Project: IHA West

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First, if you have no idea what the Icethetics IHA Project is then click here to get caught up.

Now that you know what's going on, I'm pleased to announce the unveiling of the next division. I'm doing this in no particular order. Last week was the Atlantic Division. Today... the West Division! Remember, your job is to take the name and colors and create an identity for a hockey team from scratch. I know you can do it!

We got an unbelievable response from last week's division. Just wait until you guys see some of the logos your fellow readers came up with. Some of them will blow you away. I'm not posting any of them yet because I don't want to taint the design pool. I'm still accepting logos for the Atlantic, but I'd really like to move on to the West this week.

I anticipate unveiling a new division every Monday for the next few weeks until we've got all the team names and colors out there. I'll have you guys start voting on the Atlantic logos probably next week, the West the week after. The top-voted logos for each team will be included in the IHA Logo Tournament and, of course, the IHA itself.

Anyway, enough chatter, here are this week's teams...

IHA: WEST DIVISION


CALGARY MAVERICKS / Calgary, Alberta
blue (00478A), gold (A79A53) and white (F0F0F0)


DALLAS PATRIOTS / Dallas, Texas
red (A00000), navy (0F1155) and white (F0F0F0)


DENVER MOUNTAINEERS / Denver, Colorado
purple (4D1B67), teal (008B8B) and white (F0F0F0)


EDMONTON SEAHAWKS / Edmonton, Alberta
lime (7FCE0E), blue (002E8C) and black (202020)


HOUSTON COMETS / Houston, Texas
blue (1B3B8B), orange (C86504) and black (202020)

I've supplied colors in hexadecimal format. Should you need RGB conversion, here's a decent resource. By the way, you aren't tied to the exact colors here. Feel free to alter them a little if need be. But please shy away from the standard colors like total black or total white or total red. Remember, be different! As similar as it is to the NHL, it's not the NHL!

GUIDELINES
Once again, follow these guidelines when submitting your original IHA artwork:

  • DO NOT STEAL ARTWORK. I'm surprised I have to say this but a number of people submitted logos from professional teams. This is where you let your own creativity shine through. Send in something original!

  • Submit three (3) logos: primary, secondary and wordmark. Use a white background. If your logo requires a white outline (think Lightning or Capitals), then use a gray background with the white outline included.

  • Submit vector art if possible. I will accept .ai, .psd and .pdf files. If you cannot submit vector art, you must be able to provide high quality raster art in .jpg or .png files. No .bmp files, please.

  • Try to stick to the assigned colors. Change them only if you deem it necessary and then explain why you made the change. Remember, the "fans" chose these colors and they're who you're working for in the end.

  • Email them to nhllogos@gmail.com with IHA in the subject line. Please include your first and last name (it will not be posted). Please also submit your nickname which will be public if you don't want your real first name used.

  • By submitting your own original artwork to the email address above, you agree to grant permission of its use for online or print publication by Icethetics. Do not watermark your logos or they will not be considered.

  • And finally, be prepared to accept feedback and criticism of all kinds!

As always, you can email me questions directly or post them in the comments area. Start designing your logos! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!

UPDATE (5:32 PM): Just a quick thing after looking at some of the comments. While all the feedback is more than appreciated, there really is no point to complaining about the colors or names of the teams listed here. I think "roccot" said it best in the comment below: "As a designer are you going to tell your boss/client their name sucks!? Good-bye job!"

This project is for designers who want a challenge. Sure, some of the names and color schemes may be unoriginal, but that's where the challenge lies. Can you create individual identities for red, white and blue teams named the Stars, Americans and Patriots? If not that's okay, but at least try to enjoy the challenge.

Frankly, I was a little surprised by the overwhelming number of people who were upset by the fact that they weren't getting to vote on the teams' names and locations to begin with. Had I known this would be such an issue, I might've considered building a fantasy league from the ground up myself allowing you guys to choose and vote on names/colors.

Unfortunately, doing something like that would be a huge undertaking. How do you organize it with the kind of limited time I have to work on this site? Is it something I'll consider for the future? If this project continues to be as big a hit as it's been so far, absolutely! No question in my mind.

But for now, I just wanted to offer a project where readers could design logos, given a name and colors. It's basically what everyone's doing by redesigning NHL logos anyway — only without the preconceived notions of what the logos should look like. The feedback is great, and if you guys do want to create another fantasy league from the ground up in the future — where you pick the names, colors and design the logos and uniforms — don't hesitate to let me know. I think it sounds like fun.