London Knights Go Retro

[Split98]

Hey there CPers. Thought I'd share a neat thing I've been a part of that's finally public today!

https://twitter.com/user/status/1163476889069129728
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1WckSOH..._web_copy_link

As some of you might know, I'm a bit of a jersey nut. So for the past year and a bit we've been working with the London Knights - and the jersey was job #1. Finally seeing it today has been sureal, as I've always wanted to get a piece of this in some way. We've done a few specialty jerseys that were exciting to see on the ice, but seeing their day-to-day come from your screen is pretty cool.

With the 2005 team winning the Team of the Century voting last season, there was a lot of emphasis in recognizing that era of Knights as our inspiration going forward. We had looked at a bunch of different patterns, new and old - but "teams make the jersey" is a sentiment from Hunter this morning that is very true. Before the vote, it was pretty well decided that the early palette was going to make a return - so updating the 2005 jersey with classic elements like a clean shoulder yoke and a bold new palette was a winner.


Thanks for reading On to the next!

[dissentowner]

Love it! Great job!

[Heavy Jack]

Looks big league quality Split! Have always loved the Knights jersey and that look is just incredible. Two big thumbs up!

[CroFlames]

Do you work for the Knights or is your company being consulted? Curious if NHL clubs design their look internally or a third party.

Either way, they look great.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Love it! Great job!

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

Looks big league quality Split! Have always loved the Knights jersey and that look is just incredible. Two big thumbs up!

Thanks! It's great to hear! Even with a brand refresh, you're a little anxious leading up to the day wondering if the bits and pieces you appreciated from the brands past is what everyone else wanted to see again. It's been great reading that fans are happy with the look!

Big league quality?! Ken King: Please read.

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Do you work for the Knights or is your company being consulted? Curious if NHL clubs design their look internally or a third party.

Either way, they look great.

It feels some days that I work for the Knights! My company was brought on as the designers for the London Knights, so we work with their own designers on a lot of different things. What got us in the door though was the jersey design.

Some teams will work on their designs internally, some do contract the work out but a lot of times it's Adidas/CCM/Reebok that's proposing (or sometimes imposing) the design. I'm noticing a shift to contractors lately though (like, I'm talking 2-3 years) which is excellent for us fans. It's a new world for teams to have design ideas proposed to them every year.

[Cheese]

Lets go Rangers, clap clap clap! LOL

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Split98

Thanks! It's great to hear! Even with a brand refresh, you're a little anxious leading up to the day wondering if the bits and pieces you appreciated from the brands past is what everyone else wanted to see again. It's been great reading that fans are happy with the look!

Big league quality?! Ken King: Please read.




It feels some days that I work for the Knights! My company was brought on as the designers for the London Knights, so we work with their own designers on a lot of different things. What got us in the door though was the jersey design.

Some teams will work on their designs internally, some do contract the work out but a lot of times it's Adidas/CCM/Reebok that's proposing (or sometimes imposing) the design. I'm noticing a shift to contractors lately though (like, I'm talking 2-3 years) which is excellent for us fans. It's a new world for teams to have design ideas proposed to them every year.

Can you talk to the Storm and fix that atrocity?

[Split98]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Can you talk to the Storm and fix that atrocity?

Lol, not a fan of the new sock-monster?

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Split98

Lol, not a fan of the new sock-monster?

The colour scheme is bad enough, they could have at least given the jersey a cool logo...

And I don’t even need to be careful here, because I’ve seen your work numerous times, and I know you weren’t involved!

[Split98]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

The colour scheme is bad enough, they could have at least given the jersey a cool logo...

And I don’t even need to be careful here, because I’ve seen your work numerous times, and I know you weren’t involved!

It's funny, the palette was something I'd have looked to keep. It's not too exciting, but if they thought more 'varsity' I think they could do something pretty cool with it.


But yeah, the logo isn't poorly done - it just seems geared for kids (which accounts for a huge portion of major juniour attendance) and comes out a bit odd when everything's together.

[SuperMatt18]

Will be interesting to see if the NHL and other hockey leagues ever go the way of European Football where the jersey designs get frequent changes annually - even if they are just small tweaks.

The NBA seems to have gone this route with the most recent Nike contract where they are changing the jerseys every year.

[morgin]

Can you repost your awesome flames concept one more time just for old times sake? Maybe update from Baertschi though 😂

[Split98]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Will be interesting to see if the NHL and other hockey leagues ever go the way of European Football where the jersey designs get frequent changes annually - even if they are just small tweaks.

The NBA seems to have gone this route with the most recent Nike contract where they are changing the jerseys every year.

I sure hope so! I think the 3rd jersey needs to be used way more often in hockey, and the NHL adding 'heritage' jerseys means teams could be rocking 4 or more jerseys a year. A league where every team has well-designed primaries that fit their brand and can roll out great looking 3rd and heritage jerseys on occasion would be great. If fans are buying more 3rd jerseys than your typical home, roll out a white one in it's place next year and ask the fans what they think!

My feeling watching the NBA is that teams are constantly trying out new things with their fans. Sometimes it seems to be wreaking havoc on their brand (Milwaukee), but with others their brand is stronger with each new piece they roll out (Golden State)

[Split98]

Originally Posted by morgin

Can you repost your awesome flames concept one more time just for old times sake? Maybe update from Baertschi though 😂

Haha, I need to get on that!


Most of my Flames stuff these days have just been the retros
They need to fix the primaries so we can get around to dreaming of the 3rds!

[Bobblehead]

I was born and grew up in the London area. I still have a puck that went over the boards at a Knights game in the London Garden. I love those classic sweaters. I think that Spider Knight logo just made everyone appreciate the more traditional helmet logo (and incarnations) a bit more. I've always wanted to get one of the green jerseys.