Olympic Spirit, Part III

You guys are clearly loving this Olympic concept art, so here's even more!

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Glen Cuthbert	In the previous post, Glen had a very sharp white Team USA jersey. This is the blue one that completes the set. Not too bad. But I think with a crest that simple, the striping could be even simpler as well.
Evan Maldonado	That brings us to Evan's Team USA concept, which employs the same ghosted effect seen on some of the jerseys in this year's tournament. I'm really liking the letters in red on this one. Seems way better than the current dark jersey, but not that much is really different.
Matt Marczel	The rest of today's concepts take us to Scandinavia. Here, Matt simplifies Sweden's jerseys and gives them a white one for a change. But personally, I've always been more a fan of the blue jerseys. And technically, white isn't one of their colors. Still, a great effort.
Dallas Hicks	Dallas is trying something completely different with some of the teams that have simple flags. Here, he's adapted the cross on Finland's flag to stretch across the entire front of the jersey...
Dallas Hicks	...and he's also done the same for Norway. Nice to see the polar bear make a return. What do you guys think of these?

And as always, there's more art on tap. In the next day or so, look for more USA concepts plus one from a country that didn't even send a single athlete to Vancouver this year.

Update on Friday · Feb 26 · 2010 | 10:45 AM PST by Chris

The international concepts are still flying in. If you haven't seen yours posted yet, don't worry, I'll get to it. Here are a few more.

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Jake Slavik	Jake Slavik calls this his Captain America concept. I think it's pretty clear why. The shield is kind of cool, but where this design falls down is the numbers on the back of the jersey. Too small. But vertical striping, that's not something you see very often on hockey jerseys. Way to step outside the box.
Mike Bell	Mike Bell's submission is a throwback to the 1980 Miracle on Ice jerseys. Always a classic look.
Dallas Hicks	In the original part of this post, the Norway and Finland concepts by Dallas Hicks were a huge hit. He also provided similar jerseys for Sweden.
Jake Niehl	Jake Niehl sent in this rather unique Russian concept. However, it suffers from the opposite problem Jake Slavik had. Numbers are too big here. And on the shoulders, instead of being No. 11, Malkin would be No. 1111. But it's easy to nitpick. The fact is, this is a really eye-catching look for Russia, certainly unlike anything we've seen before.
Howie Crawford	And finally, I promised concept art for a country that didn't send any athletes to the Vancouver Games. Howie Crawford thinks this is what Moldova should wear if they had good enough hockey players to field a team. Very clean, simple and patriotic.

Expect part four of the Olympic Spirit series this weekend as the hockey tournament, and the Olympics in general, wraps up.

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!

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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!

Update on Sunday · Feb 21 · 2010 | 5:14 PM PST by 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.

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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!

Olympic Spirit

We're now a few days into the 2010 Winter Olympics and Canada and the United States are off to decent starts but the real test will be Sunday when they face each other. In the spirit of the games, a few artists have submitted related concept art.

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Jake Niehl	Jake has put together these sweater designs for Team USA. The shield is cool, if not reminiscent of the NFL shield. But I fear he hasn't fully thought through the size of his numbers. Double-digits would have a little trouble.
Jeff Kennedy	And Jeff has sent in this Team Canada concept. It's not so much an original design as it is a fusion of a few different ideas. But mainly, he's dropped the black in favor of gold.

I'm really hoping to add more of an international flavor this post, so if you've got any ideas for ways to improve upon Finland, Russia, Sweden or anything like that, send it along and I'll include it here!

Update on Thursday · Feb 18 · 2010 | 9:28 PM PST by Chris

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Elias Cripotos

Adding a little bit of European flavor to this post, Elias sends in his Swiss redesign. Not only is it great by itself, but it's miles better than Switzerland's actual jerseys — which are very plain, as you know. It's amazing what the addition of black does for the contrast on these sweaters, by the way.

Keep sending in your Olympic-themed concept art through the end of February!