The Bee's Knees: Charlotte Hornets 2014 Identity

The Charlotte Hornets return to the NBA in 2014 with a fresh identity upgrade developed by Rare Design and Nike Jordan Brand. There is a whole hoard of new logos, 9 to be exact, enough to field a baseball team. I feel that number is quite excessive, especially when there are multiple styles being used throughout the package, but overall this is a fantastic evolution to one of the most unique and beloved sports identities ever.

COLOR PALETTE

According to ESPN's Darren Rovell the "Bobcats discovered that old Hornets gear had 8 different shades of teal. Picked color for new logo that all 400 licenses can use". Thank you Pantone! The new palette is not only going to be more consistent across many different manufacturers, but I think is much better than before. The teal is more blue than the original, and the darker purple provides fantastic contrast.

 

PRIMARY LOGO

It’s a standard modern NBA angry-mascot-over-text-with-basketball concept. Instantly, I love the hornet and type, but hate the inclusion of a ball. I’d love to see just 1 team do a new logo system and forget that overplayed element, especially because it’s forced here as the lower body of the hornet forms a ball with a stinger coming out of the bottom. The use of the legs is clever, framing a shield/backboard around the type. I really love the way the crossbar on the H mirrors the S, balancing the whole mark and keeping it's symmetry.

2 other minor complaints; the teal on the wings feels odd; making them look a bit too heavy and I think the gray outline is 1 too many for this mark. Ignoring some of those details that most won’t notice or care about, it is a really cool logo that I expect to become a favorite among NBA fans very quickly. I already want a tee shirt!

SECONDARY LOGO

Here we have a 3^rd hornet design (counting Hugo) that mirrors the primary very well. It is a very nice mark that suggest speed and athleticism, and forms an abstract "C". It could easily be a primary mark and looks like it's ready to sting the fuck out of somebody!. But, damn it, that belly ball idea again!

HUGO LOGO

I don't know how i feel about this one. The primary takes us in a totally different direction, and has a totally different personality than the old logos, but they have updated the old primary logo and moved it to a secondary position of sorts, where it seems it will only be used to represent Hugo the mascot. It feels like they wanted to move on from this concept but couldn't quite bear to part with it, so they decided to just keep and evolve it to match the new stuff. I think if they were too in love with the original logo to dump it, they should have just kept the original with updated colors. It would not have been anymore out of place than what this update is, and comes with pre-packaged nostalgia.

As part of the unveiling, the organization also announced that the beloved “Hugo” will officially return to Buzz City as the team’s mascot. The Hornets brand identity includes a modernized version of the original “Hugo” logo that will be utilized for the mascot and its brand. This logo is designed and intended for use as it relates to Hugo, and supplies the organization with a separate identity for one of the NBA’s most famous mascots. The refreshed Hugo logo contains several similarities to the original, with Hugo wearing white gloves and basketball shoes, possessing that trademark smile and having the letter “H” on his chest. Rather than bouncing a basketball, the updated logo continues the theme of the basketball as part of the hornet’s body. - nba.com/bobcats

Aesthetically, I like the consistency with the wing style. But the placement is off, and it looks like both wings might be growing out of his left (viewer right) shoulder. The addition of some J’s is a nice touch and is an idea that could have made this logo really likable. Except the idea of making the body a basketball makes me absolutely hate this logo. I have issues with sporting equipment in logos to begin with, but this is as forced of an idea as you will see and looks very weird. It’s minor league/Brandiose-like cheesy. 

  

HUGO SECONDARY

I guess the secondary mascot logo needs it’s own secondary logo. I'm not sure how this one will be used, but I assume it is purely for the mascot, where the other could still be used to promot the team. I imagine it on advertising flyers like "Come out and meet Hugo!" or on apparel that will be directed to kids. It's quite nice; very refreshing to see a logo without a basketball gut. I think a spur should have been put on the "O" here though to better reflect what they did in the type of the primary logo. 

WORD MARK

Image from Raredesign.com

I don’t really see the need for such a simplification of the word mark in the primary logo. Looking at it in embroidery application, I think it would still hold up with a drop shadow background, but I get it. Making it as simple as possible is a good idea. With as many logos as we have though, I’m surprised to not see an option that looks like it was cut right from the primary. It’s good type for a sports team that holds up well at small sizes. Would look really good at the ends of the court.

PRIMARY ALTERNATE LOGO

This is the primary logo without the word mark and is definitely one we could eliminate from the family. I don't see how this one serves any purpose that the primary and secondary can't.  It only clutters an already large family of logos. Some constraint on the numbers would strengthen the whole identity.

MONOGRAM

Why not a monogram? Okay, the monogram is cool and has some Charlotte flair with a honeycomb/hive shape that works together nicely. It could be a cool center court design but so could 4 of the previous ones. 

I DONT KNOW WHAT

I haven't the slightest idea what this one is for. It's another that should be cut. My instant impression is that it is for women's apparel, but who knows. 

BUZZ CITY

Image from Raredesign.com

There are a few odd ideas in this identity, but this might be the oddest. “Buzz City”. Yea? That’s what you want to be known as? I don’t know how many people will wear merchandise with this on it, but I’d respect the hell out of them for wearing it in public. I don't think this one will last long and will eventually be cut from the identity. At least, one can hope. It's a cool enough looking mark, but it screams "Minor League slogan."

WRAP UP

As a designer, there are things I have to pick at. Brand identity needs to be focused, with all of its designs moving in the same direction. Variety is good, but there has to be unity and this system lacks that overall. Just cutting a few logos would correct it. It’s bad enough to give an audience 9 logos, but worse to do it with inconsistency in direction/personality/aesthetic.

From a pure fans perspective, this new identity is really cool and exciting. It brings me back to the 90s, where everybody had Hornets Starter jackets and gear. It’s enough to make stuff fly off shelves, taking advantage of the tail end of a big teal and purple trend in the marketplace but the color palette also keeps that nostalgia factor from the original team and completely sets them apart from the rest of the competition. It's an identity that not only is very much wanted by fans but needed from sports. It's an identity that will never be confused with another team and despite those "ball bellies" and multiple design styles, It's something that gets just as many things right and is going to work very well with fans.

   

The Long And Short Of It: Colts' Truncated Stripes

In the world of Pro pigskin aesthetics, one of the topics that always creates a debate is the modern application of the Colts’ (and LSU, Iowa State, NY Jets, etc) jersey stripes. The controversy is how they should look on modern football jerseys, with one side claiming they are too short and should extend down to the armpit, the other side saying the current solution is the best. The claim that they “should wrap all the way around the arm like they were designed to do” is a non-starter because they didn’t even do that.

The issue is this is a design solution from the 1950s intended for a completely different problem. It’s an example of how form should follow function, and how good graphic design enhances the product. Jersey design has progressed over time, and they’ve gotten smaller, with shorter sleeves. This graphic has tried to come along with it, but at this point is just a shoe-horned element that dosent truly fit on a modern jersey template the way it was meant to do.

What jersey manufacturers have done is truncated the stripe at about the point of the collar on the front and the bottom of the nameplate on back. This solution has created a passable design using good judgment of alignment and space. That is until Nike really fucked it up in 2012, making the total width of the stripes much narrower than before, and pushing the stripes to the sleeve seam, where the smaller sleeves put the stripes on an angle, as much as 45 degrees on some players with no shoulder/sleeve tailoring to correct it.

Nike has taken a shot at lengthening the stripe design with LSU and trying to return it to it’s original integrity. They had to use a narrower number font when doing this, which in the end is fine, I think the number font is quite good. But because the jerseys are so small/tight now, it really starts to crowd the other elements. It’s a push for me from the previous solutions because it’s still a shoe-horned design that never had these modern uniforms in mind. Between the Reebok Colt’s solution and the Nike LSU one, it’s hard to pick a favorite, but I would go with Reebok’s as I feel it’s a better use of space.

Another issue is if you’re going to maintain your 50 year old design, you need this stripe. It’s always going to be botched, but a botched stripe is better than no stripe. It’s a huge part of the Colts identity. Those suggesting the uniforms be compromised to suit the jersey decoration have it completely backwards. Again, form follow function, you design graphics for the product, not the other way around. But, form also follows emotion, and there is so much recognition with the stripe for the Colts, they just wouldn’t be the Colts without it.  The other option is to blow it all up and start over with something completely different, something that actually works well with current uniforms, like Oklahoma State’s design. But blowing up a 50 year old identity that comes with multiple championships and lots of success for a current brand doing extremely well, isn’t a move that is necessary.

If it were up to me to design the perfect Colts uniform, it would be this. see the whole thing here: Colts Brand Adjustment

GO COLTS DAMMIT!!!

The Stars at Night, Are Beveled and Bright: Dallas Stars 2013 Identity

It’s not often I find a hockey identity I really like. Not because the NHL has more bad designs than any other league, I’m just not that big of a fan of the sport (Or any other sport outside of football, really). But, instead of that being a weakness for me when critiquing a hockey identity design, I think it’s an advantage because I’m not jaded by the “rules” and cliché’s of the sport’s own aesthetic. It allows me to see the design purely without any emotional attachment or idea for what hockey design “should be”.   The Dallas Stars’ new identity makes me care about hockey. This identity I notice and am excited about.

Color

From what I know of the Stars, they’ve always included green, gold, and black in the identity. Replacing gold with silver definitely will be a bit of a shock to Stars fans, and will make the design at first seem unfamiliar. The fresh Victory Green and Silver palette instantly signals a new era in the franchise. It’s very bold and energetic and the team should really feel big and fast when seen on the ice. There were about 5 different color palettes being considered for this, with blue and silver (an impending disaster) being highly favored by the team. 

Type

from dribbble.com, Andrew Sterlachini: LINK

After looking through so many terrible number fonts and type systems from Nike in college football and the NFL this year, it’s refreshing to see a font system done so beautifully. The numbers are a slight variation on a standard block, but it’s the best typography I’ve seen in sports this year. It’s consistent from one character to the next, yet the variation makes each one unique enough. Notice the 6 and 9; they’re not mirrored, but individually designed to be it’s own digit. I fucking LOVE these numbers!

The word mark isn’t as good. It feels skewed too much and the heavily beveled “STARS” feels disconnected from the city name, which was left untouched. With no containing shape or element to otherwise bring the two together it’s left looking a bit weak. It’s also the only logo that dosent include black.

Logos

Overall the new primary logo is a seriously cool and well executed design. I wish there was more of an emphasis on green with maybe a silver key stroke, but it’s a logo that looks great on the front of a jersey or a hat, or t-shirt, or whatever you put it on. It has sort of an old sheriff’s badge look to it too, weather that’s intentional or not I don’t know, but it definitely says “Texas sports team”.

I love roundels and the secondary is a solid effort. I’m not sure about the primary being included inside the center though. I think that’s maybe a missed opportunity to do something different there. The primary D-Star as it is dosen’t really have a strong presence inside the circle, it has to be small to fit inside and the lack of it’s strokes makes it seem odd when paired next to the true primary logo. I really prefer the “Dallas Stars” type like this, un-skewed and un-beveled, but again it lacks some consistency when you match it to the true word mark. Overall though, it does look good on the shoulders of the jersey.

Counting the word mark, the tertiary is actually the 4^thlogo in the family and weather it’s needed, I’m not sure. It’s a cheesy, cliché concept (state shape) that really gets played out in Texas themed logos. Again we see the primary used here in an awkward space making the logo heavy on the bottom and the tangent on the top point of the star touching the top of the state’s outline makes me cringe. Instead of forcing the primary into the space it wedges in best, I’d rather see it centered within the state shape, or even another idea here. A monogram, or single star, or put the roundel around it. Despite it’s flaws and terribly cliché concept, it’s still a likeable logo and I think Stars fans will really dig it.

Uniforms

The uniform is unique in color and type, but features traditional hockey striping. It works really well though, because as detailed as the logos are I think it was a good idea for the uniforms to be very simple and let that great green color and new logos be the hero of the design.

I know it’s a fairly common style, but I don’t like the green shoulders on the white jersey. It looks like the pointless color blocking you see a lot in college football uniforms. Personally, I’d rather see the jersey be all white (outside of the stripes). The striping on the white jersey and socks is really great. I love the alternating color and wish the same would have been done on the green. What confuses me most is the shorts are the same for both sets. They match the green jersey but looks too different with the white. It’s not a big deal but I’m not sure why they designed a jersey and socks stripes to be different on each set but wouldn’t do the same with the shorts.

One slight complaint is the total lack of detail outside of the logos. All of the uniforms elements are solid, flat color blocks, but each logo is so intricate there is some disconnect there. Like I said before, they didn’t need to do a lot with the uniforms, but I’d like to see a bit more cohesiveness between logos and uniform elements. Maybe some silver lining on the stripes or the numbers? It just lacks some detail that would visually tie everything together.

It’s not a perfect identity, but there is so much here to love. The color is my favorite part. The package as a whole is so good, I almost want to be a Stars fan. I probably won’t watch many games, but I might have to buy a t-shirt or two.

Norsemen In Purple Satin: 2013 Minnesota Vikings

When the Vikings released their slightly updated Norseman logo, it was a clear sign of the direction they were going to go with the new uniforms. A modern-retro design ala' Buffalo Bills. Where the Bills went more traditional, the Vikings went more for the future. Of the 3 new NFL uniforms this year, this is the one with the strongest execution.

The helmet has a satin finish which makes them the 2nd NFL team (Seattle the 1st) to feature a satin primary shell. I really like it with modern uniforms especially, where the new materials being used for jerseys and pants have a satin or matte finish. (I hope the shiny uniform materials stay away in the future, that silliness should have died with disco.) It definitely has a rugged feel to it,  or as Jared Allen put it "Looks like we're playin' a man's game".

The horns got a bit of an adjustment and the best I can tell, they're just larger. Usually, a good thing but what we're seeing on the initial pieces is a tangent purposefully created where the horn tips touch in the back. Major points taken away for such an obvious visual tension, but hopefully they wont be that way once the season starts. It's strange to see the Vikings use a Revo Speed for showing off the new design. I don't think they should have adjusted the horn design just for this shell, it's just one option in a vast sea of helmets, but it's the one where they have to cut the decal to go over the vent.

People have flipped out over the use of a black face mask, but I think it's the perfect choice. Remember, this team is more forward thinking than the Bills, and black works very well as a modern neutral color. If it were grey, it would have a vintage connotation, and with the contrast would be a distraction, where the black is very subtle. There's also black in the horn and the base color for their cleats is black. So why not purple? If it were, then it would be a gloss finish and if there's a quick way to make a helmet look cheap and tacky it's mixing 2 finishes of the same color. So why not a satin mask finish? well that could be possible, I don't know what that process is like, but it hasnt been done before, so asking for that right now is a stretch. Why not white? Again, contrast. I dont like the mask to attract your eye and be the focus of the design. White also makes the bars appear larger, which makes it worse. Black was the way to go.

I think they started with the old Northwestern stripe design and used that to carve something new. Blending that with the sail of a ship idea turns out to be a really nice stripe. If there's one complaint i have there it's that there's not enough space between the 2 colors in the stripe. It's even worse on the white jersey where yellow and white meet each other. The stripes are sewn onto the jersey too, which the Bill's should take note of.

Per usual, Nike fails on the number font development. They are consistant though; consistently bad. I don't think a single number (either single or double digit) looks attractive at all. It's so odd to see one digit with the spurs and another next to it with none. If they left those spurs off, the whole uniform would benefit from it. It becomes a focal point of the uniform for it's oddness.

The pants stripe is one of my favorite details of the uniform, where you can see how they might have started with a Northwestern stripe. At the very least it looks like a nice evolution from that traditional design and give a sense of forward motion. I don't think anyone is aware that socks can have stripes on them. I would love to see the pants stripe carried over into the socks here.

The uniform is so close to being so excellent, but the number font keeps it from being so. It's definitely better than the Seahawks' and Dolphins' but it's not much consolation being the 3rd worse in the league.  The helmet, if they fix the application of the horns, will be one of my favorites. Satin purple just looks so sweet and tough. I doubt they keep the finish forever, but damn, it's going to be nice having it around while it's here. Grade: B

Laces Out, Dan!: 2013 Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins' logo updates scream "cruise line" and not surprisingly, the new uniforms complete that look. This is sort of another modern-retro direction where they pulled an orange and aqua that are very similar to the ones they wore in the 60s and 70s, but all the other elements are completely new for Miami. Those new (old?) colors are all absolutely gorgeous! Whether isolated or used together, the orange, aqua, navy, and white make for one of my favorite color palettes in sports. My one concern though, is that it might be a bit feminine. Florida natives will probably have no fears about sporting those colors, but fans from the rest of the country might find them too "soft".

A trend in the 1980s, that has come back strong in the last 2 years, is white face mask on white helmets. The Dolphins are the first NFL team to jump on it and I actually really like this look. It dosen't date the helmet to the 80s in my mind, it looks really fresh and clean. The most identifiable element of their identity has always been the color palette, and the 2nd was the helmet stripe.  This helmet, and whole uniform, just dosen't look like the Dolphins without it. It's going to be a hard adjustment to make. The helmet stripe's colors are fine, but the width of those lines are too small. The orange disappears and because the navy and orange are so small, it just looks like there is one too many strokes. It feels clunky and heavy without any white space between the colors.  It's not a visual vibration, but you can see there's something odd about it.

At first glance, the jersey is really nice. I don't mind the emphasis of aqua and white, but some of the orange will be missed. Digging into the details, I am quickly disappointed. I never like a helmet logo being repeated on the sleeves, it's a redundant element when viewing the players from the side. The numbers might get points for matching the helmet stripe for color, but the lack of definition with the 2 outer colors being so thin makes the stripe and numbers look a bit of a mess from a distance. 

What completely ruins this uniform for me is the number font. Nike's biggest problem for 2 years, even in the CFB level, has been type design, especially number design. With the Dolphins, they are just trying way too hard to have an original modern-meets-vintage font that is neither consistant or attractive. I believe the serif of the "1" is thicker than the stem, I mean, WTF?! If there was a focus on a single idea, either classic block or rounded corners, then either idea would fit in very well with the rest of the uniform. Instead, they give us an amateurish bastardization.   

Consistency from piece to piece (helmet, jersey, pants, socks) is often something Nike struggles with, but even as bad of a stripe as they came up with, at least the pants have a perfect union with the helmet (and jersey numbers). And of course, it has the same problems as the other applications. They just cram all this color into a tiny area with so much negative/white space around it, the focus of the uniform becomes the ugly stripe and numbers. I usually love socks with stripes, but in this case it's probably best to go with solid tops and avoid any more exposure to the new stripe design. 

This was a design where the more that was changed, the worse it got. They went back in time to pull those amazing colors, but all the original designs from the logos, to the font, to the stripe makes the uniform a mess, and not very Dolphin like at all.  At this point, I wonder why they even bothered with the new-old colors. Maybe they should have pushed forward with everything and gone with a silver helmet and orange jersey? It's a real departure from so many things that have made up this identity since day one, the end result to me looks like a team stuck between the past and future with no clear idea of who they are or want to be. When you hear "this is about tradition" from Nike they're just bullshitting us, and from Dan Marino he just has no clue. It was about doing something new enough for people to be excited about, and try to hold on to some equity so older fans wouldn't be upset. You can never have both. Grade: D 

Fade to Black: 2013 Jacksonville Jaguars

“It’s better to fail doing something different, than to successfully follow in someone else’s footsteps.”

That’s a quote from a past article I wrote titled “Getting Better and Moving Forward”. That’s a hard “truth” to accept when put in context with the new Jacksonville Jaguars uniforms. Today, I feel what my twitter friend and fellow graphic designer Cliff Dixon said about the Jags’ desgin is more true: “It's a shift in aesthetic power. The ‘radical’ portion of design is running out of ideas. Envelope has been pushed too far”.

Its seems to me this whole re-brand is not just about becoming a modern, forward thinking franchise. It’s about having something no one else has. Doing something that has never been done before, which I love. We need more new ideas and to be different is exactly why we have/design identities. But, to execute these ideas with a total disregard to what is valuable, interesting, and well crafted design (or just a complete lack of good taste) does not validate the new ideas.

The helmet is the biggest change. The metallic gold to matte black gradient, which splits half of the helmet couldn’t be more of an eyesore. One of the first rules you learn about gradients is “no harsh gradients”. But so what? I love a “fuck the rules!” mentality as much as anyone. . . but not when the end result is completely jank. I actually hate every single decision made about this helmet. 1.) The combination of colors. 2.) The combination of finishes. 3.) The tight transition from one color to the next 4.) the location of the transition on the helmet 5.) The use of a gloss black decal on a half matte black fnish. 6.) The use of a gloss black mask against a matte black part of the helmet.

Most importantly I hate the concept Nike tries to sell us on as to why the gradient was used. Mostly, because it’s the exact opposite execution of their idea.

“the jaguar comes out from  the shadows and attacks” – Todd Van Horne, Nike

The jaguar on the helmet is actually running into the darkness on the helmet, so congratulations on that epic failure, Nike. But let me help you out and spin it this way: Think of the player as the animal and when you look at him straight on, he is shrouded in darkness with the light at his back. Does that help? No, because it’s still a shitty looking helmet.

The jersey is tolerable. I do like the collar element as it’s a new design that dosent get chopped off on the end to highlight Nike’s flywire (see the Saints, Bills, Chargers). I love when sleeves/shoulders are different colors too, but there has to be some designed element there, like it’s done with some purpose, not a fill-in-the-box treatment that’s used here. Nike seems to love that though. I even like the number font and the double outlines. The black and white jersey numbers look great. The teal one is a let down with the black numbers. I don’t think that’s a nice contrast and it’s the one jersey that’s dominated by 2 colors instead of nicely balanced by 3 (the sleeve fills and number are the same color here). It looks visually “heavy”.

What’s going on with the shoulders, I have no idea. It’s a different piece of material, something shiny. I haven’t been able to find anything about it. So now we have matte and gloss pieces on the jersey, but they’re the same color instead of oddly contrasting which is just as bad.

The only thing that looks military influenced to me is the patch on the chest, which I think is a tacky detail. I’m not a fan of sports teams going military. It’s a game, not war. I don’t think a team should be officially calling itself by it’s nickname. “Jags” is what I refer to the team when talking about them, but it dosent seem very professional when they’re promoting it themselves. Also, it would apparently be a bad idea to wear it in London because the term “jag” is slang for binge drinking or drug abuse, across the pond.

The pants’ stripe is interesting. It’s not an exact complement to anything else in the uniform, but it dosent feel out of place either. Maybe a little too wide, or not long enough, but I don’t think anyone will be too upset about the pants. I appreciate the effort to get all 3 colors into the design as well. How mad can you be at the socks? It’s the standard NFL color fills, but a single stripe would be an improvement to at least break up the large amount of black when the black socks and pants are paired together. Well, with so much already going on from the knee up, maybe it’s best to have some negative space in the uniform?

Overall, I don’t think this is the worst design in the NFL, but that’s just because the Seahawks are so much worse. I do think this is easily the worst helmet in the league though. If they had not focused so much on the “hunting from the shadows” bullshit and trying so hard to be different, and just gone with 1 color either gold or black, It would be a design that I would be able to watch on TV, but the helmet is so bad I don’t think I can stand to do so. So, instead of saying “good for you Jaguars for being bold and creating an identity that is somewhat respectable” I can only say that I can’t wait for them to change it again, and as soon as possible.

Using my CFB uniform grading system on this, I would give the Jaguars a D+

Bird Gumbo: 2013 New Orleans Pelicans Identity

The team formally named the Hornets now, the New Orleans Pelicans, officially released their new logos yesterday, designed by RARE Design and Ben Barnes. The reactions by fans to the name change and logos have been mostly negative, but I'm going to be on the defense here . . . sort of.

I don't think anything the team has done here is wrong. Actually, what surprises me most about all the negative reaction to it is the fact that the whole logo package here is perfectly average. The color palette and logo styling places them well amongst the other NBA teams. The primary logo may be one of the more detailed ones out there, but overall I think we're looking at a completely normal and acceptable pro sports team identity. The thing that does excite me about the negative reaction to this is that maybe people are finally tired of highly illustrated, aggressive animal logos? It would be good if we could see less of that from now on.

The name "Pelicans" is the biggest issue I have and is where I have to side with the majority. It's a damn silly name referencing a damn goofy bird. The point made by those who like it is "Not every name has to be fierce and intimidating. Look at the Magic, Lakers, Celtics, Nets, Knicks, Suns, Clippers, Mavericks, Nuggets, Thunder, Jazz, etc". Well, exactly! I don't think all of those are great names either but I do like the Magic, Suns, and Thunder, and don't think the Pelicans fit in with those other names. Reason why is because they're abstract enough that you can come up with your own connotations and visuals. We dont have a universal icon that represents "thunder", the name brings to mind things like: thunderstorms, stampeding cattle, applause from an audience.  It also ties into the local area. All good things that spark the imagination, but "Pelicans" is very directly a stupid looking bird with no attributes of a team of NBA athletes. (Well, I guess the fact they can actually fly might be something.)

But good products can be successful even with a terrible name or a terrible logo. The Lakers is a perfect example. LA isn't exactly the land of 10,000 lakes, and their logo is, at best, good clip art. That brand is strong because they've always been a great product and there would be a lot of negative responses if they tried to change the name or the logo too much. If over the next 10 years New Orleans becomes the NBA's best team and pulls in a championship or two, it won't matter that they have a dumb name. It will grow on people over time. It always does, as long as the product is good.

The direction for the logo is a bit odd. The emphasis on New Orleans is over done, I think. 1.) crescent in the ball. 2.) Pelican being the state bird. 3.) Blue from the state flag. 4.) Hierarchy of New Orleans over Pelicans. 5.) fleur de lis. 6.) Iron fence design. 7.) the font. We get it! You're from New Orleans! Stop shouting! I imagine RARE Design taking down notes on this from the team and feeling like they were writing down their kid's christmas list. "I want this, and then I want this, and I want this, and I want this, and this, and this . . ."

The actual execution of the logo couldn't be much better, though. I thought Fraser Davidson and Tin Bacic both made better concepts, but they weren't given the brief Ben Barnes had to work with. Without knowing exactly what that brief was, I think he did a very good job with it. The logo overall (including the secondaries) feels like an NBA logo. He was able to take a goofy ass bird and a ton of New Orleans flare and bring it all together without any flaws. For that, we should applaud him. For the Pelicans and Tom Benson I say "Meh". It will all be okay if you win. (Worst part about the whole logo system is the "bird de lis" which looks like a big headed bird with tiny wings. Seriously, that ones comical!)

And to think, it all may have been worse. The team also was considering Mosquitos, Swamp Dogs, Bull Sharks, and Rougaro as names.

2012 CFB Uniform Preview & Critique

A – Exceptional. Design that is unique to the school and/or perfectly captures the specific culture/brand. Technical craftsmanship is without flaws.

B – Very Good. Design is appealing and appropriate. May be a template, but no mistaking for competitors. Perhaps a slight miss on brand and/or minor flaws in craftsmanship

C – Passable. There are issues that need to be addressed in the future, or have overlooked some details. Perhaps a bad branding move, but has a steady foundation.

D – Poor. Too off brand, poor design decisions, and/or poor craftsmanship. Will have to be redone, but there is something worth saving.

F – Fail. Off brand and bad craftsmanship. Poor design decisions and details overlooked.

Air Force

Nike

Grade: C-

At first glance this looks like a nice uniform, but once you start digging into the details it really falls apart. Blue and grey is a nice combination. Nike seems to be throwing greys into everything they can now but it works so well for the Falcons.

That’s a really popular helmet design but I’ve never liked it much. The bolt is so thin and takes up such a horizontal space, it seems weak and applied awkwardly. To make things worse they’ve added a white stroke to everything on the grey version, which isn’t at all needed, and ends up looking even cheaper and amateurish.

The same bad decision is made in the jersey where the added strokes don’t help separate the word mark and numbers from the base color, but makes it look clunky, like a bad Photoshop style. It even makes the numbers and word mark harder to read as the grey and white start to blur/vibrate together. Simply removing the strokes would increase the design’s quality so much. We also see an unnecessary panel fill on the shoulders that Nike loves so much. I like shoulder elements like this when there’s something to support it.  Right now its just a fill-in-the-blank design.

Appalachian State

Nike

Grade: B

This design comes right out of the Nike catalog but they did a good job of putting together a respectable uniform.

The helmet is a slick, simple design and the athletic gold is never a bad choice for a lid. What holds it back is the shotty logo (also seen on the jersey sleeves) but I try to over look logos when critiquing uniforms design. They added a gold stroke to white numbers which is unnecessary and, like Air Force, makes things harder to read. It also causes a lack of unity with the helmet which uses no white or extra edge strokes. Why they would want to highlight Nike’s FlyWire I have no idea, but damn that is some tacky shit. Why not use yellow thread to sew the whole jersey together while you’re at it?

You can see white outlines on the pants stripes too, another element that’s out there doing its own thing. This uniform is so close to being so good, but the bad details really holds it back.

Arkansas

Nike

Grade: D+

When Nike gets things right they make some great uniforms. When they’re off, they can really disappoint. Arkansas is the latest example of the latter. Nike threw every tacky, bad trend they had at the Razorbacks. Harsh gradient numbers, anthracite into a color palette (and identity history) that dosent support it, fill-in-the-blank panels, and a white alternate helmet.

Arkansas wants to look like they’re heading into the future and separate themselves a bit from the many other red and white schools, but what they’re wearing is already played out and they look like the poorest red and white school in the nation. If you remove all the crap and let this uniform be a simple, solid, red and white design they still stand out and look like they are heading into a bright future rather than a dark present without abandoning their entire tradition. I predict there will be changes next year.

Army

Nike

Grade: A+

Last year Army wore a white version of this jersey as a Pro Combat Rivalry design. Now, they’ve adopted the design as their main look, complete with black version and a matte helmet.

This is Nike at their best. Everything here is done well and appropriate and if they still wear their digital camo uniforms im going to do a back flip. This is one of my top 5 uniforms in CFB. If anyone should have that tough matte helmet it’s Army. A perfect fit. I love the stencil numbers, the stripe on the undershirts, and the company badges on the sleeves. Theres no flaw in the design at all. Maybe elements you don’t particularly like, but nothing here is wrong.

Bowling Green

Adidas

Grade: B

Last year I ripped BG for their new design. It seems they came to their senses after realizing they looked fucking ridiculous. They addressed the 2 main issues in the number font and pants stripe. This font works well with their primary logo and word mark and they just gave up the pants stripe altogether which is probably a good idea.

Theres not much left to not like, but the wing design on the shoulder is questionable. It’s out of the Nike catalog which anyone can use but as far as I know, only Eastern Michigan uses is other than BG. The main thing is it has no unity with the other elements. The numbers are stroked, the word mark has 2 or 3 strokes, but the wing is a 1 color element. The wing itself isn’t a great design either, there’s no motion, no integration into the jersey design, just a wing sitting on top of the sleeve.

Central Michigan

Adidas

Grade: D

This feels like CMU told Adidas they wanted to look like a Nike school. Its closer to Arizona State than what Central Michigan has worn before. We’ve got some major consistency and lifeless trend issues here.

Theres 2 different helmets with this set, the new addition being a matte black of course and sports a new stripe design. If you’re going to do an alternate helmet this is about as good as you can ask for. It’s different enough from the standard to be interesting but not so different that it looks like it dosent belong.

4 different jersey options all of which are the same template except for the black option. It’s a totally different design that features “Central Michigan” across the chest, a different stripe design, and a different number font. Personally I like the black design best. It’s rare to see piping on uniforms any more and most of those designs fail because the lines will highlight the odd shapes of the shoulder pads or a big lineman’s flabby body so as they get pushed around and distorted you’re just seeing that instead of a nice flowing line. This won’t be any different. The undershirt has something that we haven’t seen very much but I have a feeling it will be a new trend. I don’t mind a nice design on the sleeves or a cool slogan but a generic “Fire Up” or cheesey “Chips” isn’t very inspiring.

It looks like all the pants are the same design but the logo on the black pant is much larger. My personal favorite uniform combo would be maroon helmet, black jersey, and yellow pants.

Eastern Michigan

Adidas

Grade: C-

The grey addition really kills this color palette.  They’re forcing green on top of grey and having to use white to separate it. The grey matte helmet could not be more dull and lifeless. If they used grey as an accent color it could work and give some depth to the elements in the uniform, but trying to make it part of the primary theme is not a good idea. I like all the green and white stuff, and hope they wear that a majority of the time.

Georgia Tech

Russell Athletic

Grade: F

This is Russell's premier design this year, nothing else they have done for this season has been a major change or for a major school. GT and Russell, I want you to know this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you. (probably not, actually)

Im not sure if this is all Russell's doing or how much input GT had in this, but regardless the uniform is trying so hard to copy Nike's success in most areas and with their original ideas i just don't even. . . 

The helmet features a gold honeycomb/hive pattern which isn't the worst helmet i've seen. It's done by HGI so as cheesy as the idea is it's pulled off as well as you could ask for. Maybe it's just me but gold on white always has this nice vintage connotation that is hard to beat (even though theres nothing at all vintage about this uniform, but not a big deal). The hive pattern works pretty well as a special helmet or 1 off, but this is something they're planning on using every weekend. That will be hard to get used to. 

The jersey is where things get confusing, frustrating, and highly disappointing. There are 2 different templates being used and theres a white version for each, the only difference is the side panel and blue sleeve looping, so you have to wonder what the hell is the point here? Why couldnt a decision be made on one template? There is absolutely no reason to have these 2 templates unless they're running a season long focus group test to find out which one people like best which only suggest theres no confidence in either one. It dosent even matter which one they go with anyway because they both fucking suck! The number font is a poorly crafted modern sans made even more clunky and awkward by the outlines. A colored name plate 'ala Philadelphia Flyers might be cool but this is such a weird shape that is very out of place. the short side stripe jersey is the better (less awful) of the two as it at least attempts to house the hive pattern and separate it from the main jersey color. The other's twist-stripe creates a visual tension like a twist in a balloon animal. I wonder if the players can feel that pain in their ribs? it looks like it. I don't think i even have to mention how bad the hive pattern is with it's various treatments. In the numbers, it looks like a bad Photoshop layer style.

The pants are just as bad, but at least they're consistent. Theres 2 different pants stripes to try to match the jerseys. The hive overload continues here. 

The sad part about Russell is not that they're trying so hard to copy Nike, but that they just have really shitty taste in design and Georgia Tech has to take some blame too. They havent had a good uniform in years (thinking back to the Calvin Johnson era). There is not a single element or inch of this uniform to be remotely proud about. The idea of covering the uniform in a honeycomb/hive pattern is the silliest part. It's not a bad ass or cool, or even a likable design, it's cute at best. It's as much a connotation to Winnie the Pooh and honey bees as it is Yellow Jackets. There's nothing to save here, even the color palette is drab with that gold.

Maryland

Under Armor

Grade: D+

I really liked the 2011 uniforms (except for the Pride unis) and they’ve made some tweaks to them here. Problem is, I’m torn over the 2012 version. I think the 2 color stripe on the shoulders worked better than the pattern of color (you see it on the pants too). Now, it really looks like a crash test dummy outfit. I think they removed the tortoise shell pattern from the shoulders too which was a good move. On the red jerseys the texture cause the shoulders to appear lighter in color, so it was almost a pink and red jersey.

This new helmet is much tamer than the Pride helmet, but somehow is a worse design. long horizontal straight lines don’t flow over a helmet’s curves or occupy a strong space well at all. If there is one thing you shouldn’t do with a helmet design, it is this. The complex flag design is too much in a small area. You have this large amount of white space around it and it just allows you to focus on everything that is awkward about it. If they keep the black helmet and shell helmet they will look great, but this over use of the flag is killing it.

Minnesota

Nike

Grade: A

This is one sharp set! They have great colors to start with, and thankfully they and Nike realized that no more were needed. You cant go wrong with any of these combinations but yellow jersey/maroon pants is my favorite.

Could they be any simpler? It’s an excellent modern design that is absolutely timeless. Theres no stripes, no other elements besides numers on the jersey and a logo on the helmet, what could you change? The matte helmet looks great in maroon and the logo is strong and bold. I even like the double outline on it. The black face mask works as a nice neutral color, not fighting for attention with the helmet and still feeling modern where grey would have a stark contrast and really feel out of place. 

My favorite part is the number font, the 4 and 5 are just gorgeous. The new word mark is in the same style, If there’s one thing I would change, and I can see it happening soon, its that there’s a brick pattern inside the numbers. I think that’s an awesome texture idea for collateral, but leave the pattern out of the uniform. It’s not really school specific anyway; most campuses have brick buildings.

Mississippi State

Adidas

Grade: C

This is a great design that comes up short because its so much like Texas A&M. Adidas redesigned both uniforms this year and used some of the same ideas for both. Both schools are maroon and white and have the same stripe on the jerseys, except here we see a ribbon design.

I really have to question every decision they made here. Why when these 2 schools have the same colors and now play in the same conference did you give them the same stripe treatment? Why are the grey pants so light (what’s the point when you have a white option)? Whats the purpose of having the same helmet but with 2 different face mask colors? It dosent seem they were interested in doing much to separate themselves from Texas A&M and if they were, Adidas did them no favors either.

I love the word mark on top of the numbers. If they let that be the design hero element and removed the jersey stripe, it would do so much for the whole design. Only thing we’re left with is a reflection of A&M.

Missouri

Nike

Grade: B-

The design ideas are all over the place with this set. Its hard to grade because each set is so different. The only things that ties them together are the numbers, word mark, and colors. The jersey designs are completely different.

The standard helmet is a nice evolution. There is a subtle tiger stripe pattern in the yellow stripe which tapers at the front and reflect the lines in the logo nicely. The matte helmet is as well done as any matte I’ve seen with a powerful, oversized logo. I think some white in the logo there would help though. It’s a different logo when you drop the white.

With the black jersey we see a nice update to what they wore last year. The white jersey is more lazy fill-in-the-panel nonsense from Nike with an awful 2 tone FOLO* (faux polo) collar (AKA “toilet seat collar”) yet somehow with the 2 crap elements combined they don’t seem as bad. The numbers on the shoulders also help break up what would otherwise be a barren land of greyness, and where the hell did the grey come from? Why not black, or yellow?

The yellow jersey is by far my favorite. The FOLO collar looks good here because of the addition and direction of the stripe off the shoulder, all leading your eye to the center and down to the number. It’s a nice flow and repetition.

The pants are all the same, just 3 different color options. The pants stripe has the subtle tiger pattern too and flows nicely up the leg and has a sort od claw mark quality to it.

*FOLO = term is ©Brandon Moore & Matt Kauzlarich 2012 :)

Northwestern

Under Armor

Grade: B+

The Northwestern stripe is the prominent design element on these new uniforms. It’s inspired by an old design, but they’ve done a great job of making it modern. No one else has a jersey like this, but I think we will see similar ones start to pop up now. This is a great use of a stroke on a number as it separates the number from the stripe and makes it very readable. There’s also a brick pattern within the numbers which, like Minnesota, I think is fine but a bit pointless and would do better to remove it. It probably will be removed anyway once the fad has run its course.

I would love to see a white stripe on the purple jersey but I think it’s best how it is. They keep the 3 colors balanced nicely and the number remains readable and separate from the background. I like that they left the pants blank too, as to not over use the stripe. There were smart decisions made in every detail of the uniform.

The only thing I might fault it for is that the stripe doesn’t run all the way around the jersey and just abruptly ends on the side seam.

Nebraska

Adidas

Grade: C-

Nebraska breaks a lot of their identity habits here for the Unrivaled Series. I’m just guessing this game between Nebraska and Wisconsin is the 2012 version of last year’s Under the Lights, so we’re seeing the letters on the front of jerseys being a repeated, successful idea.

It’s almost strange to see someone come out with an alternate helmet now and its not matte. I like the gloss black helmet but the most important part (the logo) really gets lost on it. just making the N white would be a big improvement.

It seems they made all the wrong decisions with the jersey. Those stripes just do not fit on this jersey cut. We have black on red with the elements and it looks unfinished and cheap because of the lack of contrast. I almost don’t mind the black N, but white would definitely be a better choice. There is nothing eye catching about the jersey. It’s a bit of a mess.

The pants repeat the color problems of the jersey, and at this point it’s too much red. Red is a loud, attention whore of a color and that makes this uniform way too intense. It’s hard to look at.

I love the idea of Nebraska wanting to do something different and throw some black into the uniform. I just don’t think they’ve given us much to like.

Wisconsin

Adidas

Grade: A-

Of all the 2012 uniforms this is my favorite alternate and probably right behind Texas A&M overall.

Look at the line weight/consistency here. This uniform (without measuring everything myself) looks to be perfect in that area. The weight of the W's and stripes through out are the same, even the numbers. The rounded numbers are a nice fit because they provide a contrast to the rigid angles and straight lines of everything else. They also have a vintage charm; modern numbers are mostly blocks. The jersey design uses the TechFit template to its fullest potential where sleeve stripes and shoulder loops just don’t work on the sleeveless cut because they end being way too short. This Titans-like design does work. It also gives the uniform a better color balance, incorporating enough red to not be boring but not so much that its too loud (like Nebraska). the W on the chest looks great as 1 color, no outline. it may be Adidas' new style (or it could be just a recycled idea), but i have no problem with that as of now. It’s good to see something there that works, besides a number. The undershirt stripe is a bit odd though. Sure it matches the helmet but it’s forced. Just not much of a reason for it to be there.

The pants are almost Wisconsin's regular digs. The double stripe works and does flow with the undershirt stripe; the negative areas matching, and color consistency like seen with Texas A&M. The W on the hip dosent have much of a home there, its not integrated into the the design, its just sitting on top of the stripe. A missed opportunity there, but for the sake of the minimalist design, it might have been best to leave it off.

The helmet looks great too. I dont think theres anything better than a 1 color logo on a helmet (Nebraska, Indiana, Indy Colts, Kansas State, Texas, etc). i like the black face mask too. It’s a modern neutral, what grey was back in the day, black could be today. At least it works here well enough, especially with the black cleats and gloves. It doesn’t grab your attention like a white mask would, it takes a back seat in the design and lets the W really shine.

I’m a bit disappointed with Nebraska but I’m glad to see these 2 schools try something different. Their identities are well established and they both are wearing the best uniform design they've ever had, currently. Perfect time to change it up a bit and break up the repetition of simple red and white game after game.

If theres one area Adidas is kicking every ones ass in, its these promo shots for the uniforms. UA does this jank photoshop light explosion to display their new designs. Nike makes everything look like they're in a damn cave. Adidas uniforms against the soft brown of brick and decent lighting without having the models do a Hulk Hogan flex impression is very well done. It’s almost a locker room environment. Application and environment are everything with design, and its important to capture that in presentations. I like being able to actually see and focus on the damn thing

Notre Dame

Adidas

Grade: D-

This is a design for 1 game which will be worn against Miami at Soldier Field. Like I said with Nebraska and Wisconsin, its nice to see Notre Dame do something a bit different because their current identity is so strong, but can get repetitive if not boring. After last years Under the Lights success, its no wonder they would want to do it again, and they worked with Troy lee Designs again to do something very unique.

I love asymmetrical design, but this helmet may be the worst helmet design ive ever seen. Maryland’s Pride helmet was loud and bold, but it was 1 design which was acceptable. This helmet tries blending 2 designs together. The 1/3 blue piece is instantly awkward and the 2 different textures’ (engine turn gold and gloss blue) juxtaposition makes it worse. The white-out Irishman on the side is also shocking, I don’t ever recall seeing that logo in 1 color. The logo isn’t placed correctly on the helmet either (at least not in the promo shot). It’s too low and forward. The arm of the Irishman is getting cut off by the face mask and is strangely sitting right over the ear hole. The 2/3 split is probably the correct idea, in that it is true asymmetry with the “heavier” side (darker color) being the smallest, rather than a ½ split which would be a symmetrical balance. But one reason for doing asymmetrical design is to create an unsettling, odd, disruptive feeling which is what ends up happening here. So the execution for the idea given is fairly good, its just a bad idea to begin with. For Notre Dame, doing something that is totally unfamiliar is a big risk and I don’t think it all comes together well here, Last years Shamrock helmet worked as it was a nice evolutionary piece in the identity. This is too out of place and way off brand.

The number font and word mark are very cool, a prestigious vintage look that works really well together on this navy jersey. I would love to see this number font make a return in another design. We see the inclusion of this thin white stripe in every piece but its different on each piece. Its probably worse on the undershirt because it can be mistaken as an arm band, but even then I can live with that. It just dosent have a place or a reason for being. If there was more unity with the other applications it could work on the sleeve but we just get 3 different treatments and leaves us wondering what the hell is going on. It dosent need to be exactly the same on each piece, variety is good, but its too different here.

The pants stripe is way too wide. If a player wears pads in his pants it gets so distorted and warped that it becomes a terrible, bloated eyesore. The Irishman logo is squeezed onto the hip and looks as if hes trying to push the sides away to keep from being crushed. If he has some proper space to breath and not create a tangent against the stripe edge it could be tolerable, but I don’t like seeing the same logo on the hip as the side of the helmet. It feels redundant. If you cut the stripe in half you have the edge of the helmet design. But I think we’re just left wanting to see that whole stripe again elsewhere or not at all. The good thing about it is its only on one side, which completes the asymmetrical idea. 

You can see with each piece they’re going for a vintage racer look and nearly pulled it off but what holds it back are some really strange almost amateurish decisions that makes it fail. I usually don’t mind golds not matching especially in vintage uniforms, but when you have 3 or 4 different golds together it really looks cheap. The texture of the helmet, numbers, and pants are all completely different. The color corrected promo photos from Adidas is trying to fool us, but the photos from the unveiling show the ugly truth. All of the inconsistency, unfamiliarity, and odd design decisions just dosen’t  hold together. I love risky design and people being brave with their elements, but even as a 1 off uniform, It’s a bad design and I think Notre Dame fans are going to agree.

Oregon

Nike

Grade: B+

Oregon might be the Apple Computers of college football. They’re a rebellious brand that does not follow tired, played out traditions but look to improve upon the status quo. Chip Kelly has done that with the football program and their identity reflects those values perfectly. They are the trend setters and now that so many have copied their look, it’s perfect time to change again. Nike hasn’t given us much to look at yet, but its clear that the 2012 Rose Bowl uniform will be the new design template.

We’ve seen a couple of different helmets with the wings on the side. So far, a carbon fiber helmet with chrome wings and a green helmet with green-chromeish wings are available. Their primary logo is one of my favorites but dropping it from the side of the helmet isn’t a bad move. The wings are as recognizable as the logo and these chrome helmets will never be mistaken for another school. Think of the wings as their own swoosh. There also appears to be a texture on the face mask

So far 4 jerseys have been released but I wouldn’t be surprised to see 1 or 2 more during the season. The number font is much better than the old Belotti Bold, which seemed too warped. This font is almost the same but is tall and strong. The numbers look like they have some kind of iridescent color, which is reflective of the wings of a mallard. I absolutely love that! The wing texture on the shoulders I don’t though. The flow of the wings are interrupted and cut off at the seam of the shoulder/chest with no proper conclusion. They simply go on and on until they run out of room and so its another one of Nike’s lame “fill in the panel” techniques which ruins an otherwise unique and wonderful pattern. The fact that they’ve made the wings so contrasting with the jersey base color (save the green version) makes it even worse. You can clearly see how bad it’s executed on the yellow jersey.

Oregon’s identity they had up til last year is one of my all time favorites. That wing design on the shoulder was made for that location and fit so perfectly, the total opposite thinking behind this design. There are things to love here and things to hate, which makes it the most frustrating design I’ve seen this year.

Rutgers

Nike

Grade: C-

What I wrote for Arkansas goes ditto here. This is a hot mess of played out trends and poor design elements. What makes it worse is the slight differences in the helmet. Theres not one that’s an iconic standard and im not sure if anyone will realize they’re wearing a different one from game to game. With Oregon, ASU, and Oklahoma State its easy to see they’re wearing something different, theres a reason for being with those designs. The battle scared armor treatment is cool for an alternate, but I see that getting old quick. Having one with black and one with red would be fine if you really wanted mulitples, But there’s that 3^rdwith a grey face mask that doesn’t fit any uniform more than the other and is a redundant waste. HGI pulled off the look very well, its just not needed more than once here.

The jerseys suffer from the same FOLO collar as the NFL jerseys. Why anyone thinks that looks good I can’t say. It becomes an element that will either clash or pair with everything else, and with the Rutgers’ design it almost fits but I cant help but feel its still out of place. The word mark and numbers are pulled off fairly well, I do like the custom font and chrome treatment with the outline to make a tight, bold form. Color wise I think the red jersey and white pants (with chrome/red helmet if I have to choose) will look really nice.

The pants stripe is alright enough. It reflects the shoulder stripes and maintains a decent color balance. The Butt Hat name on the pants is never good though. Just another bad, played out idea Nike threw at them.

South Dakota State

Under Armor

Grade: C+

Blue, white, and yellow is one of my favorite sports color palettes. It’s hard to screw up. I think every combination of jersey and pants here looks great as far as color goes, and I’d love to see the San Diego Chargers adopt these colors.

The helmet is the same design from last year but everything else has new elements. This has to be one of the nicest number fonts there is in CFB and pairs very well with their primary Jackrabbit logo and SD monogram. There’s rounded edges and tall straight lines; I don’t see how anyone could possibly dislike it especially in this context. I don’t think they have the brand and recognition to really pull off “STATE” across the chest, I actually first thought this was San Diego State. They have almost the same shoulder design that South Carolina got last year. It’s a weird design that dosent end or begin anywhere or have any kind of movement. It’s a block of color with no real purpose. The road and home jerseys seem to be dealing with that element in 2 different ways as well, but its kind of hard to tell exactly how from only this picture.

The pants stripe is a bit odd for this design, but it’s better than any kind of traditional stripe. The thing with this set of blue and yellow is that they are both so energetic and attention grabbing you need a almost a 50/50 split between them through the uniform so that 1 is not too intense; They balance each other out so the pants stripe does allow for that. The only thing I’m really disappointed about is that there is no yellow jersey. Yet.

Southern Methodist

Nike

Grade: B

This is such a cool jersey. It’s an original design that comes through a slight tweak in traditional stripe design. a Northwestern stripe over the shoulder works so well, except like all modern over-the-shoulder designs, are truncated and can be a bit weird to look at when they end so abruptly for no reason. Still, Its enough for me to love it. I’d love to see a blue jersey in the mix as well. I have to assume the helmet stripe will change too and it might be bet if they remove that stripe altogether.

The mustang on the chest is a really nice touch in 1 color and has plenty of space around it so its not crowded. The number font is a new-to-me design. It’s a spur serif as you can really see on the 1’s, and I fear what the 3 and 5 look like when the 2 is so top heavy with such a variation in thickness. A modern, bold, spur serif? I don’t like it.

Texas A&M

Adidas

Grade: A

Finally we get to my favorite new design of the year! The one issue I have is that it’s so similar to Mississippi State, and that is a problem, but this design is just beautiful. The “12^th MAN” on the undershirt sleeve is reserved only for 1 player a game so it is good that the rest of the team won’t be wearing that cheesy bullshit.

The helmet was done by HGI and they’ve made it more of a satin finish than matte which matches the surface texture of the jersey and pants really well. They kept the primary logo the same which I find a bit weird because you can see on the hip the new secondary design where the T has a beveled treatment. A small miss in consistency. The grey mask is a perfect choice, it softens the contrast of the previous white mask look while tying into the the grey used in other parts of the uniform. It’s a small detail that becomes the cherry on top of this sweet design. There is also a white alternate version that works just as well.

The jersey takes inspiration from a previous A&M design and teaches the rest of the manufactures a lesson in stripes. Whether or not every player wears the undershirt, they all end up in the same design. The undershirt is a part of the design that enhances it when added and doesn’t take anything away when removed. The school name across the chest is a strong, bold statement that A&M has always had. The numbers are a new design that dosent go too far from traditional block but adds some value to the identity with the beveling inside. I absolutely love that detail on both maroon and white jerseys. It’s not a harsh gradient or cheesy texture, just a well done flat design. It’s not been easy to get people to embrace it though. Last year I did a concept for the Kansas City Chiefs that featured beveled 2 tone numbers and everyone hated it. Theres not been much love for these either, but I just don’t get it. This is such a nice touch that I’m glad someone had the balls to apply to a big time school.

The pants stripe carries through the alignment and rhythm started in the jersey. The pants stripe is the same width as the negative space on the jersey stripes and the colors correlate correctly as well. Most of the time I like hip logos and I like this one. Its not forced into a design here, it actually holds its place on the stripe well.

I want so badly to grade this out as an A+ but the slight difference in primary and secondary logos as well as the identical treatment to conference rival Mississippi State keeps it from being any thing unique or perfect.

Utah State

Nike

Grade: B-

Utah State gets the standard Nike treatment: white helmet, matte helmet, grey uniform, texture within numbers, fucking yawn. It’s the same recycled ideas we’ve seen this year more than ever, but at least we can appreciate the execution of it. They also have new logos which designer Fraser Davidson worked with Nike on to complete the identity package.

The blue and white helmets both look very nice with the logo working just as well on both versions. You get to the jersey though and the bad details show through. White stroke on a grey number, white stroke against a grey jersey, it all cheapens the look so much especially with the texture inside of them. None of the word marks use strokes and they separate themselves from the jersey much better for it. With such a busy front, you’d expect to see something on the shoulders or sleeves but both are blank which I actually like. It’s a clean minimalist look that isn’t overly cluttered like most designs. I think the number font is very nice as well, the rounded bottom edges and sharp top edges pair perfectly with the word mark and primary logo, so I suspect its all the same font.

Not sure if the pants stripe is necessary, it’s a bit out of place. It seems like a single color stripe would work best here which would provide a better balance in both shape and color.  

Vanderbilt

Nike

Grade: D+

I don’t know why Nike wants to make me hate them so much. There’s no care put into this set. Lazy fill-in-the-panel design on the gold jersey which also has a useless and ugly white stroke on the number. Must there be a complete lack of gold on the black and white pieces? Number trim isn’t enough here. If they ever pair the white helmet with gold jersey and white pants I will just have to laugh. They don’t have bad colors. They don’t have a bad logo. But outside of the number font, this set just has nothing to like. Every new decision was a bad one.

- - - - - - Awards - - - - - -

Best in Show – school: Texas A&M; manufacturer: Adidas

Personally my favorite of the bunch is Texas A&M, but only slightly over Army, Minnesota, and the Wisconsin alternate. I felt last year Adidas was right on the coattails of Nike in the design department and I think they are now very equal, but both companies recycle ideas far too often. 

Worst Design – Georgia Tech

The only school to earn an F this year. 

Most Improved – Bowling Green

The biggest improvement made from last year is Bowling Green who I gave a D- to last year. 

Biggest Loser – Arkansas

Arkansas took the biggest fall. I have little doubt they will be doing dramatic changes within 3 years.

Best Typography – Minnesota

As instantly classic as it is modern. Word mark, primary logo, and numbers are all beautiful pieces of work.

Best New Logo – Utah State

Almost by default, Not too much to choose from this year, but the alternate bull mark is the best of the bunch. Also an honorable mention to the update of Purdue's train logo which will be featured on the front of the jerseys. Both logos design by Fraser Davidson and Nike

Best New Helmet – Army

The matte gold is a perfect choice for this school. Tough, rugged, utilitarian design. I give Silver to Oregon (liquid yellow being my favorite) and Bronze to UNLV

        

Most Creative Piece –  Northwestern

For the new jersey stripe placement. The white jersey is gorgeous. 

The Fuck Are You Doing? – Nike

For the Paint-By-Number or Fill-In-The-Blank shoulder panel designs as well as the 2 tone FlyWire collars which also make an appearance in the NFL.