WHA Redesigns by SK and JG

Here are a couple of quick WHA Redesigns for ya.

The first one was sent in by the Eastern Division - Field 1 bracket winner, Sigma Kappa.

Another fine piece by Sigma Kappa. I'm getting an old school, 70's vibe from this one, even though the dragon sleeve patch is a more modern design. The flaming "P" is a nice touch, and could be the fire breathing brother of the Flyers' winged "P".

With a name like the Blazers, it's hard to really move from the orange/red scheme. Nice job by Sigma Kappa. (Is that a re-purposed dragon? I could swear I've seen that before)

On a side note, go check out Sigma Kappa's "Kamikaze Swallows" entry over at the Clink Room's Rejects League design contest.

.....

Here's my New England Whalers entry. I scrapped the original Philadelphia Blazers idea I quickly put together because I just couldn't come up with anything visually interesting with my Liberty Bell and fire concept. I still may resurrect it if I have more time.

This Whalers logo was a lot of fun to do and it took EVERYTHING I had not to illustrate the whale biting a harpoon in half.

View the Eastern Division - Field 1 gallery

View the Eastern Division - Field 2 gallery

View the WHA Redesign Competition rules and join in on the fun!

Comments

[Veritas1325]

Both really solid. I want to see a jersey with the dragon logo as the primary - maybe on red with black and orange highlights. Very solid work. I'd have no problem rooting on that team in my hometown.

The Whalers look is really good too - although the whale has a bit of a duckbill platypus face to it, it's really well executed.

Great job, guys!

[CML]

Really like these concepts.

Johnny a couple of things about yours - love the colours, but was always a fan of the Whalers. The other thing is that I think the logo really works if they were the Whales. As the Whalers, you are featuring their prey, not the hunters. Love the secondary though.

As much as I like your concepts, I am not a huge fan of the template you use. I find it hard to visualize what the jersey would actually look like because of the overlap of the sleeves - any shoulder yokes are hard to make out.

They look great though.

[johnny griswold]

@CML -

I thought about that while doing the illustration, but, I didn't want to get too literal with it. I didn't want to have the unfortunate final design remind anyone of when the Islanders put the fishsticks guy on the front of the jersey. I do have a version with crossed harpoons in the background, but it looks too busy. I'm fine with having the prey.

And as for the jersey templates, I think people can use their imagination. I don't like using the arms out templates at all.

Here's one of the versions of the logo with the crossed harpoons. It was too busy for me.

[Mike]

I am constantly blown away by Sigma Kappa, does anyone know if he/she/it is a professional?

On a related not is that person a member of either the Sigma Kappa sorority or Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity? My fiancee is a Sigma Kappa.

[Mike Ivall Design]

Dam you SK!!!!! How can i compete?

[CBS-Ink]

@ Johnny
I think the whale would look a little better if you took out his pupil. Then he will STOP STARING AT ME!!!! :)

[Wildeyes]

I love the colour on the Whalers jersey so bold Keep up the good work LOVE the site

[marchawg]

I think the Whalers logo is kind of busy anyway, especially on the smaller versions for the jersey (or what one would see from afar). Before I scrolled down to see the larger version of the logo, I couldn't tell what it was supposed to be.

I'm not opposed to using a whale, but I will echo what someone else said, it looks somewhat platypus-billed. The colours are really good!

[johnny griswold]

I tried to make the humpback whale more streamlined than the limited photos I could find on the interwebs. I'm gonna make some adjustments and see if still has that "platypus bill" feel to it.

[Ian]

So would it be fair to just give Sigma all the spots in the final now?

But I agree with Veritas, I would love to see that dragon crest front and center on a jersey.

[Ryan]

The Dragon crest reminds me alot of SK's Griffins' entry... Excellent execution, definitely the front-runner for this round

Johnny, is the shoulder on the away jersey supposed to be blue? Looks like it should be green to match the sleeve's detailing. Also, I'd simplify the whale a bit, and work-out the chiseled nose... With the crest and harpoon design, did you think of bringing the Whale's tail up and eliminating the half harpoon to the top right corner? The Whale's form itself could create the crest's "X" then

[johnny griswold]

@Ryan -

Good catch. Yes, the shoulders on the Away is colored incorrectly. Oops.

As for the whale, I like my final design, but will be changing the nose because I can see the valid points of being too chiseled.

[ethan]

SO AWESOME! Hey Johnny, HOW DO U MAKE LOGOS LIKE THAT?! I LOVE the Whalers logo.

[johnny griswold]

Lots of cursing at the Pen Tool in Illustrator.

[Jonny W]

Holy freaking awesomeness, Batman! These logos are phenomenal!

Johnny, normally, your jersey designs are a little too simple for me, but it looks great here. I kinda wish I could see that logo biting through the harpoon though. I think that would help make it feel more "Whalers" and less "Whales."

The only criticism I have for Sigma is that I'm not crazy about all that orange on the jersey. I'd switch the orange and red on the jersey.

[Koho]

I feel like Sigmas jersey striping is always the same or very similar, he could've done a different striping to match the great logos he designed IMO. Johnny's jerseys and logo are phenomenal and work very well together (upgrade to the Hartford Whalers classic logo IMO too), although I agree with the duckbill comments above about the whale.