World Expansion: Submit your logo designs!

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The IceHL World is adding four new teams this fall, and as of today they have all been officially named! Now it's time for you to begin creating your logo contest entries!

Like last year, I've put together some inspiration images to get you started. I am not recommending any design elements or color palettes. The idea here is just to get the creative wheels turning. Your designs are up to you!

There they are! Your four IceHL World expansion teams — the Auckland Rockhoppers, Helsinki Lynx, Munich Machine, and Seoul Express. Welcome to the league!

NOTE: All but one of these names came directly from the community voting brackets. Voters selected White Tigers as the name of the Seoul team, but the IceHL Design Council felt there shouldn't be two feline teams entering the league together at this time. White Tigers received three vetoes from the Council, who decided to adopt the runner-up name, Seoul Express.

Now let's get this show on the road. Artists of all experience levels are welcome to submit their creations to represent these four IceHL franchises.

THE RULES

There are a few ground rules in IceHL design contests, but they must be followed: 

  • DO NOT STEAL ARTWORK. No copying or tracing of others' artwork. No clipart. No adapting existing designs. No "borrowing." Create something original and distinctive!
  • Entries must be submitted via email to icethetics@gmail.com by the deadline.
  • Valid entries will include at least a PRIMARY LOGO, SECONDARY LOGO and a WORDMARK.
  • Please submit vector artwork (PDF/AI) if at all possible as this will be helpful in creating graphics for the website as well as the IceHL yearbook. (I will also accept high-resolution JPG and PNG formats, but please do not save a raster file as a PDF.)
  • Include your FIRST AND LAST NAME as well as your EMAIL ADDRESS on your artwork. 
  • Finally, by submitting artwork, you agree to grant Icethetics rights to use it in conjunction with all IceHL-related projects and publications.

DEADLINE: FRIDAY, JULY 24

You have three weeks to design and submit your work. Have fun and good luck!

IMPORTANT: Take note that two of the four names in this contest are shared by former ECHL franchises. And of course Rockhoppers are penguins. Logos that share color palettes or design elements with any of these past or present NHL or ECHL logos will be automatically rejected. Make sure your designs are original if you want them included.

NOT A DESIGNER? YOU CAN STILL HELP!

Maybe you lack the skills and talents needed to create a logo, but you have a great idea for a design. Try putting it into words. Describe your idea in the comments and maybe it'll help one of our designers who's struggling to come up with an idea. You may not get a design credit, but you can still be part of the process!

Good luck to everyone!

World Expansion: Name Selection

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UPDATE · Jun 27 · The time has finally come to select the names for the four newest members of the IceHL fantasy hockey league. Happy voting!

Logo design submissions will be accepted starting Monday when the winning names are officially declared. Get ready to get creative!

UPDATE · Jun 25 · Round 2 polls added for each team.

Last week the Icethetics community suggested some great names for the four expansion teams coming to the IceHL World next season. Now it's time to pick our favorites!

In consultation with the IceHL Design Council, we have brackets for each team containing 8 potential names. Over the coming week, your votes will narrow down the options until we reach our winning names over the weekend. 

Scroll down to the bottom of this post for details on the voting process.

As you may have noticed, there are similar team names spread across the different brackets. In the event that two teams end up with similar names at the end of voting, the IceHL Design Council will make the final decision about which to keep and which to change.

In addition, members of the IceHL Design Council will each have two vetoes to use against the winning names. In order for a community-chosen name to be rejected, two members of the Council must veto it. At that point, the Council will come to a consensus on what name to use instead. These are the rules for this voting process but my guess is we won't need them.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

World Expansion: Name Nominations

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Four new nations will have teams in the IceHL World this fall! The Icethetics community has chosen Finland, Germany, New Zealand, and South Korea.

It's now up to you to name the new franchises. We'll be accepting suggestions all this week right here in the comments of this page. Scroll down and submit your ideas!

How name nominations work

  • Include a city with your nickname suggestion. All we selected last week were nations. It's recommended you stick with larger cities for these teams.
    • NOTE: Teams should be named for a city rather than a country. (i.e.: Osaka Samurai instead of Japan Samurai)
    • RECOMMENDED CITIES
      FINLAND — Helsinki
      GERMANY — Berlin, Hamburg, Munich
      NEW ZEALAND — Auckland, Wellington
      SOUTH KOREA — Seoul
  • Do not suggest names currently used in major sports leagues. Avoid nicknames from the NHL, AHL, NFL, NBA and MLB as well as leagues in the countries in which these new IceHL teams are based.
  • Suggest one name per comment. To keep your suggestions close to each other on the page, you can reply to your first comment with additional comments.
  • Read existing suggestions first! Before submitting your nominations, check to see if someone else already has and, instead, click the heart-shaped like button in the top right corner of their comment. This will help me decide which names are more popular and should be included in the polls.
  • BE CREATIVE!

If you have any questions, you may ask in the comments or tweet to @theIceHL.

In order to the keep the comments area neat and orderly, duplicate or unacceptable suggestions may be deleted without warning. Thanks for understanding.

World Bracket: Expansion

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The IceHL World is expanding! We're adding four new teams and we need to start by deciding where in the world they'll be located. To simplify the voting process, all rounds of polls will be added to the top of this page. Happy voting!

Jun 10 · We're on to the final set of polls. The winning nations will join the IceHL World this fall!

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nations-b3.png
nations-c3.png
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Scroll down to see results from the first batch of polls.

Jun 8 · Let's get things started with Round 1 and the 16 nations eligible to join the league!

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Check back in a couple days for the next round of polls. We're moving quickly since the winning nations need to be determined this weekend!

Design contests resume for #IceHLsummer!

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The last time I had an IceHL update, it was bad news — the cancellation of the design contests meant to take place during the 2014-15 regular season.

Now the season is over and summer is almost here! That means it's time to get back to designing logos and jersey for the world's first and only crowd-sourced fantasy hockey league. This #IceHLsummer is shaping up to be the best yet!

When we officially kick off #IceHLsummer on June 1, I'm hoping to start by posting polls for the first Ice Classic Series. That means we'll begin accepting logo and designs right now! (Details and design kit coming soon.)

Now take a look at the calendar and scroll down for details.

World Expansion

First, we're expanding! The IceHL World will add four new teams growing to 12. The other two conferences each have 16 teams. Over the next few months we'll pick locations and vote on logo and jersey designs!

Sixteen nations not yet represented in the league will be divided into four groups. One nation from each group will be awarded a franchise in this round of expansion.

GROUP A · Finland · Iceland · Latvia · Belarus
GROUP B · Czech Republic · Germany · France · Ireland
GROUP C · Brazil · Argentina · South Africa · New Zealand
GROUP D · South Korea · China · Egypt · United Arab Emirates

Special Events

Last season's special events may not have gone as planned, but summer will give us plenty of time to rectify that. We'll start by designing logos and jerseys for the inaugural Ice Classic Series. Then we'll tackle last season's Pacific Cup and next season's ABC Cup before taking care of Ice Classic Series II.

Speaking of which, you may have noticed two cities will host games in our second "outdoor game" series. Edmonton and Milwaukee will take part, hosting Calgary and Detroit, respectively. The IceHL World will have its own separate event to be announced at a later date.

So why are we designing jerseys and logos for special events that have passed? Well, they will live on as part of IceHL history so we should get it done, even if we're a bit late.

Want to be a GM?

And finally, the question on many minds — how can I join the IceHL? Glad you asked! We're adding four expansion teams so we'll obviously need at least four new GMs. But that process will not take place until September, so check back then.

2016 and Beyond!

All of the 2015-16 regular season special events will be announced later in the summer and may involve some additional design contests. Also still in the cards are third jerseys — just not quite yet. We'll take a look a long look at the IceHL third jersey situation in summer 2016.

IceHL JDC: Northwest Narwhals

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Time to pick jerseys! Choose up to 4 of your favorite Northwest Narwhals jersey designs. All 16 sets are listed in random order; the VOTE button is at the bottom of the page. The jersey set that collects the most votes wins.

Results will be revealed after voting closes and will remain hidden until that time. (Notes: The 3-letter codes are meant to help distinguish each design and keep anonymity of designers. Also, don't worry if a design lacks polish. If necessary, the winning design will be cleaned up before it's declared "official.")

Choose up to 4 jersey sets. Click on images to enlarge. Voting ends September 7.

The comments will be open to allow for discussion of the merits of each design. All I ask it that you keep it civil. Attacks will not be tolerated. That's all. Happy voting!

Not all submissions are included in voting. Those that did not meet the set requirements have been discarded. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

The Northwest Narwhals jersey designs will be posted on Wednesday. The winning designs for our expansion teams will be unveiled in the IceHL 2012 Yearbook, due out in September.

IceHL JDC: Hartford Mariners

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Time to pick jerseys! Choose up to 4 of your favorite Hartford Mariners jersey designs. All 15 sets are listed in random order; the VOTE button is at the bottom of the page. The jersey set that collects the most votes wins.

Results will be revealed after voting closes and will remain hidden until that time. (Notes: The 3-letter codes are meant to help distinguish each design and keep anonymity of designers. Also, don't worry if a design lacks polish. If necessary, the winning design will be cleaned up before it's declared "official.")

Choose up to 4 jersey sets. Click on images to enlarge. Voting ends September 5.

The comments will be open to allow for discussion of the merits of each design. All I ask it that you keep it civil. Attacks will not be tolerated. That's all. Happy voting!

Not all submissions are included in voting. Those that did not meet the set requirements have been discarded. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

The Northwest Narwhals jersey designs will be posted on Wednesday. The winning designs for our expansion teams will be unveiled in the IceHL 2012 Yearbook, due out in September.

IceHL Jersey Contest: Expansion

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I'm now accepting entries for the expansion teams in the IceHL Jersey Design Contest.

First, if you want more information about the IceHL Project, download the IceHL 2011 Yearbook, which is now available through Icethetics.info. You can also scan through previous posts in this section to catch up on everything we've done so far.

Entering the Jersey Design Contest

There are three rules:

  • Design 2 jerseys (light and dark) using team colors and logos only. You may not alter the colors or logos.
  • Assemble your final design on the PNG template provided and submit it to icethetics@gmail.com.
  • Include your first and last name and email address in the graphic where designated as well as in your submission email. (Your real name will not be displayed during voting and your email will never be displayed.)

IceHL Jersey Design Kit - Expansion version (.zip/244 KB)

Be sure to use the template PNG file provided in the Design Kit. It is built to be compatible with just about any graphics software out there from Microsoft Paint to Adobe Photoshop. (For beginners: PNG is the file type required. Please do not submit a JPG or any other type of file. For experts: Please avoid using color profiles.)

Recommended link: Paint Users Paradise at SportsLogos.net

To assist you in your designs, feel free to implement aspects of existing hockey uniform templates. There are hundreds available at at the link above. The copy and paste functions are your friends in this case and make designing a great jersey so much easier. But feel free to experiment on your own too.

The template includes the front and back of a jersey as well as gear like socks and pants. All you have to do is design the jerseys. Designing the gear is up to you. I'd also request that you include a full alphabet and number set as seen in the Design Kit sample. You may choose to leave out any of the elements, but keep in mind that if you do, I reserve the right to design those elements myself.

Last thing. Simply submitting your jersey design doesn't guarantee it will be included in the voting process. If it doesn't meet a certain level of quality, I'll give you the opportunity to try again as long as you meet the deadline. But rest assured, I plan to accept far more than I reject — as you saw with the last two divisions.

Part 7: Expansion Teams

We're continuing with the Expansion Teams. The Design Kit contains the primary and secondary logos for both teams. You may only use those logo graphics for this project. Do not use them for any other reason without permission.

  • Northwest Narwhals
  • Hartford Mariners

Since these teams have yet to see action in the fantasy league, you may use any name and number you choose to customize your jerseys.

Remember, when you design your jerseys, stick to the official team colors and logos. You may sample the colors in the logo graphics using an eyedropper or similar tool in your chosen graphics software. (In previous divisions, the design kits have included an RGB color guide. This one does not.)

One last note about your jersey designs. Do something creative and original. Don't copy existing jersey designs. We want IceHL teams to stand out and be unique!

Deadline: Sunday, August 19

You have about three weeks to design and submit your work. Good luck to everyone!

Expansion Team Logos Unveiled!

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Thousands of votes have been cast and counted. It's now time to reveal the winning logo designs for the IceHL's newest teams, the Hartford Mariners and Northwest Narwhals.

Eric Poole brilliantly blended of the the club's initials into a simple trident design. On the face of it, the trident forms an obvious M, but the negative space between the prongs forms a subtle H. Eric previously designed the winning entry for the Boston Colonials. Congrats Eric!

Fierce and menacing are adjectives that adequately describe a narwhal, for which the IceHL's Yellowknife franchise is named. Slavo Kiss vividly captured these traits in his winning logo design. Slavo also created the logos used by the Alaska Huskies and St. Louis Archers. Congrats!

What's Next?

This might be a good time to talk about what lies ahead for the IceHL Project — which will keep awfully busy this summer.

First, polls opened today for the North Division jersey design contest. You can go pick your favorites now. (Polls close on the North Division jersey voting on June 9, but the winning designs won't be unveiled until after June 18 as I'll be taking a much-needed vacation.)

Later this week, I'll begin accepting jersey designs for the Mariners and Narwhals, our two expansion clubs. Voting will begin in late June and by the start of July, all 32 IceHL teams should be fully branded with logos and uniforms. So naturally, we'll start looking at rebranding options so the well doesn't run dry.

In late June, a handful of teams will be put up for relocation and/or rebranding. Your vote will decide what, if any, changes should be made to the league. Should it be warranted, the rest of the summer will be dedicated to designing new logos and uniforms for these teams before the start of the 2012-13 fantasy league.

I've been receiving emails and tweets asking about how one can manage an IceHL team, especially now that we're adding a couple of new ones. I don't want to get into details now, but suffice to say that no decisions will be made until September. That's when I'll start the process of taking applications. We've been doing this four two seasons now and in that time, we've had more than 300 people apply to operate one of 30 teams. 

Going into 2012-13, many of last season's GMs plan to return but others have stepped down or been removed from their post, freeing up a number of teams. I'll let you know how many will be available and how to apply for one. But, again, all of that will happen in September.

Thanks for making the IceHL Project so much fun to operate!

Expansion Logo Submissions

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The 2012 expansion of the IceHL Project is moving right along. Today, I'm unveiling the team names and accepting logo design submissions for both teams.

  • Hartford Mariners
  • Northwest Narwhals

Based on these names, your task — should you choose to accept it — is to brand the franchises. You choose the color scheme and design primary, secondary and script logos around that. You may design additional logos, but these 3 will be the ones included in the voting process.

Submit your work to icethetics@gmail.com. I'm also outlining guidelines for submissions below. If you don't follow them, your work will probably not be included.

Logo submission deadline: Saturday, May 5

  • DO NOT STEAL ARTWORK. Logos copied or even adapted from existing designs will not be accepted. Do something original!
  • Submit THREE (3) logos: primary, secondary and wordmark. Vector format (PDF) is preferred. If you cannot provide a vector version, a high-resolution PNG will be acceptable. Use a white background. If your logo requires a white outline (think old Lightning or Capitals logos), then use a gray background with the white outline included. ALL 3 LOGOS will be used in the voting process. If you leave out one, your work may be disqualified.
  • You must include your first and last name within the graphic itself as well as the email. I need them in both places so I can easily search my email to find your artwork and email address.
  • By submitting your own original artwork to any Icethetics email address, you agree to grant permission of its use for online or print publication by Icethetics. Do not watermark your logos. Your work will be protected for use in projects related to Icethetics only.
  • No jersey concepts, please. That will come later on.

I'm happy to answer any additional questions you may have. All logo submissions that meet the above criteria will be included in the voting process next month.

A few years ago when we did this for the rest of the IceHL teams, there were some incredible logo designs submitted. I can't be certain whether the same talented artists will be with us this time around, but I do hope so. Good luck to everyone!