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jackkmart · 06-06-2022, 01:58 PM

We're Back!

I really enjoyed doing my previous expansion brand concept a couple of weeks ago, so I decided after a very long hiatus of about 10 days it was time to return with yet another expansion brand concept. This time, however, I went a little less ridiculous but still tried to give the team a pretty unique identity. Also, I like SHL money so pls gib.

Speaking of the previous media piece, I have since updated that concept a bit grounding it a little more in reality and fleshing out some of the ideas. So if anyone is interested here is a Behance link to the 'finished' project. Here's a sneak peek:

[Image: RXfZYVQ.png]

Without further adieu, however, I present the Milwaukee Ice Pups

Branding

Being from Chicago I have a good amount of respect and fondness for Milwaukee seeing as it's a nearby city that's got pretty good food, beer, and culture (especially for such a relatively small place). I've also always felt that Wisconsin was terribly underrepresented in hockey with cheese heads being forced to the Wild or Blackhawks in the NHL. Obviously, Milwaukee has a team though; the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL who sport pretty similar colors to the team I'm debuting here but hey it's just for fun and it's the SHL which I consider to be a completely different universe from the on we inhabit, so I'll give myself a pass.

So back to the Milwaukee thing, I figured it was time they got some love in the SHL too, hence why I'm proposing the Ice Pups. Before we go any further, I should probably touch on the name. An Ice Pup is meant to be an otter... But on ice. It's very clever I know, but I just thought it was a more interesting name than simply 'the Otters' and it gives it slightly more of a minor league feel that fits a new team in the J. At least in my opinion.

The colors I chose mostly because the word 'ice' in the name sort of requires some combination of blue and grey (or white) in order to pull off but I could absolutely be convinced to change the colors here as I think they are a tad on the boring side. Can't win 'em all.

Anyway, let's get to those logos!

PRIMARY LOGO

I don't do animal logos particularly often so this one was pretty fun for me. It could use a little work and some readjustments but I'm pretty happy with where it's at now. It features a cheeky-looking otter looking off to the right, as is somewhat customary with animal logos in sport (for whatever reason), with slicked fur and a rather angry (or perhaps mischievous) look in his eye. I don't know what to call the mascot so please direct your suggestions to the replies section of this post.

Again, most of the brand will be dominated by the striking bright blue, navy, and blueish greys.

Moving on.

SECONDARY

This will be the most prominent secondary or alternate logo used by the team. It features a jagged M, for Milwaukee, enveloped by the state of Wisconsin with a stylized head of wheat in the negative space made below the M, making reference to the city's rich brewing history (and alternatively the state of Wisconsin's agricultural industry), whilst also being a subtle nod to the brewers in the MLB. I tried to make certain elements of the logo more jagged to evoke the idea of chipped ice like you often see on hockey rinks. This logo was primarily designed for the shoulder patch and as such is slightly more simple and boxy than the primary.

This logo is a bit lopsided but overall I think it looks nice enough and fits well on a jersey as you will see later!

[Image: LUCMYTK.png]

Here's the M mark without the state of Wisconsin surrounding it, also a decent enough logo on its own.

WORDMARK

My greatest enemy: the wordmark. I very rarely spend much time on wordmarks unless it's for a project for someone else as I just find them a bit boring in general. This time is no exception unfortunately, I don't think it's that great but it does what a word mark should do: say the words. This would go best on promotional materials for the team, like shirts or integrated into other marketing, but otherwise, it likely won't be used much.

Now time for the jerseys, my personal favorite... I think?

Jerseys

HOME OPTIONS

We begin the jersey section with a dilemma: are the Ice Pups a Blue team or a Navy one? I really couldn't decide so I wanted some second opinions. Which jersey should be the Ice Pups' home jersey? I think they both look nice but I think I lean slightly towards the navy one. Anyway, they both share the same, rather minimalist design with two stripes on both arms and on the torso section of the jersey, colors have obviously been inverted for both options. I think the team would wear navy pants and helmets if they go with the first jersey and maybe light blue pants and helmets if they go with the navy home jersey. The general design doesn't really take after any team in real life but it's not too original so I wouldn't be surprised if it looks very similar to a fair few real teams.

The 'M in Wisconsin' logo rounds out the jersey being featured on both shoulders.

AWAY

The away jersey I think looks better than both home options by quite a distance, to be honest. The Ice Pups just look good in white. Although technically the base color isn't white but instead a very light blue-grey, but that's being a bit pedantic. Everything here stays the same as the home except the shoulder piping is dropped for a simpler more white-dominant look.

Now the alternates.

ALTERNATE HOME

Not too dissimilar to the second home option but I really wanted a clean navy jersey to be a part of this brand regardless of which home jersey they wear. Here the mischievous otter is replaced by a recolored secondary logo and the double stripes on the arms are replaced by a more 'classic' triple stripe design. Here light blue acts more as an accent than a primary color which makes me lean towards picking the light blue home jersey. On the shoulders now is a crest version of the primary logo which you can see at the end of this post in more detail.

ALTERNATE AWAY

Basically the same as the home alternate but with the roundel logo now acting as the jersey logo and another mostly white design. Again, the Ice Pups look good in white. Every jersey is meant to be pretty simple though underscoring a brand that is meant to look sleek and modern.

Conclusion

Milwaukee needs a team I think, and while I don't think this is my best design by any stretch, I do think it was a fun exploration and perhaps a good jumping-off point for a more developed brand identity. If I were ever given the opportunity to run an expansion J team I think Milwaukee would be my first choice, Ice Pups or otherwise.

So we wind down the second expansion brand concept I've done here in the SMJHL media section. I'm not sure how many of these I'll do, maybe this is the last, I don't know. I don't want to do too many of these otherwise it could get boring and no one wants to see the same type of media spammed over and over so I promise I'll try to space out the releases of these posts. I'm not 100% where I'm going to put my next team (if there is a next team) but I'm thinking since Milwaukee (and Wisconsin) finally got some love I figure it may be time to create another southern team, a region very underrepresented in the SMJHL. Maybe Biloxi or Arkansas? Generally, I want to put a team where hockey isn't super popular in real life because we can do whatever we want here and I think that would open up some interesting branding ideas that often aren't explored in hockey.

Any ideas or concepts you want to see me try? Feel free to PM me or DM me on discord and we can sort something out or just shoot the shit about hockey design. Also, I'm more than willing to release my jersey template so that others can have their own go at designing a jersey.

And finally a link to the Imgur album where you can see all the logos and their PNG forms.

Thanks for reading, I hope this second entry into the unofficial SMJHL expansion concept series was enjoyable. Criticisms, comments, etc. are all more than welcome as well!

Code:
1479 Words... I think?

***Ace*** · 06-06-2022, 02:11 PM

Almost looks like the Ice Otters, which would be sweet. I like the vibe.

**brickwall35** · 06-06-2022, 02:33 PM

Would like to the the blue jersey but with the same white shoulders as the navy and away jerseys.

Merica · 06-06-2022, 03:24 PM

That M word mark could easily be the main logo, that’s fucking great work.

Also, the Gulf Coast Mavericks…A+ dude. @jackkmart

jackkmart · 06-06-2022, 03:28 PM

06-06-2022, 02:33 PMbrickwall35 Wrote: Would like to the the blue jersey but with the same white shoulders as the navy and away jerseys.

Ask and you shall receive.

[Image: tMiaObm.png]

option 1

option 2

I think you're right and this looks better

**brickwall35** · 06-06-2022, 03:29 PM

06-06-2022, 03:28 PMjackkmart Wrote:
06-06-2022, 02:33 PMbrickwall35 Wrote: Would like to the the blue jersey but with the same white shoulders as the navy and away jerseys.

Ask and you shall receive.

option 1

option 2

Option 2 is money