Icethetics gets its 2015 redesign

Two months from now, Icethetics will mark eight years online. That's pretty surprising when you consider I only envisioned doing it for a few months way back in 2007.

Things change. And if you're a regular reader, you know that the design of the site changes frequently. It usually happens once a year — or whenever I get tired of looking at the same site day after day. The time has come again, as you can see.

I hope you like the new look and I hope you find it easier to navigate. If you have any comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them. You can email or leave a comment below.

Cards on the table, I have to admit the previous iteration of the site was more flash than substance. The oversized home page graphics, the colorful banners — it was all just me taking advantage of the new features that Squarespace 7 had to offer. Even though I didn't need them.

Unfortunately, maintaining it was more work than I'd planned. Moving forward, I want to go back to being more nimble and better able to update the blog with brief posts more frequently. That's my first priority, of course — the blog.

The Concepts page also remains a high priority. Continuing to share your artwork every day is a blast. I'm glad the community gets to share in your creative endeavors.

With this latest cosmetic update, I'm also planning to roll out a new major feature. One of my favorite sites is NHLUniforms.com. It's my go-to reference for all things related to NHL uniforms. I'm sure many of you know it well.

I've often wished there was a similar site for the minor leagues such as the AHL and ECHL. So instead of wishing, I'm embarking on the project myself. I could never hope to replicate the deep, accurate historical detail Andrew Greenstein's site is known for. But I can try to tackle recent years and keep the project updated for seasons to come.

You've all undoubtedly witnessed my many attempts at getting the Jersey Galleries project off the ground. There have been fits and starts over the years. That's the nature of a hobby like this, I suppose. But I think I'm finally zeroing in on a way to make this work longterm.

So in between blog updates and keeping the concepts flowing, I'll be hard at work putting together these new galleries, starting with this season and featuring the NHL, AHL and ECHL to start. That's a big enough undertaking in itself. But as time permits, I'd love to include the Canadian junior leagues — the WHL, OHL and QMJHL.

For now, I'll wrap up here with one last look at Icethetics as it appeared in July 2014.