	So let's just lose the logo altogether. After all, the dark jerseys from that era were just black and yellow with text on the front. But those were based on the original 1967 sweaters — before the team was comfortable placing a skating penguin there. Joshua's design is based in part on the distant past and more recent past — the Reebok Edge era excluded. But this dark blue is looking better and better the more we see it, as long as the light blue doesn't make itself too scarce.
Brad McPelican	Brad gives us another way of looking at it — going back to the classic gold in the primary logo only. It's always odd to see a crest that doesn't match the rest of the uniform. Odd in a good way, that is. I could see the Pens wearing an alternate like this one day.
Ryan Haslett	Ryan's going both ways. He likes a blue jersey and a gold jersey. His two-tone blue incorporates the Vegas gold penguin and some odd striping patterns that Reebok would just adore, I'm sure. But it does give the uniform a cutting-edge look. As for the other... Personally, while I think the yellow gold worked for the Bruins at the Winter Classic, I'm not sure it's a good way to go for Pittsburgh. If you want to return to the glory days, do it properly. Lemieux and Jagr would be proud only then.
Doug Graham	Doug has tried a few things. First, he's got a throwback-based look using current Vegas gold. It's not bad but it's not great. And it looks like Pittsburgh's coat of arms on the shoulder. He also went back to the vintage yellow in what's essentially a recoloring of the current powder blue third jersey. Works better in blue if you ask me — and I know no one did.
Matt McElroy	We finish where we started — with a Matt. In the most sweeping change, Mr. McElroy changed the logo by losing the penguin's legs. He's also added a gold jersey reminiscent of the Habs' in a way. But man that's a lot of yellow. I'm sticking with my hopes for a dark blue third in 2010.

Even more concepts on the way this week as any blog-worthy news seems to have slowed down. Don't forget that Elliott Strauss' NHL Rebrand series picks up with Part 8 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.

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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!