Tonight's IceHL Artist Spotlight centers on the designer who was the first to have a winning logo in this project. Eric Poole's creation for the Boston Colonials won the hearts and votes of Icethetics readers in the very first poll just a couple weeks ago.

Eric submitted logos for a total of four teams, but the only other finalist he had in the competition was the Boulder Beasts — which is now open for voting. His Winterhawks and Armada logos didn't make the Top 3 cut, but he's still flying high as the first artist with a winning design.

I asked Eric to talk a little about his background and inspiration for his finalist logos. This is what he said.

I am originally from Pittsburgh, and have been a die-hard Penguins fan for as long as I can remember. I have always loved drawing sports logos ever since I was a little kid, whether it be hockey, football, or baseball.

I did not go to school for graphic design, but got a job out of college at a T-shirt company that designed shirts for schools, so I kind of learned all the technical sides of graphics there. I moved from Pittsburgh to Kansas (a real hockey wasteland) and I currently work for a marketing company designing logos and such for companies and schools mainly around the Midwest. My favorite all time logos: New Jersey Devils, Seattle Seahawks, and Hartford Whalers.

For the Boston Colonials logo, the two big inspirations were the New England Patriots and the Robert Morris Colonials (a school in Pittsburgh). I like the the stylized look of the "Flying Elvii" logo, but I wanted to add more to it (like RMU's) — and not make it so generic — so I turned it 3/4 and added a scowling face. For the colors I picked blue and gold, because I figured red, white, and blue were too obvious.

The "Beast" was inspired by an enemy in Diablo II called a Brute. They are big upper-bodied creatures who only have their eyes showing through a bunch of hair. The hockey stick was added because I figured he need to be breaking something and a hockey stick made sense! The colors... no real reason for them. Just kind of wanted something that was a "Night of the Beast" motif.

As always, questions or comments for Eric can be left below. Approved comments will appear within 48 hours of submission.

The Artist Spotlight will be back next weekend after another week of IceHL logo polls. The Tampa Bay Barracudas will get us started first thing Monday morning.