Sunday, August 10, 2008

From The Ground Up

The IHA Project is going superbly as evidenced by the logo designs we've seen coming in for the fictional hockey league. But despite that, I still read comments and emails almost daily asking why nobody got any input on team names, colors, locations, etc. As I've said more times than I can count, that's not what the project is about.

However, it's made me realize that you guys would like a project where you get to exercise your creativity more — or at least your own opinion. A project where you build an entire fantasy hockey league from the ground up. Despite the time it will take to do this, I'm on board.

I'm adding a new element to the pollbar. It's called Fantasy and for the next few weeks it will feature polls that will allow you to guide the direction of this new league. Here is the question: Would you like to participate in the creation and branding of a fictional hockey league at Icethetics? If the response is positive, we'll move forward. If it isn't, I'll drop it.

The other question is about the geography. Two answers. North America or the globe? That's it for now. We'll see where we are next weekend when both polls have closed.

I hope this project doesn't prove to be a bad idea. I think this is something most of you want and I'm willing to facilitate it. So have fun with it. And if anybody's asking "what's the point?" The point is it's a hobby for logo designers and marketing wannabes. It gives you a chance to express yourself creatively if you want. And if you don't, it's something fun to look at every now and then.

Let me explain a little more about how this will work if we do go forward. Everything will be voted on. We'll start by choosing the number of teams in the league. Then which cities get teams. Then what names those teams will get. Then what colors they'll have. Then we'll go into logo and uniform design. I won't lie. It'll be a long process but everybody's voice will be heard. And I'll try to keep it as simple as possible while still making your vote the determining factor in every aspect.

And if you've got any suggestions for this process, don't hesitate to email me. I've got a lot of this already figured out but I'm always open to better ideas.

By the way, here's my plan for the IHA. We still have two divisions left. I'm going to see this through to the end. We'll get logos for all 30 teams and then it will be finished with it. No jerseys or anything like that. This project was always about the logos only. They'll all be turned over to Nicolas for use with his fantasy league — the International Hockey Association.

The one exception may be an IHA Logo Tournament just like all the other logo tournaments we've done. I'll gauge interest after we have all 30 and move on from there. But for anyone who's interested in following up with him about this fantasy league when the project at Icethetics comes to an end, I will find a way to get you in touch with him — likely via email.

IHA Northeast Finalists Unveiled!

Last week you saw the logo finalists for the IHA Atlantic. This week, I've narrowed down three finalists for each team in the West Division for the logos I received. You'll begin voting on them tomorrow but for right now, have a look. I think we've got a good batch for this division.

BOSTON ROYALS


HARTFORD BEARS


MONTRÉAL ROUGE


OTTAWA CAPITALS


QUEBEC GLACIER


I'm leaving off credits here as usual. However, if your logo is featured here and you would like a credit, drop me a line via email and I'll be happy to add it. Otherwise, I plan to wait and credit the logos that win for each team.

Polls will be posted throughout the week to decide which logo should be used for each team. Along with each poll, I'll show some of the logos that were submitted but didn't make the final cut for one reason or another. So if you sent in a logo that wasn't selected as a finalist, it should be there. If it's not, the image you sent was probably unusable in some way.

By the way, I've tried to weed out any logos with elements stolen from actual professional sports team logos, but if I've missed anything be sure to let me know. I've got backups to put in for most teams as far as the polls go. Speaking of backups, there's one more logo I have to post because of it's homage to the Whalers.



I'm not sure it would be a good idea for this competition for obvious reasons, but how cool would it be for this alternate universe league to share a logo trait with the NHL's best like that? It would be like a destiny thing for the city of Hartford.

Seriously though, the Whalers had one of the best logos ever (even you guys agree as evidenced by your voting in the Vintage Logo Tournament). Anyway, I just wanted you guys to see it, but it probably won't be up for a vote in the poll this week.

Post your comments and critiques below!