Concept Collection 51

Yes, it's been a while. But it's better now than never, right? I'm currently trying to develop a new system for posting concept art that makes things simpler for me. (That's always the unreachable goal.) In the meantime, I'll do my best to keep this page updated a little more often.

One last thing. Help me out here. I know some of you think I've been "making you wait" for new concepts, but that's not how it is. Having said that, if you perhaps don't care for the designs in this set and feel like commenting to say something like, "I've waited months for this?!", don't bother. It'll only tell me there's no point to updating the page in the future. Rate the designs, move on, and check back later. I can't please everybody, nor will I try to do so. Just know that I'm doing my best to keep all aspects of Icethetics updated.

Collection 40: Golden Jerseys

In honor of the Predators' forthcoming gold home jersey — a first in the NHL in decades — here are some yellowish uniforms designed by our Icethetics concept artists.

Still anticipating a Winnipeg Jets post before the team officially unveils their new logo and uniforms, but oddly, not a lot of concepts coming in at this point. You know how to reach me!

Concept Collection 34

Today is my birthday so I'm celebrating with this gift to you: New concept art! Since I didn't feel like coming up with a theme, here are five randomly selected concepts which have been submitted to Icethetics. Enjoy!

Obviously, the next set, which should be up this week, will feature the Winnipeg concepts that have come in.

Collection 30: Still on the Hunt

The theme for today's concept art is the Conference Finals! Just four teams remain and here are some fan-made jersey revamps for them. (And a bonus.)

And as a bonus (so I can round out this post with five pieces), here we have the Red Wings, the last team to be eliminated from the playoffs.

Coming soon, we'll take a look at what we might see for the 2012 Winter Classic. Send along your concepts!

Collection 14: Tex on a Tear

Thought this was a fun story. A lot of readers send in concept art and I love it when someone new comes along because it usually means a new perspective. Somewhat surprisingly, newcomer Tex Fischer was a huge hit with his Senators concept on Sunday. Not to offend, but I'm not sure why it was such a standout considering the entire group was made up of variations on a theme. Regardless, it was a hit. And Tex has been on a tear since. Today's post is dedicated to him.

That last one should serve as the segue into our next set of concepts. I put out the word for Winnipeg Jets concepts this week and have already gotten a lot of excellent entries. Looking forward to sharing them.

Collection 10: The East Coast

As the title would indicate, with today's concept post on this the first Hockey Day in America, we're sticking to the Eastern Conference — but not excluding Canada. Been receiving a lot of really creative artwork lately that should garner some interesting feedback.

So let that ruminate a bit. Long Island Hockey Club... a more overt NJ... and so on. Then leave your feedback in the comments. One thing, though...

At the moment, comments on concept posts are unmoderated. I'm trusting you guys. Please remember that these artists spent time and creativity on the work above. If you don't like it, you're entitled to that opinion, but please be thoughtful when unleashing it on the world. Be constructive with your criticism or don't offer any. Especially if you've never submitted work yourself. Just some things to keep in mind.

Numerous Northeast Concepts

Settle in, folks. This is one of the biggest sets of concept art I've ever posted. Because I haven't had a lot of time to write new posts, obviously the artwork has been piling up. The Northeast Division seems to be the most popular for Icethetics artists, so I thought it'd be the best way to unload a dozen new designs. Here we go.

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John Fusco	Had to start with this one. It's just phenomenal. You wouldn't think this type of design would make a good hockey sweater. Then you look at it. I'm waiting for an NHL team to jump onto an idea like this. Very sharp look. Well done, John!
Drew Krause	Another great Maple Leafs concept comes from Drew. He's made some updates to the traditional leaf logos, and they look great. Even the striping on the uniforms really works. Can't believe I haven't gotten around to posting some of these sooner.
Matt Marczel	By now we all know the Sabres will go back to their original uniforms next season — or at least something similar. Matt's put together a solid concept here with a nice modern flair.
Joni Oksanen	However, if you want more of a throwback feel, Joni's concept is the way to go. It's much simpler and features a royal blue just like the originals did in 1970. The only thing he's changed a bit is the striping on the dark jersey. But either way you go would be a win for the Sabres and their fans, desperate for a return to the vintage uniforms. Sometimes you get it right the first time, don't you?
Jake Slavik	And sometimes we mix things that probably shouldn't mix. Jake's concept plays off of every era in Sabres history. And it's not ideal. Stare into those yellow eyes. Stare deep. Frightening. Let's move onto another team.
Joshua Heckman Adam L'Italien	Joshua and Adam have both opted to experiment with brown jerseys for the Bruins — something I half expected to see at the Winter Classic earlier this year. Joshua's could even work as a third jersey this coming season if they were up for a change. Adam's isn't bad either but doesn't lend itself well to Reebok Edge or television, for that matter. It's a very drab-looking jersey with the dark brown and the slight striping. However, I really do like the crest.
Dallas Hicks Ryan Haslett	Got a couple of new Senators concepts here. Dallas tries his hand at a Winter Classic-insipired concept... you know, in the event the NHL decides Canada should play an outdoor version of its own sport. Ryan's isn't bad either — though without the stripes, the O just looks like a zero and nobody wants that associated with their team. Unless it's in the goals-against column, I guess. But if nothing else, this uniform has the best socks so far!
Ryan Haslett	That's right, it's all Ryan all the time for the rest of this post. This is his Canadiens throwback. Unfortunately, the numbers are rather illegible on the striped back of the jersey. Other than that, it's a nice-looking sweater with an old-time feel.
Ryan Haslett	Lastly, as a bonus, this concept is based off of a Quebec Nordiques logo that designed in 1995 but never implemented as the club was relocated Denver to become the Avalanche. And that is, in fact, where Ryan gets most of the elements of his design. I'll be honest. Makes more sense in the Rocky Mountains. Oh, what could have been.

And breathe. That was a lot to take in. Up next, it's Elliott Strauss' final rebranding set. That comes this weekend. After that, I'm implementing a new element into our concept posts. Details to come.

Strauss NHL Rebrand VIII

After a slight delay we pick up with Part 8 of the NHL Rebrand series by Elliott Strauss. Today we see big changes out west and sometimes change isn't really necessary — if you're part of the Original Six.

The Kings, Bruins and Canadiens are featured this week. Elliott's descriptions are in bold text.

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Elliott Strauss	This is the one concept that gave me the most trouble. I went through about five drafts, with secondary logos that included a lion and an interlocking LA, but all secondaries were eventually scrapped. I finished with this rendering of a crown and the lack of purple in favor for the Gretzky era colors of black and silver. The striping is very atypical and was inspired by the old alternates from the mid-90s. Unfortunately I am not happy with the final product here but I'm showing it anyway. I'm thinking about a complete redo, which I will send to Chris if I get around to doing it. It's certainly not as bad as Elliott is making it out to be. But it does look like it is still in the process of being perfected. Is it better than what the Kings currently have? Maybe not. But with a little more work it could be.
Elliott Strauss	Not many changes here. I made the stripes on the arms go white-yellow-white on the home to match the white outlining on the numbers. Same goes for the shoulders, reversed on the roads. A new thing is yellow socks on the roads as well with stripes tweaked to match the arms. Not much has changed at all here. Kudos to Elliott for recognizing some teams are perfect already.
Elliott Strauss	Obviously this team's identity is timeless but lets face it, the home and away aren't consistent, which is slightly bothersome to me. I tried making them correspond more, it's a little hard to even explain my thinking here, but hopefully you can see the consistency this design brings. I actually sort of like the blue backdrop stripe for the logo and numbers, which plays off the current homes. The uniform change is significant and might require some getting used to, but it's certainly not the worst thing we've ever seen. And here again, there are some classic, iconic logos you just can't change.

Just six more teams left to cover in this series. Check back for some very sharp rebrands for the Predators, Canucks and Rangers in the next two weeks.

IX: Oddball Parade

As most of you noticed, I took the past week off. Plenty of stuff to talk about but not enough time to write updates. So I made a change. The Concepts section is now the Icethetics home page — rather than the blog. The blog is still there but now you'll find it in tab bar at the top of the page.

Over the past week while I was away, a fair amount of concept art came in — some worthy of posting, some not (for various reasons). But for the most part, it was all pretty odd. Tonight, we're taking a look at it.

We'll start with the Canucks in a combination I don't think we've ever seen here before.

Tristan Parfect

Last week I posted a Vancouver concept after which I mentioned the Canucks had never before worn a red jersey. Naturally, I was inundated with emails telling me how wrong I was. So I should explain. That mid-90s third jersey you're all referring to — I consider it orange and black, not red. Fine line? Maybe. Let's move on.

The New Jersey Devils announced over the summer that they're planning a special green-infused throwback jersey for St. Patrick's Day 2010. But what could be more fitting than the Boston Bruins going green for St. Patty's?

mcskilz

That same artist also delivered a pretty shocking concept for a Rangers third.

mcskilz

You know, I used to like that Lady Liberty logo. Yikes.

I know none of us can really imagine the Red Wings making a major uniform overhaul, but consider these for a moment.

Paul Chamberlain

Then quickly wipe them from your memory.

I also have an announcement coming tomorrow relating to a new concept art series that's starting soon. Remember the old days of Matt (aka GhettoFarmBoy) and his incredible NHL rebrands? If you don't, I highly recommend catching up. (Hint: No, he's not back... yet.)

Check back tomorrow for details on this new series.

Concept Collection VII

I have new artwork to share with you tonight from a number of artists.

We begin with Jake Niehl who has put together a new look for the Penguins. You do not want to mess with this flightless fowl.

Pittsburgh Penguins concept by Jake Niehl

Earlier this week we talked about the possibility of the Ducks placing the wordmark on their jerseys with the much less heinous "webbed D." Matt Marczel writes in with what that might look like...

Anaheim Ducks concept jerseys by Matt Marczel

...as does Jules.

Anaheim Ducks concept jersey by Jules

Both designers stuck with black jerseys but make it work much better than the Ducks currently do. But if you really want a change in Anaheim, check out this logo by Mike Notko.

Anaheim Ducks concept logo by Mike Notko

That is quite something.

Wojtek from Poland writes in with a very sharp new look for his country's national team.

Team Poland concept logos by Wojtek

Still wondering what's up for the 2010 Winter Classic? Look no further. DC Designs put together a rather smart brown uniform for the Bruins.

Boston Bruins Winter Classic concept jersey by DC Designs

And finally, tonight, we finish up with some artwork that harkens back to the days of Freak Out Friday. First, the Panthers — well, Cats?

Florida Panthers concept jersey by J.B.

Then the Stars...

Dallas Stars concept jersey by J.B.

...who I believe are on sale for $0.99 at your local grocer. Thanks to J.B. for freaking us out.

If you've got any great hockey logo and uniform concept art that you think needs to be shared to the world, you know how to get it to me. Until next time.