And all of your concept artists. There have been some fantastic looks for the Winnipeg Jets jerseys coming out of there. I have been very impressed.
I wanted to share some of my favorites that might actually be the sweaters the team will wear on the ice and some others that should be considered.
Not this one. This will not be the home jersey. If so, dinner's on me.
Although, the colors do work for the new Jets. But I cannot imagine them going with this.
As previously mentioned, the Jets will wear dark blue pants. And we know that the only red will be in the logos. We also know that the circle will be one the chest with the wings on the shoulders. Finally, we know that there will not be a third jersey this season.
First, let's look at some that are good, but aren't going to be the ones on the ice this year because of the just discussed stipulations. These are disqualified because they include red in their designs and one doesn't have the logo on the shoulders.
Anthony's design works for me, even with a wordmark on the away jerseys. I'm generally anti-wordmark on the chest because it's been done so poorly by so many teams, ("Sens", "Bolts", "Dallas", "Thrashers"...), but this works for me. I'm not crazy about the red trim on the bottom and I'm not digging what I assume is mesh on the jerseys going up the sides, but overall a good look. I am loving the font though. I certainly hope something like this makes it way into the actual design, though I'm doubtful.
I've already shown this one before and I still think it holds up. It won't make it because of the red disqualifier and the lack of shoulder crests, but the suttle diagonal stripes near the bottom of the sleeves totally works for me. And that hint of red piping is good too, though the designs remind me of the Blue Jackets with the all blue home jerseys and the blue sleeves on the white aways.
To finish the "won't make it" designs, it's a great look at a design the Moose have worn before. It's got a little too much red up top, but the top stripes are unique in this day and age and immediately make it stand out, in a good way.
Okay, how about some designs that are kinda disqualified because they include a third jersey? Well, that and no logo on the shoulder in the first concept.
This is a good look. It's good for a few reasons, but the most important one is because it incorporates the not-often-used-in-the-NHL silver color. With the Predators going gold, Winnipeg should definately go silver heavy somewhere. The shoulders are a great place to do. I'm not sure if the silver third would work in reality, but the striping works for me. Kinda Pittsburgh third-ish, but still unique and good. With those silver highlights in the home jersey, it distinquishes it from the other blue/white heavy jerseys of the Maple Leafs and the Lightning.
I do not expect to ever ever see this type of design by anyone ever because it immediately causes them to be branded as Canadien copycats. However, this works. I love the look of the home jersey, though I'm not totally sold on the shoulders for the away and third. I do like the look of that alternate logo on a sky blue background. Actually, I like the look of the light blue in general and really hope the actual jersey is sky. It's a color not often seen, except in third designs. A real shame. Almost as much as having the color purple all but removed from the NHL color wheel (thanks Kings, jerks).
And now a look at some that meet the criteria. Again, these are concept designs by people not associated with the Jets, so don't expect to see them in real life, though I do hope the actual jerseys look something like this.
The first by Trent Barnard is great! I mean, look at that concept art. One thing that sells it for me is the big, squared off shoulders of light blue. Plus, the silver. The font is way too boring though for this jersey (or most jerseys frankly). I have a fear that Winnipeg will be conservative in their font choice on the back of the jerseys, but one can hope for futuristic. Like the old Thrashers font or the current Nashville font.
This design is almost too simple, but still works for me. I think one thing that's appealing is I can totally see this on an actual jersey. I think it would probably pop more in real life since silver is always more dynamic in person than the gray it appears on the computer.
One of my private likes is the half tone, "dipped" sleeves look. Like the Hurricanes home jersey. I guess because stripes are done so much it's just nice to see something different. And this captures that along with some heavy helpings of that awesome silver, though I wish for more. Not a lot in the concept community are big on extra piping, but I like it. This might be a perfect (maybe) jersey with some thin silver slivers running up the sides of the jersey up to the collar.
I love this jersey. Since Christopher Stuck chose to put his design on an actual player, he sells it that much more. It's got pretty much everything I want. Unique font. Dipped sleeves. Silver. Light blue main color.
If I got to choose the final design for the Winnipeg Jets, it would be this. The only tweek I might make is adjusting the sleeve layout so it doesn't seem so crowded with the numbers and the shoulder logo.
If you want to see some more concept art, check out the concepts at Icethetics. I just chose to share my favorites. These artists are very talented and I love looking at the creative ideas flowing out there. By the way, some of these designs were done before all of the current information was known regarding no red or whatever. So I'm sure these artists could create a great looking sweater within the known specifications, given the opportunity.
Plus, it's fan designs and since it's just for fun, who cares about rules? Not Chris Fraterrigo or Randy Dudek with their Ducks and Maple Leafs designs, clearly.
See what I mean? Those will NEVER make the ice. EVER. But the artists probably had a desire to create them and loved doing it. Or it's a joke.
But there is some good looking stuff that comes out that will never see the ice (at least, I don't think so) from people who love the look of hockey and design simply to test their skills, perhaps get feedback on them from other enthusiasts, and want to share their passion. It's a shame some of these will never get off the drawing board.
Below we see a concept for the Canucks going back to the "flying skate" days. Not a popular logo, but man does it look good right there.
Another non-popular in its time logo, the lighthouse keeper (or fisherman as he is commonly known) of the Islanders. That's a good looking jersey, but the Islanders are going back to the older look with more oranges and blues and whites. Mostly. Sadness to come later, but first this nifty concept by Ryan Haslett.
The Stars would look so much better in their old jerseys as compared to the "Dallas" scripts they have now. This is a take on an old classic.
Speaking of old classics, the Senators released their heritage jersey designs (sorta), and they look decent. We'll see them in a minute, but I wanted to first share this design which I like a whole lot better.
See what I'm saying? These are done purely for the love of design. Some are even created for teams that absolutely will not take the suggestion, mainly because they don't exist. Like the below design for the Nordiques.
Outstanding. Or this one that will probably not be taken up by the Chinese government, but was done during the Olympics for their team. Love the dragon. Good job by Matt McElroy in this design.
Heck, there's even some damn good designs made by artist-fans that you might have seen on other websites presented as truth.
That is concept art by DC Visual Arts. True, the teams are right for the NHL Winter Classic, but no jersey announcements have been made yet for this game. Yet, some news agencies reported them as fact. Someone even made counterfeit jerseys of them.
You can tell its a counterfeit in many ways, but the obvious mistake is the non-centered nameplate on the Flyers. Or the more obvious on the Rangers in that Messiar no longer plays for the team. Though, spotting a fake is not always that easy.
Yep. A fake. One giveaway is the lack of the silver lining the Maple Leafs will include this year on their third jerseys, as seen below.
Buy the real deal. Don't support illegal activities or unsafe working conditions in other countries by buying counterfeit merchandise. It can be hard to spot, so be careful if you are not buying from a reputable source (like a known apparel store, NHL.com/shop or team gear store).
You know who else will sport really new looks this season (that we haven't discussed much before)? Ottawa's third, the Islander's third, and the Panthers' home jerseys. Yes, there are others. Like Edmonton's new retro whites or the Kings switching to a black and white number for home while having a third and fourth jersey. And the Lightning with their Flash jerseys. And, of course, the Predators in their new yellows which look outstanding.
But I've discussed those changes before. So let's talk about the others I haven't touched on, starting with the Panthers.
The kitty-cats from Miami are going back to the red jerseys for this season as their home sweaters.
I like the look. It's classic and done in such a way that stands out, even against so many other red jerseys. Many have black and white as additional colors (Carolina, Chicago), but the blue and yellow do give it a different feel.
Now, the Ottawa Heritage jerseys. Not as good as the concept presented above, but respectable.
This one is still unofficial, but it can be safely assumed. They are celebrating their 20 year of the "new" Senators, but are harking back to the "old" Senators days.
Again, I'm against new franchises adopting old franchises names, like the Jets did. Like the Senators did. It confuses the histories.
But at least it's a good looking jersey. Unlike the third jersey the New York Islanders are "considering".
What happened here? Really? Since the Thrashers are gone and therefore the aweful red alternates are gone, does New York feel the need to carry on the torch of hideous third jerseys?
This was put on a Flickr account of Robert Lawlor Jr. who was listed on the New York Islanders website as a designer at the time it was posted. Then, the image went away. Then Lawlor went away from the business listings. And then the Islanders said this via Twitter:
That is one of the 3rd jersey designs we are considering. At the appropriate time we'll announce the #Isles official 3rd jersey.
Since then, it has been confirmed by a few sources close to the front office that this is in fact the new third Islanders jersey.
Again I ask, really? Is this a bad joke?
In case you missed it, there was a really good looking design up there earlier in this post. I know it has the old "Gordon's Fishman Logo" Islander fans love to hate, but I think the haters would agree it's better than that monstrocity.
Even a palette swap from blue to orange of the current home jerseys would be welcome. In fact, I think much preferred.
By the way, I'm not anti-fisherman like so many in the logo critic circuit are.
Sorry to leave you with that.
Actually, wait. I don't have to. Let's cleanse the visual tastebuds with a fun video. NSFW, even though it's Michael Bolton.
The concepts presented here were used under a creative commons license and taken from the Icethetics website.
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