PuckDrawn

Leafs And Bullies, Oh My!

It's a snowy Saturday here in the northeast, so if you're snowed in and bored, you at least have a couple of concepts to check out and discuss.

The first concept is Sledgehammerr's Maple Leafs re-brand.

I like this one, even though it incorporates the "standard" large maple leaf and blue/white color scheme. It's less of a total re-branding/re-imagining and more of a modest re-design of the current Maple Leafs uni.

For the primary, I like the simple and clever use of the "T" stem acting as the stem of the leaf. And I'd like to see the secondary mark represented on the shoulder since it's part of the presentation.

Overall this is a nice, clean and simple concept. Can't complain.

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And out of nowhere, Mike Ivall sends in his Philadelphia Flyers / Broad Street Bullies concept design. 

 

I'm partial to the Flyers' flying "P", but since the team being represented here is the Broad Street Bullies, the logo has changed to better fit the new team name.

My only criticism (aside from touching an un-touchable logo) is that the black jersey is not an orange jersey instead. But that's just me.

Olympic Hockey Uni Concepts

PuckDrawn reader Eric Westhaver e-mailed me the other day to ask if I had any interest in posting some of his Olympic hockey uniform concepts. Well, of course!

Eric's concepts are designed in that 2-D/pixel-art style. I think I'd go blind trying to design like that, so much credit to Eric on that feat.

Here are a couple of my favorites. You can view the entire Olympic Rebrand album here on Eric's Photobucket page.

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On a side and semi-related note, I'm just now starting to push my new blog, SportDrawn.com. It's much like much PuckDrawn, but dedicated to all sports, not just hockey.

So check it out and let me know what you think so far.

And you concept designers are welcome to submit your baseball, basketball, football, and soccer designs!

-SportDrawn.com

More Leafs Re-brands

Got another collection of Maple Leafs Re-brand submissions for ya. It's late on a Tuesday, so I'm gonna leave the in-depth commentary to you guys in the comments section.

Our first brave soul to actually re-name the Leafs is Roccot, with his Toronto Toros concept. I'm diggin' the logo, but I'm wondering if the bull is too similar to the bull sculpture on Wall Street. This is Roccot's second submission - Here's his Leafs design.

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Oh, hey, another team name change! J. Smith is the designer of this Toronto Red Rockets concept. Below J's graphic is his explanation as to why he chose the name Red Rockets. Unfortunately, the name makes me think of the South Park episode where Cartman yells "red rocket, RED ROCKET!" as he, well ... nevermind.

 

 

The Toronto Maple Leafs are now the RED ROCKETS. While honeymooning in Canada, I was impressed with iconic “red rocket” street cars, and as far as I know (I’m from Illinois), they are a Toronto trademark/moving landmark(?). I chose the older version of the streetcar to better include some design elements listed below. While searching the internet for inspiration, I found a picture of a streetcar station sign on Wikipedia and fashioned my own. Some design elements include:

• T-shaped pantagraph -T for Toronto
• Crease-shaped windshield painted light blue
• Puck-shaped headlight
• Goalie stick “bumpers”
• Railroad track striping/piping across the bottom & from neck down arm (I know, maybe a little cheesy)
• Railroad crossing shoulder patches (T for Toronto replaces the RR, although, the RR for Red Rockets would work too)
• Name and numbers on the back –font= Felix Titling
• Red Rockets on front –font=Papyrus (written in the sign above the windshield, maybe a little small)

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The next Leafs submission was sent in by Eric Westhaver. Below the graphic you can read about Eric's concept in his own words.

  

I've designed a uniform based on the look of another lesser known team from Toronto. I've seen some St. Pats-based concepts and some Arenas-based concepts. This one's based off of the Toronto Granites. The Granites represented Canada at the 1924 Olympics in Chamonix. There's really no other term to described them: they destroyed the competition. They scored 85 (yes, 85) goals in only 3 games without giving one up.
 
Red and blue are still intact, but red accents have been thrown in for good measure.

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And finally we have Connor Hanley's Leafs submission. Connor warns us that we should be afraid ... Very afraid.

 

How About A Hand For Concept Designers!

If you haven't already, go check out the write-up about Mike Ivall's Hartford Wolfpack Specialty Jersey design on Icethetics. Mike does some real fine concept art and it's awesome to see his design come to life. Congrats Mike!

  

That's perfect timing, as I was planning a blog post on the Grand Rapids Griffins Specialty Jersey Contest winner, Brian Oesch.

Here are a couple of action shots of the jersey/logo that Brian designed for the PuckDrawn/Grand Rapids Griffins specialty jersey contest. These jerseys were worn on January 30th in a game against Rockford.

You can check out the full gallery that the Griffins just posted on their website here.

 

  

Now if we could only get the Federal Hockey League teams to discover the concept artists here on PuckDrawn and over on Icethetics!

Leafs Re-brands For Your Monday

It's Monday, so if you're not into working just yet, take a look at these three Leafs re-brands and start the discussion in the comments section!

For complete rules, and to see all of the submissions for the Original Six: Toronto Maple Leafs Re-branding Competition, visit this page.

The first design for today was sent in by Mike Ivall.

Another strong design by Mike. What I like is the unique take on the maple leaf, while utilizing a strong "M" letter to create an original crest that still says "Maple Leafs" when you see it. To me, you can still feel the history in this logo, while looking ahead as it could progress.

  

I like how Mike designed the modern unis to have an "old school" feel to them. I don't normally like a shoulder yoke as shown here, but with the way Mike handled the jersey and sock striping, it fits perfectly.

Adding "Toronto" and "Maple Leafs" to the hem stripe only adds to this excellent submission by Mike. Easily in my top three for this contest.