In today’s world, having an identity and standing out is essential for community groups, businesses, sports teams and individuals. For individuals, it might involve changing their clothing style and hair colour. For businesses and some community groups, logos work well to show and prove their legitimacy and credibility. For sports teams, however, the colour and crest are the two critical factors one needs to pay attention to.
To ensure that your hockey jerseys have a crest that is effective, you should adhere to the following points:
Brainstorm
Before you get into jersey cresting, you first need to develop a logo design. Think of what elements form your identity. These elements could be nicknames, the name of the team, or even your home turf. It could be anything that your fans and everyone else associates your team with.
Research
Yes, even in design you need to do a bit of research. Look at some hockey jerseys and draw some inspiration from their designs. Note that getting inspiration is different from copying a design you find on the Internet. Ripping off designs you find on the Internet will defeat the whole purpose of trying to develop your own identity.
Think it through
After doing your research and having a look at different ideas you could use for your jersey cresting, it is time to pause and think about the crest. What will you incorporate? Will you have symbols or images? Or do you want it to be font-based? What team colours will you use? What shape will it be? At this point, you can still bring in more people, professionals even, to help you come up with a unique idea.
Sketch
Once you have a rough idea of what you want, it is time to get started on the fun part – sketching. Note that this process is not about creating the final product, but rather, about bringing your rough ideas to life and seeing how they might look. Sketch as many versions as you please.
Refine
After coming up with a variety of designs, it is time to narrow things down to a few concepts you really love. As you narrow them down, consider each sketch’s appropriateness, simplicity, distinctiveness, timelessness and other aspects.
Reflect
Once you have your final concepts, you should share them with the team members and get feedback on them get the whole team invested in the crest by giving them an opportunity to vote for the crest they feel is best. If no design is popular, you could always go back to the drawing board. Do not despair. The process of getting things right can be lengthy, but it is well worth it.
If, in the end, you cannot seem to put your ideas on paper as you imagine them, you can always work with a designer. Most promotional marketing companies have in-house designers ready to work with clients to capture their thoughts. However, as you have your hockey jerseys designed, you should note that you will pay extra for having the crest design done by a professional.
