Confirmed with Link: Winter Classic Jersey Announcement (Armstrong saw my message yesterday huh?)

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I love watching hockey, but I’ve never understood where the strong opinions about jersey aesthetics come from. Especially for a jersey we’ll see one time. When I see new uniforms, it’s pretty rare that I have a reaction any different than, “OK.”

The first winter classic example, it just looks like our same old uniform with a different shade of blue. Nothing wrong with that, but what makes it so great? I like them fine, but I also find them unmemorable. Ever since the weird piping from the Reebok jerseys went away, they all lump together into “fine” for me. Am I the weird one?!

From a personal perspective, I've been obsessed with logo/uniform design since I was a kid which pushed me in to the design field (which I've since exited to pursue other ventures). I used to spend hours drawing the NHL team's logos as a kid so I could hang them up in the basement where I used to play hockey with my dad. Seeing a good logo or uniform drop is exciting for me. I was thrilled to see the Kings go back to their classic design and elated when the Penguins brought back the skating penguin!

Much of the affect that branding has on people occurs in the subconscious so we don't even think about it. I've devoted hours to picking the 'perfect' shade of red for a logo, or days deciding whether the curvature of a line on a logo needs to be at one angle or another in order to represent the client's brand in a certain way. Visual aesthetic as a part of a company's (or team's) brand is very important, so important that the wrong decision can cost a business millions of dollars. I can almost guarantee this jersey will make the club significantly less money than the previous designs did.

I want my team to look good on the ice for the same reasons that you see legacy franchises maintain their iconic looks. When the Blues take the ice, I don't like looking at a uniform that looks like it had very little thought or effort put into it. What made the previous outdoor game designs look great is the clear nod to the history of the franchise. Vintage striping, classic colors, and having a friggin' Bluenote on the chest. The design process looked like it was worth the effort of figuring out a good way to pay homage to the history of the franchise. From my perspective, the new design makes a historic franchise with a rich history look cheap and unfortunately, it also feels representative of the product we have on the ice right now: boring and uninspiring. On the heels of the team's lackluster performance over the past few seasons, it feels like it's not even worth putting the effort into a good jersey design when we're going to be front and center on national TV.

Now, it is just a uniform for one game, so to me it's not going to ruin my day, but it is another example of a recent trend of not maintaining a certain standard for the club.

Are you the weird one? Not really, there's a lot of people who couldn't give a damn about what the team's wearing. But I imagine there are certain things in life that you are passionate about that I couldn't care any less about. That's just how it goes.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

From a personal perspective, I've been obsessed with logo/uniform design since I was a kid which pushed me in to the design field (which I've since exited to pursue other ventures). I used to spend hours drawing the NHL team's logos as a kid so I could hang them up in the basement where I used to play hockey with my dad. Seeing a good logo or uniform drop is exciting for me. I was thrilled to see the Kings go back to their classic design and elated when the Penguins brought back the skating penguin!

Much of the affect that branding has on people occurs in the subconscious so we don't even think about it. I've devoted hours to picking the 'perfect' shade of red for a logo, or days deciding whether the curvature of a line on a logo needs to be at one angle or another in order to represent the client's brand in a certain way. Visual aesthetic as a part of a company's (or team's) brand is very important, so important that the wrong decision can cost a business millions of dollars. I can almost guarantee this jersey will make the club significantly less money than the previous designs did.

I want my team to look good on the ice for the same reasons that you see legacy franchises maintain their iconic looks. When the Blues take the ice, I don't like looking at a uniform that looks like it had very little thought or effort put into it. What made the previous outdoor game designs look great is the clear nod to the history of the franchise. Vintage striping, classic colors, and having a friggin' Bluenote on the chest. The design process looked like it was worth the effort of figuring out a good way to pay homage to the history of the franchise. From my perspective, the new design makes a historic franchise with a rich history look cheap and unfortunately, it also feels representative of the product we have on the ice right now: boring and uninspiring. On the heels of the team's lackluster performance over the past few seasons, it feels like it's not even worth putting the effort into a good jersey design when we're going to be front and center on national TV.

Now, it is just a uniform for one game, so to me it's not going to ruin my day, but it is another example of a recent trend of not maintaining a certain standard for the club.

Are you the weird one? Not really, there's a lot of people who couldn't give a damn about what the team's wearing. But I imagine there are certain things in life that you are passionate about that I couldn't care any less about. That's just how it goes.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

Am I wrong in thinking this is almost a straight throwback uniform to the St Louis Flyers? If that was the decision, what can you do with the aesthetic without departing from that purpose? I would have thought the historical nature of this uniform would mesh with the sensibilities you describe, Or is it that it’s the Flyers and not true Blues history?

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

Am I wrong in thinking this is almost a straight throwback uniform to the St Louis Flyers? If that was the decision, what can you do with the aesthetic without departing from that purpose? I would have thought the historical nature of this uniform would mesh with the sensibilities you describe, Or is it that it’s the Flyers and not true Blues history?

I would guess that very few people in St. Louis have any emotional connection to the St. Louis Flyers whatsoever. I can appreciate pre-Blues heritage in an underrated hockey city like St. Louis, but If they wanted to pay tribute to the St. Louis Flyers, I think there are better ways to pay tribute to that design while keeping the Bluenote front and center. If it's a straight throwback, then it illustrates one of the biggest issues I have with it and it's that they didn't care to put any real thought into the design.

At the end of the day, whether a design is good or not on a personal level is purely subjective so there's never going to be a perfect jersey design that makes everyone happy. My response is my perspective alone in an effort to explain why anyone cares about this sort of thing, but based on the response I've seen, I think the majority of people are disappointed and for good reason.