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jackkmart · 10-20-2022, 10:11 PM

It has been a while.

Well, back again for another round of this series which is now something like 5 months old. It's only been about 4 months since the last update... Oops.

Regardless though I am back and I have some concepts to show again, and because of my long absence I thought it only fair that I do three, you heard (or read) right folks THREE whole new teams. I say 'new' but all three of these concepts have existed in one form or another for a while in my graphics folder but I figured I could repurpose some stuff and turn them into fully fledged (sorta) expansion teams.

I've tried to place teams in places where I think a minor league (SMJHL team) would exist with regard to where teams already are in the league as it stands right now.

If you haven't seen the last installments here are links to those (if you are interested):

Teams 3 and 4

Team 2

Team 1

In the interim between my last post and this one, I also started a similar series in the PBE if anyone is interested you can see the baseball concepts I've made so far here:

Omaha CinnaMen

Fargo Killers

Obligatory long intro out of the way, let's get ready to rumble.

Branding

The Cleveland Cavalry... Obviously, the name is pretty similar to the Cavaliers (or Cavs) of the NBA but I kinda liked the idea that the teams shared a similar motif, like the Cubs and Bears (Chicago) or Lions and Tigers (Detroit). Also, I think Ohio is lacking in hockey teams here on the site, and although I personally am not a fan of Ohio, I recognize it as a big sport and hockey state with three sizable cities.

The concept, more specifically the logo, is based on the NJ/NY Knights from the World League of American Football or whatever - one of the many defunct football leagues. The team name was originally the Knights as well but I settled on Cavalry because of some mild research which yielded a neat local history of the 1st Cleveland Cavalry or 'Troop A' who served in multiple American conflicts abroad and for the Ohio national guard. Also, Knights, with regard to Cleveland and other parts of Ohio seemed to be related to religious (mostly Catholic) orders which I kinda wanted to avoid. Apparently, the A Troop also were nicknamed the Black Cav or something similar which leads to the colors.

So I basically stole Army's (West Point) color palette with some minor tweaks to tone because of the military connotations and the similarity in the mascot. This ended up working pretty well I think and the jerseys make use of a few different shades of grey to achieve a dark, military look.

Cool, now the logos.

The primary here is, like I said, a take on the NJ/NY Knights logo with updates. It's also supposed to look more like a horse and less like a chess piece which is what the source material seemed to be emulating. The shooting star is consistent with the Ohio/ American military motifs and helps give the horse head some more motion and a point of interest. It also is a little reminiscent of the real-life Blue Jackets logo. The accents in the head are supposed to be a little muted to give an overall more ominous look.

The secondary logo is pretty simple, it's borrowed from the Indy Colts wordmark using a C in the shape and style of a horseshoe to enclose an embossed star. I tried to make better use of negative space throughout this design hence the reoccurrence of subtle shading, somewhat inspired by the Golden Knights who use a lot of subtle shading differences to give their logos and jerseys more texture.

The third logo is pretty boring. Ohio with the same star. I just needed something and this was good enough.

The horse head could be improved, the shading is a little sloppy. The shape of the head I am pretty happy with, though. The third could be entirely replaced but works for now while the secondary came out way better than expected even if it is a little boring and blocky.

Jerseyz?

Jerseys

The vegas inspiration shines through even more here with the inclusion of a dark grey home jersey with gold white and black striping. I actually think this looks more distinct and more interesting than if they were to wear a simple black jersey, which is a little boring considering how common the color black is in sports team branding. The horse head seems to work very well on a jersey, at least in my opinion, although its angle is throwing me off a little. Regardless, the striping here is based on a couple of things but most US Army hockey uniforms I found. It's not crazy inventive or anything but I think it matches the vibe of the team well and helps make the most of the grey home kit.

The away is basically an inversion of the grey and the white (white becomes the main color, and grey becomes the striping) so it's not too complicated or interesting. I generally like home and away jerseys that match or are relatively straightforward inversions of one another even if it is a little boring, it helps maintain a more cohesive look.

The C logo is also on the shoulders of both.

Alternate jerseys are usually more fun anyway...

Yes, I did just say black jerseys are often boring, but I felt like this team needed one. Here the 'stealth cav' uniform makes use of dark grey and eliminates all white elements to give a really clean black and gold look. This jersey, in my opinion, is a little too boring for an everyday home uniform but it definitely serves as a good alternative.

For the second alternate, I debated doing a gold uniform but I decided against it and instead ripped off the Blue Jackets jersey. I also changed the horse head logo to fit in with Columbus' colors better. I think this turned out pretty well and it could help solidify the Cavs as Ohio's team, not just Cleveland.

I think I will eventually do a recap of this series or something and do more alternates and/or reverse retro-style jerseys for every team, but for now, I'm just going to keep making entirely new concepts.

Ok, well that's one team down, two more to go...

Branding

The Tahoe Lake Tigers or just the Tahoe Tigers, I'm not sure which I like better. This team is one of the less interesting teams in terms of branding and stuff but I made it primarily to resemble the hockey team I played for when I was in middle/high school. So there's that I guess.

Another California team on the site? Well, why not, I did two Texas teams last time and California is even bigger so... I also wanted to keep the tradition of all the Cali teams being represented by a big cat of some kind and the 'Tigers' were a good option for Tahoe which, is also, sufficiently far away from both SF and LA.

There's also an opportunity for alliteration, as there was with Cleveland. Can't pass that up.

My original plan was to have them use navy as a primary color but then I realized I use navy too much and a lot of hockey teams shy away from orange as a primary color. So orange it was.

Not gonna lie, I made this logo for another personal project but I ended up not liking it in that context so I repurposed it here. I think it ended up looking pretty good (maybe?) I think it's a little on the bland side but Tigers is a bland nickname so... You get what you pay for.

The logo itself was actually sketched based on a pre-historic marsupial lion but I ended up adding stripes so it wasn't really a lion anymore. Even still, it looks a little more like a cougar or mountain lion than a tiger, but maybe that's actually what it's meant to be as there are mountain lions in California but probably no native tigers.

The logo is pretty jagged and angular which helps make it look more aggressive and boxy, generally, I think it turned out okay. Maybe I should've added whiskers though.

Anyway, the secondary is a full-body render of the lion-tiger-cat pouncing on its prey. I did this to practice full-body rendering, something I don't do enough of and I think it turned out very nice.

Jersey thyme.

Jerseys

Like I said before, this team is basically a rip-off of the team I played for when I was a kid (by the way, the team was called the WildKits - short for kitten I think - which is pretty fucking stupid but whatever). The jerseys are no exception baby. I usually don't like middle stripe jerseys but with a big blocky logo, it does look pretty good. I also toyed around with more complex striping but realized that it looked better when it was more simplified. The orange is a little intense, granted, but it makes it a little less boring... I hope.

The home almost looks like a Chicago Bears hockey jersey, maybe. The away though I think, somewhat unusually, is the winner here. The blue stripe with an orange outline and the simplified cat head looks really good. Would buy.

Instead of a shoulder logo I went with numbers to round out the more classic, simple look.

Alternatives to these options.

Yup, the first alternate is also boring! This one is what my childhood team actually wore, as a primarily navy team. I think it looks good, but we had to make orange the primary color for diversity reasons. Call it affirmative action for jersey design. The navy jersey is nice enough though, and it's made a little more interesting by the full-body cat logo. All in all, it's a natural extension of the first two.

The 'lake' jersey is a tad different though, I tried to take some queues from the Florida Panthers and Habs new RR jerseys and used a baby blue here which is always a winner. It also could represent the lake water in Lake Tahoe, or maybe the blue skies, I don't know, it looks nice though. I had to do away with the middle stripe though, otherwise, the whole set would be even blander.

That was a pretty short one to be honest, not much to say about it... Hopefully, you like it though.

The final team...

Branding

Oh yeah, the marsh monsters. This logo was the first proper logo I've ever designed and sketched myself so it's far from perfect, I must have done the original version years ago now, but I came back, touched it up, and completed the concept for your enjoyment. This team is also the most unique of the three in my opinion, but they can't all be zingers.

First of all, this team is based in Mississippi, where hockey may as well not exist, but the Marsh Monsters are going to change all that. The team name and logo are based on the Creature from the Black Lagoon from the movie the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I got inspired for this logo by an unofficial Ween music video on YouTube that featured clips from said movie set to the song Ocean Man. Pretty rad.

The name marsh monster came about when I decided I wanted the team to be in a city in or near marshes or swamps like Miami or the Mississippi delta and again, I'm a little harlot for alliteration so this made perfect sense. The team plays its games in Biloxi though.

The colors are somewhat inspired by the Seattle Kraken, as are the uniforms, as they share a mystical, nautical theme. Woohoo. Also, green seemed obvious for a team named the Marsh Monsters.

As I said, this team has had the most work done to them so the logos are probably the most fleshed out, even if they are a little janky seeing as I made the original concept so long ago. Anyway, the primary we already went over; it's supposed to resemble the fish-man monster hybrid from the Black Lagoon. I think it looks goofy but in a good way.

The secondary logo is the Biloxi lighthouse and a B, is for none other than Biloxi. It's also an M on its side for Mississippi. How very clever Smile

. Also perpetuates the nautical theme.

The tertiary logo is a dorsal fin, presumably of the monster or a shark, with the lighthouse in the negative space for some more flair.

I will say in advance before the jerseys, I only have three designs for this team, I need some suggestions for a perfect second alternate because I don't have any good ideas.

Jerseys

Asymmetrical home and away jerseys? Yes sir, I'm breaking all the rules tonight, don't cry about it. I think the home looks too good without yellow and the away looks too bland without it. That's about all the explanation I can give you, to be honest. I also think not every team should have inverted home and away jerseys as that would be a little boring, if not overly practical.

Again, the design is somewhat based on the Seattle Kraken, making use of various shades of light green to create a fake gradient with smaller white and/or yellow striping. I wanted this team to have a more modern, contemporary look as they are playing in a place where hockey has not been historically established and their team name is pretty unconventional.

The away also makes use of a cream color instead of a plain white which I think somehow makes it more interesting. I call it 'sea foam white' or something.

Both jerseys also feature the B lighthouse logo on the shoulder because there was space.

As I said before, only one alternate jersey. How sad. It also used the same color as the primary home, which is pretty uninventive BUT I think the striping here is too nice not to use. As the name suggests, it's supposed to be a faux-retro jersey using the same colors but with more old-school striping patterns. The monster's eyes are also no longer yellow and the blue is a little more faded. Oh yes, the shoulder logo is replaced by the fin as well, because, why not.

Again, ideas for another alternate would be appreciated

Conclusion

Otay, that wraps up entry 4 into this series. Feedback is appreciated, hope you enjoyed it!

Customary Imgur album post for anyone interested.

As I said at the end of the last one I like making these but the time between them may be extremely sporadic as they do take a while to compile and create even if they aren't all entirely new concepts. But I will most likely be making another one here pretty soon as I have some ideas lined up that I want to flesh out.

If you have any ideas, feel free to shoot me a message and I will happily try to devote some time to some interesting concepts.

Yup, that's it, thanks, everybody.