Background
The Quebec Nordiques were a professional hockey team based in Quebec, Canada. In English the name Nordiques translates to Northmen or Northerners. From 1979 to 1995 the Nordiques played in the NHL before relocating to Denver, Colorado in May 1995 and changing their name to the Colorado Avalanche.
Despite being absent from Quebec for over 20 years the Nordiques legacy still remains in the city. Fans love to reminisce about the old days or speculate when the Nordiques could possibly make a return. An expansion team in Quebec could be a possibility in the near future. After the Vegas Golden Knight's success I'm sure Gary Bettman is looking for new markets to expand the NHL.
With a city of charismatic, hungry and passionate hockey fans Quebec City should be a top contender.
This episode of Coach's Corner got me thinking about how a modern Quebec Nordiques team would look if they were to return.
The Original Nordiques Logo
The original logo for the Quebec Nordiques became quite recognizable and iconic. The simple mark appears to be an igloo with a hockey stick cutting through it. Some may say the igloo also resembles an 'n' to represent the Nordiques. Either way this logo with the red and blue colour scheme is still recognizable to this day. I'm sure if the Quebec Nordiques were to return and use this logo their would be few complaints.
However, this is a different era. With 31 other NHL team logos its quite likely this simple mark would get lost in the mix. This is a new chapter for the Nordiques franchise so a new logo just feels much more appropriate.
Logo Concept #1
My first idea was to work with the original logo and colour scheme but freshen it up. I kept the igloo but instead of having a hockey stick cutting through it I displayed the whole igloo and had two hockey sticks behind it to balance it out. This option felt safe and it payed homage to the original logo. The problem was it felt too similar to the original. This was an opportunity for the Quebec Nordiques to reinvent themselves.
This logo was a safe choice because it was so close to the original. However I wanted something that could represent the charismatic, hungry and die-hard hockey fans of Quebec.
Soon I realized this wasn't the direction I wanted to take. This was an opportunity for Quebec to have a fresh new look. Instead of reusing the same igloo shape used previously I wanted to create something new that could represent the north-men and charismatic energy of Quebec City.
Final Logo Concept
The polar bear became appropriate symbol for the Nordiques because polar bears are often associated with the north. The polar bear is also charismatic, hungry and energetic which makes it the perfect representation of Quebec's fans. The bear's roar shows that the Nordiques are an aggressive opponent to other teams. Paying homage to the original Nordiques the hockey stick is seen cutting through the polar bear. This is done so original fans can make the connection that this is a new era for the Nordiques.
I changed the original light blue to a more pure color of blue. This was done to freshen up the look and bring a new energy to this new Quebec Nordiques team. Red is still used for the hockey stick but it is seen as a secondary color behind the blue and white.
The Logo Displayed as a symbol. word-mark and symbol with word-mark.
The name of the general manager on the business card uses the same font seen in the logo word-mark. I chose a Tisa Pro for the name because it is a prominent font that has good contrast. A sans-serif font is paired for the contact information, this font is versatile and can be used for a number of applications such as body copy on the website. The fleur de lys is an important symbol for the Nordiques that was used in the past. Keeping the fleur de lys in the Nordiques branding felt essential so I included three at the bottom of the card.
The Quebec Nordiques homepage on NHL.com
Above is the Quebec Nordiques home jersey. I used the same blue from the logo as the main jersey colour. The symbol becomes the focal point on the jersey while the fleur de lys is displayed on the shoulders serve as an secondary design element.
Above is the Quebec Nordiques away jersey. The jersey is in white and is inverted from the home jersey. Because the jersey is in white the Nordiques logo is less of a focal point. The fleur de lys become more prominent on this jersey as they are much larger and at the bottom of the jersey front and back.
Marketing Applications
Creating marketing items for the Quebec Nordiques is important because it helps them achieve success during their first year. While I was planning on how I would advertise the return of the Quebec Nordiques I also wanted to have a way for the fans to engage online. The best way to do this was coming up with a hashtag for fans to use during games or leading up to the hockey season.
While brainstorming ideas I kept coming back to the people of Quebec City. I would think about their passion for hockey and their charismatic energy. With this in mind I translated charismatic to french and got charismatique. By combining the team name with the french word I came up with #CharismaDiques. This is a play on Charismatic combined with the Nordiques. This hashtag not only represents the players and management who are part of an exciting new chapter. It represents the fans passion and charismatic energy, they are truly an inspiration to other hockey markets. In a sense their are no Nordiques without the fans. The CharismaDiques is what keeps the Nordiques going strong.
Billboard Advertisement in Quebec City. It reads "This is only the beginning"
I chose to use a hand drawn display font for the marketing items. This is done to resonate the marketing with the fans. French is used for the marketing items because the team has deep french roots being in Quebec City. The hashtag is seen below the logo to intrigue the fans to search or use the hashtag on social media
Advertisement in Quebec City for the teams home opener game. It reads "The wait is over"
Quebec Nordiques Official Facebook
Conclusion
I had a lot of fun with this self-directed project as hockey has always been an interest of mine. This project allowed me to think critically about how the Quebec Nordiques would look if they were to return and how they would market themselves upon returning.
The identity I created for the Nordiques may seem as a shocking change to some but I feel it will pose well against other NHL team identities in the modern era. My approach is much more aggressive but also subtly uses elements from the old logo. Overall I created a consistent identity for the Nordiques that fits the french demographic and works on a variety of applications.
