By Phil Hecken
If you’ve been following the NHL or Uni Watch the past few days, it should come as no surprise to you that the Winnipeg Jets — who recently located from Atlanta — are slowly announcing a new identity. First, they announced a name (coming on the eve of the NHL draft). The team selected “Jets” and decided they would be named for the city of Winnipeg, rather than the province of Manitoba (ending speculation they would try to have a larger demographic appeal). Interesting they’d revert back to the name of the former franchise who had earlier relocated to Phoenix. Some thought the former Thrashers would choose a new name, but the Winnipeg Jets carried quite a bit of cachet. No pun intended.
The next step in the evolution of the Jets was to announce logos and wordmarks, which they refer to as a brand identity. For that, they chose a roundel for a crest — one that is based on this RCAF roundel, which itself has gone through a more modern iteration over time, bringing the maple leaf in line with that on the Canadian flag. In the center of the roundel is a gray/silver fighter jet.
Along with their logo, the Jets also introduced a secondary mark and wordmarks (these shown on a blue background). We can probably safely assume the roundel will serve as the team’s crest and the secondary mark will be on the shoulder. Uniforms have yet to be announced, but they will likely be that shade of blue. On a white background, the crest, logo & word mark do pop.
Lets break the crest, shoulder logo and wordmark into three distinct elements, for discussion. I happen to LOVE the new crest, which should look fantastic on a sweater. I’m not such a big fan of the “jet,” but with a name like “Jets,” (and an historical basis for the roundel), it works well. The secondary mark is also sharp, but a bit busy, incorporating two hockey sticks (just in case we didn’t know what sport they are playing), the Canadian Maple Leaf, team name, and aviator wings. A bit of a downgrade from the roundel, but still, it should look great on the shoulder. Two outta three ain’t bad, as they say, for the primary word mark falls far short of the quality of the other two images. The script “Jets” denotes neither speed nor historical significance, and in fact looks like a cross between the MS Word “Bradley Hand” and “Lucida Handwriting” fonts. At least they didn’t opt for “Comic Sans.”
So how did they come up with the colors for this logo — if you look at this screenshot from the brand identity slideshow, you will note there are seven colors, but only five appear in the wordmarks, logo & roundel — a blue (somewhere between steel blue and navy blue), light & dark gray, and red and crimson. The red obviously comes from the Canadian flag, and the blue/steel looks like it comes from the flag of Winnipeg. Does the silver/gray come from the flag of Manitoba (see here)? That would be a nice trifecta, if true. In a way, it’s too bad the Jets didn’t use the gold (yellow) from the flag of Winnipeg, since that would have been a great combo. So there we are — no uniforms yet, but it will be interesting to see how they use the blue-red-silver/gray.
My overall grade on the Jets so far? B+. It’s only the font of the word mark that’s keeping them from a A-. But I thought maybe I’d get some outside opinions. As such, I contacted a few members of the Uni Watch Hockey Wing, Jeff Barak, Mike Engle, Mike Styczen and Teebz for their thoughts. They didn’t disappoint. But, as you might expect, their thoughts were myriad. Here’s a sampling of their opinions:
Mike Engle:
• I commented on Teebz’s blog that the “circle” logo looks like the 2000 NHL All-Star Game logo. The latter was a circle with a maple leaf and a star, while the Jets have a circle, a maple leaf, and a plane that looks like a star if you don’t have your reading glasses on. I’ll just have to give it more time so that that confusion can fade.
• The “circle” logo has that little notch up top, presumably for the TRUE NORTH ownership group. Slightly cheeky, but a clever self-homage. Pleasantly surprised NOT to see any text within the circle. Thank God. Makes it feel more timeless…or as timeless as you can get with all those bevels.
• The “wings” logo: gonna look great on a polo shirt, will be just fine as a shoulder patch, but I fear that as a main crest, it would look slightly AHL-ish. Now, the wordmark…you have to have a wordmark for stationery, but I only like wordmarks on baseball jerseys, basketball jerseys, and the New York Rangers, so the less visible it is, the better.
• Color scheme: I like it for now, but I’ll love it if there’s more gray than white. If it’s vice versa, you’ll lose the gray and just think it’s all white, and we don’t need another “just blue” team now that Stevie Y redesigned the Tampa Bay Maple Wings.
• Good on Winnipeg for saluting the Royal Canadian Air Force, but brace yourself for “they’re playing like the Royal Canadian Air Farce” jokes.
Jeff Barak:
• My reaction to the new Winnipeg Jets logo and colors is one of disappointment.
• To me, the new primary logo looks like a secondary logo at best, lacking the italicized excitement of the last Jets logo. The new one is very static and not at all dynamic. It’s quite an achievement to make a jet fighter look motionless and dull.
• The secondary logo has too much going on and too many fine details. Perhaps just the wings and the maple leaf would have been stronger. We know what the team name is and the fact it’s a hockey team. You don’t need to remind us.
• I like the wordmark least of all. It’s just not exciting in any way, especially compared to the boldness of the last Jets logo.
• Additionally, I find the muted colors and lack of red rather depressing overall and prefer the previous vibrant tones.
• If the new owners listened to the fans desire for the return of the Jets name, why not go all the way and return to the Jets colors and logo, or at least an updated version of the last Jets logo? I’ve seen more than one fan created concept in the last five years that I was a lot more excited about than what the team has released.
Mike Styczen:
• In the 1990s, I was a Winnipeger and a Jets fan. I went to a lot of games, and I was at the last regular season game in 1996. I’ve followed the return to Winnipeg with anticipation. So I come at this logo set not as a design professional but as a hockey fan, and as an ex-Winnipeger who’s maintained his connections to the city.
• I was thrilled when they announced the name would be “Jets”. There’s so much love for that name, so much equity in that name, I don’t care that its not the same franchise.
• My reaction when I saw the logo set on Friday – perfect! The main logo is simple and mature. If you’ve seen it once, you can draw it from memory – isn’t that the perfect logo? A simple yet bold incorporating the name and the Canadian identity (don’t underestimate how important it is that the NHL is returning to Winnipeg after the failed U.S. experiment). The secondary logo is also flawless. The wordmark – well, I don’t get that one at all. Maybe they’ll just use it on the team letterhead.
• I was afraid that they were going to do something cartoonish and obvious to appeal to the children and non-fans. Instead, after 20 years of trying to make hockey work in the U.S., of teal, eggplant and purple, lightning bolts, cartoon logos, they’ve done something simple that’ll appeal to hockey fans.
• I hope the uniforms are simple and traditional. No bibs, gradients, odd stripes, or anything else that screams Reebok. Something simple like Tampa’s new set, so that when they take the ice for the first time it’ll look like they’ve been there all along.
Teebz:
Teebz already addressed this on his Hockey Blog In Canada. But here’s a bit more from the Hockey Wing President:
• As a Winnipegger, the anticipation for the Jets logo was overwhelming in the city (to say the least).
• Lots of people had speculated on what the logo would look like – from rehashes of the old Jets logos to brand-new designs – but the new Jets logo took everyone by surprise, it seems
• I like that the logo has a throwback feel to it, and there are some very interesting themes that can be played off the logo if the Jets so desire. I think there has to be one thing considered here: if the original Jets had never existed, would you still feel as strongly for or against this logo?
• Personally, it’s growing on me, and I think it will capture any hockey fan’s eye once they let go of the old logos that the Jets wore for so long.
Well, there you have it — more than you’d probably ever want to know about a team who hasn’t even released its uniform yet — based on what we’ve seen so far, we can probably make guesses as to what that will be. A first look at what those could be was already undertaken by Tim E. O’Brien on his blog. He imagines this for the home and this for the road. I guess we’ll know soon enough.
What say you Uni Watchers? How’d the Jets do so far? Thanks to Mike, Mike, Jeff, Teebz, and Tim E. (for the uni mocks).
Your turn.
In case you missed it…
Paul was interviewed on Sirius XM yesterday, appearing on Andrew Bogusch’s show, “The Weekend Playbook,” which is part of Mad Dog Radio. He discussed a wide range of topics, including the new Jets logos, baseball jerseys, the NFL/Nike deal and more. Here is that interview, in two parts:
[mp3j track=”https://uni-watch.com/media/07-24-11 Paul Lukas Interview Part 1.mp3″]
[mp3j track=”https://uni-watch.com/media/07-24-11 Paul Lukas Interview Part 2.mp3″]
Benchies from the Beginning
By Rick Pearson
For nearly three years, “Benchies” has been appearing most weekends at Uni Watch. While Bench Coach Phil fills in for Paul Monday through Friday during August, we present a retrospective. New strips will continue to appear on weekends. For further background, here’s the “Benchies” backstory and bios on the regular Boys of “Benchies.” Enjoy.
And here is the full-size version.
Li’l Help?
Got an E-mail from Ryan Connelly that would definitely fall beneath the purview of the Uni Watch researchers. Maybe we can get him some answers:
I need the help of the UW research team.
In short, i was given this clemente jersey last weekend from a good friend of my family.
He said it was given to him in ’88. It came with an undershirt (that I forgot to take pics of).
It can’t be authentic, but when did Rawlings start making jerseys for retail?
Any help would be great!
Thanks RyCo — OK — Here’s the jersey in question. Anyone out there know the story behind this jersey?
Uni Watch News Ticker (compiled by John Ekdahl): Take a look at the University of Hawaii’s 2011 football uniform set (Jeff Osbun). … Who’s up for a picture of women in 1926 playing golf in bathing suits? (Bruce) … Uni Watcher Matt Bellner has created a 5-Hour Energy putting green. … From David Browning: “I have seen many high schools rip off pro logos but ripping off two?” That’s Fort Worth Glennview Christian High School in Texas. … Meet the man behind the Tour de France custom cycling jerseys (Andres L. Douzoglou). … Bill Hanstock noticed that Jeff Keppinger was the only member of the Giants not wearing the World Series Champions patch on the right sleeve Friday night. He was recently acquired from the Houston Astros and has been going the high-sock route since (Jonathan Ratshin). … Brian Franzman sent us along some footage of the opening of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. … The Tampa Bay Rays are auctioning off game-worn Cardinals and Smokers gear from the July 2nd throwback game (Rob Holecko). … Ohio State Pro Combat leak or just another hoax? (Anthony Olivieri) … Lawmakers in North Dakota are now asking the NCAA to back off the University of North Dakota “Fighting Sioux” nickname. [sarcasm] Y’know how these things go – I’m sure it will all be resolved without further incident and both sides will come away happy. [/sarcasm] … Here’s some rare footage of the Steelers “Batman” unis from 1966 (Joseph Gerard). … Walter Pingree, the man who designed the original 1960 Patriots uniform, has died. Uni Watch featured Mr. Pingree’s work in a helmet-related post back in 2009. Rest in peace. (Greg Martin) … Here’s Brian Wilson channeling his inner-Manny while shagging balls before the All-Star game (Chris Flinn). … The Indians have put their Bob Feller logo on the lineup cards this year (Chris Flinn, again).
“There’s only so many times you can change your jersey, or your uniform, to something crazy, and expect fans to pay $200, $250, to buy a polyester shirt.” — Paul Lukas, Sirius XM Interview with Andrew Bogusch, 7-24-11
re: mike’s takedown on US hockey logos (using the aeros and the “cartoonish” example)
there are PLENTY of terrible logos in minor league hockey north of the boarder. i give you the manitoba moose as example A, since that fits in with the equation. hell, wasn’t there a lot of talk of the Jets being the Moose? in fact, a case could be made that of the handful of NHL teams north of the boarder, fully 1/3 have had terrible uni’s or such inconsistency to make them laughable.
see: Senators (they literally have had cartoon logos)
see: Canucks (more uni changes than a sun belt team!)
see: Oilers (wandering thru the tundra til they found 80s again)
see: flames (too much black. too many flaming horsies)
so lets not go getting too proud of the great canadian heritage of sweaters.
take away the leafs and the habs and you’re no better than the south east division.
Agree completely. I wasn’t trying to make a comment on canada vs the US, but on the NHL’s strategy of the last 20 years of abandoning traditions, doing trendy things, etc. In my head those are all tied to their attempt to make hockey work in the southern US. The examples you give of vancouver and calgary are good ones, and both those teams have fixed those mistakes.
I only picked on houston because their logo is an anthropomorphic airplane – exactly what I feared for winnipeg. I could have chosen calgary’s horse as well.
In the ticker… I’m pretty sure the left-most woman in the bathing suit playing golf is wearing a Detroit Red Wings shirt.
As for the Jets logos, from the perspective of the color-blind: The jet on the primary does not pop. just looks like an elaborate leaf from distance. Still love the concept and the notch. Secondary is very AHL, but still good. Wordmark is weak, but who knows, it might not be on anything besides the helmets and can be changed sooner than later.
They weren’t the Detroit Red Wings till 1932, though. The Detroit Cougars franchise was granted in May 1926, which would pre-date the photo, but their ’26-27 unis would use a different take on the D, as seen here:
link
I don’t get all the dissing of the Jets wordmark. First off, this is hockey, so we won’t see the wordmark all that much, and if we do, that would be its own problem even if the wordmark were everyone’s idea of awesome. Second, has anyone actually seen any of the rest of the NHL’s wordmarks? This is a league with a rich heritage of crappy wordmarks. The Jets will actually have one of the better wordmarks in the league.
And on pure aesthetics, are you kidding? That’s a terrific wordmark. “[It] denotes neither speed nor historical significance.” Well, um, yes it does. But granting for a moment that it doesn’t, neither did the old Jets script, so how is this a problem? Anyway, the serif on the J and the little notches on the letters are clearly motion lines; it’s exactly the typographic trick that designers have used for 70 years to indicate “speed” when designing automotive badges and corporate logos. Sure, it’s not all hyper-beveled and aggressively angular like something Nike would put on a shoe, but since when is that school of design the acme of aesthetic achievement around here? Look at the white version of the wordmark again. It’s a contrail. It’s a stylized version of the word “Jets” spelled out by a jet in the sky. Perfection, that.
As to the historical significance, this is a team that has none, which makes that a criticism the team can’t possibly satisfy. But the wordmark does carry a very heavy dose of retro nostalgia with it; this is exactly what any team named “Jets” would have looked like in the 1950s or early 1960s. Growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, I had a ton of hand-me-down books from my uncles. Boy’s adventure stories, mainly sports, mysteries, and wartime stories, from that era, and the Jets wordmark looks like a distillation of the cover typography of that entire library. Back when jets were exciting, bleeding-edge technology that symbolized the limitless future of postwar America, that’s how type designers communicated the same feelings that jets themselves communicated.
It is, in short, a terrific wordmark, and y’all are blind. [Kidding! But I do like the wordmark, at least in white. The only problem is the little red leaf that looks like an apostrophe.]
I agree. Terrific wordmark. Probably my favorite logo in the set, and the most “professional” looking of the three (though I think they’re all pretty decent).
Word. Love the wordmark. Like the logo a lot, too. Just don’t understand why they need a maple leaf when they’re one of seven Canadian teams in the league, including one that is actually called the “Maple Leafs.”I agree with the below comment that it comes across as somewhat lazy.
Also, I think the secondary mark looks good, I’m just not generally a fan of hockey sticks on a hockey logo, basketballs on a basketball logo, etc. Just seems childish. Crossed hockey sticks are what every youth travel team that doesn’t have a logo (including mine growing up) slaps on their team jackets. I realize this disdain for game equipment in logos makes most of the logos in the NBA look stupid, but at least most of those don’t show up on the uniforms. One exception to this rule is for a college, etc., where the equipment shows the difference between the different teams from a particular school, such as link
If the equipment plays some visual role beyond merely asserting the sport, I’m fine with it. So if the Pittsburgh Pirates, for example, adopted a Jolly Roger logo with crossed baseball bats instead of femurs, that would work for me in a way that most NBA logos with basketballs as a frame don’t. There’s a tradition of pilot’s wings incorporating elements of the type of aviation they represent – link, link, link, link, even link – so the Jets hockey sticks are sort of a borderline for me. A strong case can be made form them as part of the icon being depicted, rather than as purely sport-specific adornment, but I don’t think the execution in this case is quite as strong as it needs to be to really do the job.
I’d be right with you on that if the crossed sticks were superimposed on the wings. But as a background element, I think they clutter up the whole thing and detract from the design rather than adding to it. One superior approach might have been to lose the sticks and the text, and just set a stylized W over the wings. Mr. O’Brien’s tweak also works for me, even as I disagree with his assertion that Canada is not a nation.
“Thanks RyCo – OK – Here’s the jersey in question. Anyone out there know the story behind this jersey?”
Hey Ryan – Sounds like someone needs to buy Bill Henderson’s guide!
If this isn’t figured out by the time I get home I’ll look it up and get back to you.
I don’t think it will be in the Henderson guide because it is a flannel jersey.
I doubt that it is an authentic jersey because that “jock tag” is from the mid-to-late 1980’s design.
It also has no tagging giving the typical year, size, number, set, etc. tags sewn into authentic jerseys.
Either I missed it or what, but I would like to see a picture of the inside of the back collar to see if anything is there.
That Browns/Steelers footage from the Ticker is sensational. I *love* the Batman design!
One thing, though: Right at the beginning of the clip, the announcer says, “This is Jim Gibbons on Friday night.” An NFL game on a Friday night? Must’ve been preseason, right?
Well, I know he said Friday night, but according to this:
link and this
link
…the game was on a Saturday, 10/8/66
I seem to recall that the Browns and Steelers often played each other on Friday or Saturday night in October back then. Not sure if other teams did it (I was a kid and only paid attention to the Browns) but I think it was to avoid conflicting with the World Series. Those were the days, eh — football ducking a confrontation with baseball?
In ’66, the Rams played a couple of Friday night regular-season games in September: in Chicago on 9/16 and San Francisco on 9/30. But Jim Gibbons or his scriptwriter might’ve been confused, because as Rob H. notes, this was definitely Saturday night, October 8. The final score of 41-10 matches up, as does the reference to the Browns having a bye the following week.
Check that – the Rams’ Friday night games in ’66 were both home games. I misread the schedule.
In 1967, the Rams also hosted a Friday night game against Minnesota, on September 22. The next Friday game was September 18, 1970, Cardinals at Rams. After that, Football-Reference doesn’t list another Friday game till December 16, 1983, Jets at Dolphins. Between ’83 and ’86, there were Friday games on the last weekend of the schedule: Rams at 49ers on 12/14/84, Denver at Seattle on 12/20/85, and Rams at 49ers again 12/19/86.
Since then, there have been only five Friday games: 12/31/93, Minnesota @ Washington; 12/24/99, Dallas @ New Orleans; 12/24/04, Green Bay @ Minnesota; 10/21/05, Kansas City @ Miami; and 12/25/09, San Diego at Tennessee.
While on the sunject, I recall the late 1970s Tampa Bay Bucs playing a few early regular season games on Saturday Nights – with the Summer/Sept. HEAT being the reason given for playing at night …. Anybody else have any info on that?
Seeing those classic Cleveland Browns uniforms in that film against the Stillers makes you realize that here is one of football’s clearly untouchable styles. They don’t need any damnaed Orange or Brown (ugh!) pants or solid Brown socks. Those uniforms as worn in the film are perfect. But would you expect anything less from the man who designed them, the greatest and most-innovative coach in foorball history, Paul Brown.
I totally agree.
If I owned the Steelers that would be my #1 choice for a throwback.
ditto. that footage is gorgeous. the unis of both teams are terrific.
Agree! I dread the day that the Browns are going to update (update=ruin) their unis! Hope it never happens!
At the end of the clip, the announcer says the Browns record is now 3-2 and have a bye next week. Clearly a regular season game.
It is nice seeing guys like Dick Hoak (#42) and Andy Russell (#34) wearing these uniforms, considering their contributions to the team in the Super Bowl years. While you can buy the Batman uniforms in retail–straight from the team no less–the Rooney’s themselves have said that they will NEVER be used in a game again.
The link is straight from the team’s site on ordering the jersey.
link
Never say never — from 1997 to 2008 the Bucs said they would NEVER wear orange again.
But this is the Rooney’s we are talking about. The Buccaneers needs to do gimmicks to make money. The Steelers? Just mention their name and they make money.
The word you meant regarding the built in value for Winnipeg team of the Jets name is “cachet.” Cache means stash and sounds the same. The other sounds like cash-ay.
Got to get in early to beat Juke Early.
yeah…um, thanks…now fixed
Well, Jets co-owner David Thomson does have a lot of cash, eh?
A “cache” is a hiding place or place of computer storage.
“Cachet” is a distinguishing mark or mark of quality.
(So, not “no pun intended”; no pun at all.)
a pun is an audial play on words, when read aloud that is still a pun because the pronunciation of “cache” and “cachet” is either negligible or exactly the same (depending on who says it).
So – technically – it is still a pun. Thanks for playing. No refunds.
Uh, no. “Cache” is pronounced “cash,” while “cachet” is pronounced “ka SHAY.”
Time to take your punishment.
Like I said, the pronunciation difference is negligible.
I entered a contest for puns and, thinking that the more I entered the better my chance of winning would be, I made ten entries.
I thought I’d at least one would get a prize, but no pun in ten did.
Sorry – it’s been a long day :)
Not the first time for this particular mistake (and also about the Jets, then as well:
“When You’re A Jet,” Bills Bring Back Beautiful, June 25, 2011:
….Certainly “Jets,” or more appropriately, “Winnipeg Jets” has great cache, both in the NHL and in Canada. (I think I pointed it out then, but nobody cared.)
Personally I like it better when people confuse “verbage” and “verbiage”.
My wife stubbornly, willfully confuses “rapport” and “repertoire” all the time….drives us all crazy.
Thanks for the link love Phil, but just so folks know, my designs are a link – link.
Tim, I like yours a LOT better. Much cleaner.
Thanks pflava, I like it better too.
Now that the NFL is officially back in business are there any thoughts for a UW fantasy league?
Also, like I said before I wish they’d have gone with a thicker blue outline on the crest, to better match the RCAF roundel.
It’s hard to like anything associated with the new Jets identity besides the name. Pierre has had some success in creating new team identities so here goes.
Primary icon- The bastardization of the Canadian leaf with a stock image of a fighter jet is forced and seems like a wife of an owner dirven comment: “why don’t you put the jet into the maple leaf?” The circle (another NHL circle logo? Really…) is just a lazy way to provide a retaining shape. I would expect to see such design from a graphic design intern trying to excite me over a faux logo submission. And finally when I think “JETS” I think fast, movement and an intimidating shape… this mark says none of that to me.
Grade D (and only because it is a CREST, the first rule in hockey uniform design was not broken by having a wordmark or type. So kudos for that.
Secondary logo- Wow. This is worse than the primary. More suited for the JETS Jr. Varsity team in Winnipeg than a professional NHL team. It’s busy. It’s again trying too hard to get too many visual cliches into a patch. It reminds me of the Capitals old secondary with the Capitlals logo.
link
Grade F
Triciary wordmark. Typography in hockey is NOT allowed. I’ve gone through this before with anyone who will listen. And BAD typography is expressly prohibited.
Grade F
In summation. A Jet moves fast = motion. An NHL identity never uses typography (unless cleverly like NY Rangers) and above all if you have a visual history to lean back on to drive the next generation, then by all means do it…
Overall grade = Start over.
You can’t link directly to an image on Creamer’s site – you need to link to the page the image is on.
“Jr. varsity”? “Triciary”? Fuddle duddle.
Refers to himself in the third person, too.
Yeah, I think pretending that “triciary” is a word also deserves an F.
One thing I noticed on the Rawlings tag on RyCo’s jersey is that it was a subsidiary of Figgie International at the time the jersey was made (or, at least the tag). So far, my cursory search has dug up very little in regards to dates, as to when Rawlings was acquired and divested by Figgie (which would narrow down the date range when the uniform would have been manufactured).
According to Bill Henderson’s guide, the Rawlings Figgie International tag was in use from 1988 to 1991. In a reference to retail sale jerseys, the guide notes, “While team-issued spec jerseys have the Rawlings tag sewn all the way around on all four sides, jerseys made for retail sale have the tag sewn on only two sides.”
Yes, the Clemente jersey is not authentic. The Pirates on the era those jerseys were worn had a few different number positions and fonts, but not that match that until the 1970s when they went to a pullover jersey.
The two different number fonts used for the 1950s-60s Pirates uniforms
link
link
The 1950s and early 1960s didn’t have numbers on the front
link
It’s hard for me to get excited about the Jets logo after seeing link posted at Puckdrawn. If I were True North I would’ve found whoever designed that logo and told him to name his price.
That is pretty awesome.
I like that a lot… but it’s way too busy for a sweater crest. All the detail, and even the JETS type would get lost on TV… or from more than 20ft away.
I’m glad the new Jets primary logo didn’t go for the obvious cliches – the cartoon graphic, the speeding jet, etc. , and went for a more iconic look a la “Original Six” teams.
However, a logo should not have one complex graphic element on top of and obscuring another complex graphic element. Change that leaf to a red circle with the jet on top of it, that would work because a circle is much simpler so you don’t lose anything by obscuring it.
I’m not thrilled with the muted colors either. I guess I just miss the look of the 70’s/80’s when teams had bright colors…
-Jet
Jets as athletic mascots have confounded many a graphic designer. My favorite handling of the theme was the old Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks of the moribund NFL Europe League. I’d also render the stripes as jet contrails, where possible.
As a longtime (well, from the beginning) Atlanta Thrashers fan (I have a T-shirt sold on the day they announced the team logo), I read today’s article with more than a little bit of sadness. And I hate the Atlanta Spirit Group.
My condolences, Scott.
Scott, HBIC is awaiting a guest post from you on your thoughts about hockey in Atlanta. Contact me! :o)
The Orioles lineup in the Cleveland Indians lineup picture has Koji Uehara’s name spelled wrong.
Chalk up another fail for my hometown team!
Thanks for posting Paul’s interview. Good shit.
I love the crest, but the “secondary mark” reminds too much of the Brooklyn Aces (but since no one knows who they were, despite a cool jersey and good team, no one else will care)
link
Bottom line, I like the new Jets look…can’t wait for the jersey!
Wow, that’s floating into lawsuit territory.
After a trip to the Air & Space Museum recently, I’d been digging around online looking at artwork from the “National Air Races”, which were a big deal back in the 20s/30s.
Some of the promo art is link link, I like that they incorporated the aviator wings into the Jets logo, but there were link.
Good find! I remember them only because of Ron Duguay. Funny how the two links in that wiki article – one to the team website, the other to coverage of the team by a journalist – are both dead links. It’s like once the team disbanded, they wanted to wipe all memory of it from the net!
-Jet
Poking around some more, I found some pics of a game between the Aces and NJ Rockhoppers, a color-on-color game. (Red jerseys vs. orange jerseys)
link
Note that both teams socks seem to not go with their jerseys.
-Jet
[Y]ou will note there are seven colors, but only five appear in the wordmarks, logo & roundel
Slight counting error here. The quoted text counts white as one of the seven in the slideshow, but doesn’t count the white in the logos. If white counts, then six of the seven colo[u]rs appear in the wordmarks, logo & roundel. The only one missing is the bright blue. I do wonder: Is this a hint that the bright blue will appear on the uniforms?
The bright blue shows up in the secondary wordmark. Very interesting that it’s only there, but the screenshot from the brand-identity slideshow makes it seem like it is the second-most prominent color. I think we’ll definitely see this featured heavily in the jerseys. And I think two tones of blue with gray and red accents could be pretty sharp. I doubt we’ll be link, but the awesomeness of that jersey gives an idea of the possibilities with that color combo. (That jersey appears to be a lighter blue than the Jets’ secondary blue.)
I’m a huge Jets fan and am excited that they have been welcomed back by the NHL.
I absolutely love the primary logo. I had a feeling that they would try to distance themselves from the previous logos and I applaud them for going with this classic design – a classy shout out to the RCAF and it’s historical ties to the City of Winnipeg.
The secondary logo I can live with, but I’m disappointed with the wordmark – it seems a step back from what they are trying to accomplish with their new (but old school) branding.
I can’t wait for the jerseys to come out – I’m 99% sure they will be classic as well (i.e. no BETTMAN stripes… I hope, I hope).
Wow. One more strap and they coulda made a deal with adidas.
Or maybe three stripes would have been BMW’s logo.
Could a worked. “All Day I Dream About Speed”…
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Regarding the Clemente jersey:
My earliest recollection of “replica” jerseys being available is the cheap polyester pullovers sold at JC Penney’s in the mid-70s. These were nothing like the Real Thing, with no numbers, screen on logos, and an absence of sleeve patches.
In the late 70’s, you could get football jerseys that were of slightly better quality, but still clearly replicas.
Terry Proctor might be better able to speak to this, but I remember that in the late 70’s/ early 80’s, you could walk into any decent sporting goods store, and have them make you a customized replica, using blank jerseys. There was a place on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo that make me a Greg Luszinski replica, and Jim Lutka Sports, which was the official outfitter of the Buffalo Sabres, sold Sabres replicas that looked like the real thing. My guess is this Clemente jersey was done by a Pittsburgh area sporting goods dealer, using a Rawlings blank jersey.
As far as hockey, I bought a wool-blend black Boston Bruins jersey (with tie-down) at the local sports shop in 1970. No logo or numbers, but sports shops regularly sold the jersey crests in a display case, and you had to sew them on yourself (or your MOM would, actually).
The following year I bought a green California Golden Seals jersey and a purple LA Kings jersey. Both had a sort of plastic pressed-on logo and the jerseys were durene. The Seals’ striping was not accurate. I also bought several jersey crests by themselves, which I sewed on the back of a jacket.
-Jet
Hey Jet, I bought a blank green durene Seals replica jersey when I was a little kid tn the early 70’s, which had accurate sleeve stripes, but the yellow/gold shoulder yoke was missing the white trim at the bottom of it at the font and back. BTW, I did a DIY satin Seals jacket last fall that has gotten lots of question/compliments whenever I wore it:
link
WOW! Great job! I was a huge Seals fan, here in NY. The jersey I had with the plastic logo was also missing the white trim on the shoulder yoke. I have to look at some old pics, a friend of mine bought a blank Seals replica which is probably the same as the one you describe and I think it too is missing the white trim.
Damn, that jacket is incredible…
-Jet
Sealsfan, that jacket is a thing of beauty!!! Did you document the process? I would love to see the work (and know how many hours) went into creating that gorgeous article of clothing!
Loved the “Batman” jerseys. Especially with NNOB. Too bad they didn’t catch on.
While I don’t think the new Jets logos are necessarily bad, I would like them a LOT more minus the silver/beveling.
Yeah, that beveling is something that makes the logo look minor-league, cliched and period-dated, i.e. 10-15 years from now that fad will have run its course.
I still say it’s a big faux pas to have a complex graphic sitting atop and obscuring another complex graphic.
-Jet
pflava and Jet, you’re both right.
Tim O’s idea of a red jet without the leaf works okay as a crest.
That shoulder patch secondary thing is a real mess: too much information! A blob.
The wordmark comes across as timid or cloying, I can’t decide. See NFL teams from the 1970’s for strong wordmarks.
That’s the funny thing. I’ve been told the military jet makes sense on the main crest because the desire is to give the team an aggressive identity.
(I happen to think the whole militarization-of-sports thing has gotten out of hand. But that’s just the residue of too many years of news from Iraq and Afghanistan, too many years of Don Cherry getting misty over our gallant troops during intermissions of a hockey telecast, the recent tendency to refer to hockey players as warriors, the playing of “God Bless America” at baseball games, the plan to hold an NCAA basketball game on an aircraft carrier in the waters where “Mission Accomplished” was declared.)
Okay, then, be aggressive if it flies your plane. So what’s with this namby-pamby wordmark?
“(I happen to think the whole militarization-of-sports thing has gotten out of hand. But that’s just the residue of too many years of news from Iraq and Afghanistan, too many years of Don Cherry getting misty over our gallant troops during intermissions of a hockey telecast, the recent tendency to refer to hockey players as warriors, the playing of “God Bless America” at baseball games, the plan to hold an NCAA basketball game on an aircraft carrier in the waters where “Mission Accomplished” was declared.)”
^
That.
The aggressive/I’m-a-badass thing has really gotten tired. In every aspect of life – not just sports. Enough already.
I loved the whimsical design that won the contest here. That would have been refreshing.
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Rawlings’ parent company was renamed to “Figgie International” in 1981, so the jersey cannot be any older than that. Rawlings became the sole official uniform supplier to Major League Baseball in 1987. It became a public company in 1994 (and was no longer a unit of Figgie International), so it cannot be any newer than that. The ’88 date falls within that range.
That Clemente jersey looks like mid to late 80s..I started buying replicas at that time..I have a Cubs jersey with the same tag. Gerry Cosby’s at Madison Square Garden sold replicas years before they came in vogue. They were also the uniform suppliers for the Knicks and Rangers for decades..in the 70s they had the jerseys available for sale.
There was a Cosby’s satellite shop in Westbury, a mile down the road from Nassau Coliseum, that did all the Islanders uniforms and equipment work. Got my first fitted cap there in 1993 (Rockies, green underbrim, pre-batman on back), for the princely sum of $20!
Walking through the racks of jerseys and jackets was Nirvana for uni-obsessed little Ben.
I think the only location left is around the corner from teh Garden now… I’ve had them stitch down the letters/numbers on a couple of my DIY Mets jerseys.
Doug Laurie had a similar role with the Toronto Maple Leafs and had a store in Maple Leaf Gardens. I seem to recall in the ’70s it was one of the rare places you could get a replica that actually looked like the ones the Leafs wore. The ones at Canadian Tire and in the Eaton’s catalogue just didn’t look anything like the real deal. Of course, by the time I had a bit of disposable income in the mid-’80s, replicas were everywhere!
Yet another “Benchies” that seems neither comical nor sensical. I don’t get it.
I can’t say I can do any better because I did take a stab at trying to sell a sports comic years ago, and in retrospect my stuff was lame. But I don’t find 95% of the comic strips out there today funny, including Benchies. No disrespect to Ricko; his contributions and insights to this site have been monumental since he came aboard. I’m just saying Benchies has yet to make me smile…
-Jet
Those Pro Combats for Ohio State are not real (as many of you probably figured). They’re a poorly-done part of a set of Pro Combat concepts from link that also has concepts for teams that are with Adidas currently.
I get what Jeff Barak’s saying about the center crest, but….I remember reading a few articles a long while back regarding how successful goalies/teams have a “roundish” logo in the middle of their jersey. The point of the article being that the round logo was a “target” that would subconsciously make the shooter aim directly into the target. I wonder if any of the research folks with some of these teams have this at least in the back of their minds. Just thinking aloud here.
I would have posted a link to the research/article, but try getting a relevant result using Google is proving difficult at best.
Sorry, poor grammar. It’s “thinking out loud” as I shared my thoughts! Grammar geeks, UNITE!
I am reading George Plimpton’s Open Net right now, Jen, and he decided to get a mask and have it painted so he could fit in with the goaltenders when he attended Bruins training camp. He had an eye painted on it, like the third eye in mythology and spirituality.
His roommate told him to leave the mask in his bag when they were on the ice because the players would be making bets as to who could hit the eye target first.
If it draws your eyes away from the target you want to hit, it’s an effective target. Otherwise, it’s just a logo. :o)
Thanks, Teebz…..I’m sure I read a fairly lengthy article about the actual circle logo in the middle of the sweater…..sigh…I may have to dig deeper into the Google primordial ooze…
I seem to remember some article about that too. I’m not saying it doesn’t work because Plimpton’s experience says it does. What I am saying is that NHL players, for the most part, have been staring at logos of some type all their careers. Unless it is new and unique, most hockey players don’t even see the logo.
I know I don’t unless a goalie we’ve faced a number of times comes out wearing a new uniform. After the first couple of shots, you look right past it.
I hear ya….not arguin’! I think I’m having an obsessive moment where I have to find that article!
Perhaps as a goalie who’s taken more than my share of pucks to the mask I’m a bit slow, but I just now noticed the subtle (?) ownership group branding in the Jets’ new primary logo. Viewing the circle as a compass, the jet, the leaf, and the notch in the roundel are all pointing to (or located at) north. It’d be magnetic north, not True North, sure, but I doubt that detail was accidental.
Check Mike Engle’s thoughts on the new stuff. First bullet point under his section, he mentions it, as well.
Roundel
Roundel
Roundel
Roundel
I really don’t think that word has been used enough around here lately.
Roundel
Roundel
Roundel
Roundel
I’m just doing my part to get this word the attention it deserves.
Roundel
Roundel
Roundel
Roundel
Won’t you join me?
huh?
Sorry, Jet but the word we’re looking for is “roundel.”
Thanks for stopping by.
hey spanks,
i’ve been meaning to thank you for the ritalin — you sure you don’t need it anymore?
Refresh my memory. Which ones were those — caplets or roundels?
JTH is on to something, folks. When you talk about the roundel, be sure to mention the argent trim and airplane rampant, the maple leaf in gules and the potential for an azure home sweater. And Paul will appreciate that the Jets did not use purpure!
No fesses or bends sinister, and the Jets have bucked the recent trend towards stylized blazons.
This seems like a roundel-about way of criticizing people for being accurate. For shame.
(…roundel)
Help me Roundel, help , help me Roundel -the Beach Boys.
Hey Jet, I replied to your post about Bruins and Seals jerseys…
Gotcha, just replied to it. SEALS WERE MY TEAM!!!
-Jet
In yesterday’s Boston Herald, there was a picture of Mike Lowell throwing out the first pitch at Friday’s Red Sox game.
You can clearly see a tag right below the jock tag on his jersey, reading “25 48 09″…was he wearing one of his old gamers?
Hey Jet, thanks for the compliment! That jacket wouldn’t be too hard to replicate.. I have the vector artwork for the letters, a place here in Canada did the tackle twill, and the jacket came from a place in the States.Only thing that would be hard to find would be the patch, which I cut off another Seals jacket that I bought off Ebay. Since I’m a fellow “Jet” fan, I was toying with getting “The Jet #22” embroidered on the back in a fancy script…
I guess you figured out that my “Jet” moniker stands for Joey Johnston, the captain, #22!!
The SIHR hockey research conference was held in Brandon, Manitoba, last spring. Hosted by former Seal Morris Mott, who’s a professor at the university there.
Another one of the guys, also from Brandon, went out and got one of these ’70s Seals patches:
link
and a gold-coloured jacket and found someone to sew it up for Morris. He was really touched by the gesture.
Neat! I have one of those patches! Got it at the same sports shop where I got the blank Bruins jersey and plastic logo Seals and Kings jerseys in ’70, ’71, that I mentioned in an earlier post.
-Jet
A few weeks ago Uni Watch mentioned a leaked memo about the NFL’s new alternate and throwback uniforms guidelines… (not for primetime games, after week 10, etc.) and I just saw that the Bucs are going to wear the orange throwbacks again for the third year in a row when they honor Jimmie Giles on 12/4/11. (which is Week 13 – after Week 10)
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Were those NFL guidelines just “proposed” and not adopted yet? I guess with the lockout and all, they’ve had bigger things to worry about, I just wondered what the latest on all that was.
Well, so much for the UFL … on the bright side, welcome back to the gridiron, millionaire athletes!
The Jets wordmark is a start but needs more tweaks before becoming official. A couple of things that throw it off kilter:
1. What looks to be partial cursive, partial not. The S is not cursive and connects to the T in a strange way. The E is kinda cursive and kinda not.
2. The diagonal coming from the J through the E doesn’t jive with the horizontal crossing of the T and top of the S. Maybe if the diagonal proceeded through as jet exhaust or tied better with the leaf it would work, but these two directions seem to fight with each other.
3. The top of the J just seems too big.
But what about the roundel, Ben?
Won’t SOMEONE think of the roundel?
Roundel comments:
It is round. Hmmmmm. With a notch.
Organic shape? Round. Organic leaf. Biodegradable.
Those look like gunners on the end of the wings on the jet on the roundel. Guns are bad. They kill people.
Bad Roundel.
guns don’t kill people
people kill people
with guns
with their tanks and their bombs, and their bombs and their guns
it’s the same old theme since nineteen-sixteen
Bullets kill people.
don’t come on here at midnight and start this shit up again, movi
So does saying “roundel” too many times. So do yellow-vs.-gold arguments and discussions about Brett Favre.
The Jets wordmark is a start but needs more tweaks before becoming official. A
couple offew things thatthrow it off kilterneed to be done:1.
What looks to be partial cursive, partial not. The S is not cursive and connects to the T in a strange way. The E is kinda cursive and kinda not.Open the lid of a trash can.2.
The diagonal coming from the J through the E doesn’t jive with the horizontal crossing of the T and top of the S. Maybe if the diagonal proceeded through as jet exhaust or tied better with the leaf it would work, but these two directions seem to fight with each other.Put the wordmark in the trash can.3.
The top of the J just seems too big.Don’t let anybody open the trash can.The Houston Aeros “updated” their logo back in 2002 (link) and it completely failed. I don’t see the logo as being “cartoonish and obvious to appeal to the children and non-fans”….I see it as a reflection of WWII bombers. I think a better comparison would have been the Houston Rockets logo from 1995-2003 (yes, I understand the hockey/hockey comparison).
Let me say clearly and precisely, the members of the “atlanta spirit” will absolutely toast in hell for all eternity for what they have done. I would rather be personal ball-scratcher to Mr. Hank Steinbrenner for ten years than tolerate having one of those morons sit next to me for one stop on the subway.
Roundel.
She’ll be coming roundel mountain when she comes…
Horses
I hate the primary logo. The white point at the top looks took much like a compass. (Gee, why is that?) The red point at the bottom (a flame from the jet’s afterburner, I guess) just makes the maple leaf look deformed, especially since the top point of the leaf is hidden by the airplane.
I get what they were trying to do, and I appreciate the concept of the design. These are all good ideas. But the design itself failed.
Mark Chipman on Sportnet tonight – Bob McCown – indicated the only red on the new Winnipeg Jets uniform, will be in the logo.
As a result looks like the uni will be blue and grey?
The Reds wore their red alts at night for the first time ever (I think) last night. They’re wearing them again tonight.
last night the braves were in blue…aaaaannnndddd tonight the mets are in black
now…you know my feelings on the softball tops, but put some stirrups on the reds, and that is one top i could tolerate on a fleeting basis…when your name is the “REDS”, you can wear a lot of red
“when your name is the “REDS”, you can wear a lot of red”
…and if you’re the BROWNS, you wear orange. Er..wait..what?
if the REDS were named for Eric T. Red, then I’d say no, no you don’t have to wear red.
since the BROWNS were named for someone with the last name of BROWN, then no, they don’t have to wear a brown helmet
last i looked, they wear a brown jersey (ok, they have an orange alt, which sucks, and they wear white at home, which is awesome)
but a plain, orange lid is the shit, THE
So, Phil – if the St Louis Blues decided to wear uniforms consisting of nothing but red & yellow, would that still be cool?
Yeah, they’re named for music…but come on.
The only place a plain orange helmet would truly work is on Syracuse. It’s not so much that the Browns really look bad…(of course the orange pants looked WAY better than the all-white) but it’s still stupid. Just like the White Sox wearing black socks is stupid, even if it does look good.
Cleveland should either put something on the helmet – a brown C, a brown B, a brown CB, the brownie elf thing …something, or use a plain BROWN one, if they must be blank.
/it’s way too late for having this argument again today isn’t it?
you’re just waking up, aren’t you
and except for juan pierre, the white sox don’t even wear visible sox, so isn’t that a moot point?
but i agree with you there — if you’re NAMED after an article of clothing, you probably should wear said article
“but a plain, orange lid is the shit, THE”
Signed,
link
Heh… and we know how good Charlie Brown is at football…
I guess it is appropriate for Cleveland. Forget I said anything.
the browns have a better uni than the raiders or the stillers
(although those are both good, the browns is better)
how you two slapnuts’ can both not root for your (almost) home team is beyond me
Even if I try to ignore my dislike of blank helmets… no.
If it was 1980 again, I’d say the Browns & Raiders uniforms would be equals.
With Cleveland wearing all-white all the time, with a non-matching gray facemask and the AL in the sleeve stripes, hell no.
As far as I know, the Reds wear their red alts for every Sunday home game. Last week: link
The problem (speaking as a Reds fan in Boston) is that they’re never on TV outside of Cincy/Ky., so one would never know. :-(
The Reds rule for this alternate was only for home day games. Well they wore them last night (Sunday Night Baseball) and now tonight. Strikes me as a streak builder. The just won back to back for the first time since June.
well, that didn’t last long
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I seem to remember sand knit making jerseys for retail in the mid to late 80’s, and Rawlings making them around ’88 or ’89 to about early to mid 90’s. a 70’s jersey may have been made by Wilson, I had an actual cub jersey from ’73 made by wilson.
Now that football is back, can I ask what the green dot on the helmet is for?
I think it’s to signify each team’s union rep.
What green dot?
Oh, you mean the link.
Winnipeg Free press reporting on cyber fake Jets jerseys already! link
They don’t look all bad.
I feel bad for Jack Layton.
The Thrashers were always a rival of my favorite Panthers, but I liked knowing Atlanta had an NHL team. So when they moved to Winnipeg, I was disappointed Atlanta lost its team. And then I was also disappointed when they announced that the new/old name would be the Jets. I was hoping they would turn the page and create a new legacy for the city/team, and avoid confusion with the original Jets history now in Arizona.
As for the logos, I’m glad they didn’t reuse the old logo, but do think they could’ve done much better than these new ones. The plane over the leaf is much too busy, and the Jets font is awkward. I don’t have any suggestions for improving it, but simply wish that this logo/uniform was still part of the league.
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There are some attention-grabbing points in time in this article however I don’t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There’s some validity however I will take maintain opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish extra! Added to FeedBurner as nicely