Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee
Stuff like popping on this website, doing fan surveys, focus groups, looking around the league to see what sells best, doing market research.
|
Just because you weren't consulted doesn't mean they didn't do all those things.
As has already been mentioned in this thread, design by committee almost never results in the best design. You get the Ed Stelmach of designs, something no one really loves, but also something no one really hates. If you ask 20 people for their opinions, you're more likely to get a bunch of conflicting choices than you are to get one solid consensus.
What are the biggest complaints about the current jerseys? The flags; the vertical stripes on the torso; and the piping. All of those are gone from the new design.
As for best selling, I believe the Wild's green jersey (with "Minnesota" written in a stylized script) and the Sabres' anniversary jersey (with "Buffalo" written in a stylized script) both were well-received by their fans and sold very well.
It's not hard to imagine how this design came together...
1. Red must be the primary colour. Since the red jerseys were re-introduced in 2003, black has been the prominent secondary colour on the Flames red jersey and white and yellow have been compliments. This design should maintain that mix because it has been the identity the Flames have built around for a decade.
2. A return to tradition horizontal stripes on the jersey. Fans like the black-white-yellow-black stripe pattern introduced with the 2003 design. This jersey should maintain those stripes.
3. A new alternate logo for a shoulder patch, but not used as the primary logo on the jersey. Using the standard flaming C as the primary logo will not differentiate this design from the primary jersey enough, so something else needs to be used on the front of the jersey. If both the primary and secondary logos are ruled out, that leaves a word mark as the only other option. The Sabres and Wild have used stylized word marks on jerseys that have been well-received.
Take those three criteria to Reebok, and it's not hard to see how they got to this design.