Sunday 13 October 2013

Rebrand Series: Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs are one of those teams that "change" their jerseys quite often.  That being said the changes they've made over the last 10 years have literally been switching back between 2 different jersey sets that look essentially the same.  Not only that but they've introduced the same 3rd jersey a couple of times (before and directly after the Reebok edge era) until recently they've been using a blue 3rd jersey AND unveiled their winter classic jersey as well.
With all of that in mind I decided that when it was all said and done the Leafs just need a Fresh, New Look something the fans haven't seen before.
The inspiration for the logo was the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Team Canada logo which acts as a template as for my new Leafs logo.  In the center is the TML wordmark that the team has used on and off for a very long time.  Acting as a background to the TML are a couple of things; the veins of a leaf to pay homage to the old school leaf Toronto has used on the white 3rd jersey as well as the CN tower, THE Toronto landmark.  I've done the best I can to make sure the CN tower blends in as naturally as possible with the veins of the leaf so that it doesn't look too tacky.
The jerseys themselves were my biggest obstacle, I fumbled around with a couple of ideas; 1 set had a very old school feel to them but eventually I decided that if I was using a "modern" new logo I should also go with a modern new jersey set.  After several weeks of just looking at these 2 options I finally settled on these 2 jerseys and I hope they compliment the new logo well:

New Maple Leafs Logo:


New Toronto Maple Leafs Home Jersey:


New Toronto Maple Leafs Away Jersey: