NBA Uniform Re-Design Project *CLEVELAND CAVALIERS ALTERNATE updated 02.13.17*

[iamdaviinci]

I finally had some time to develop a new concept I felt comfortable sharing -- it's still a work-in-progress, but I've more or less reached a point where I'm stuck and would appreciate any and all constructive criticism.

 

The Denver Nuggets' current uniform set is kind of a mess in my eyes, as the color balance seems off, the design, fonts, etc. are all generic, and they don't make use of an exciting uniform history nor a fun team name. Their '80s skyline throwbacks are some of my favorite jerseys of all-time, and I think their '90s navy/maroon/gold color scheme was underappreciated at the time -- the Cavs used a similar scheme in the first LeBron era, and the Pelicans adopted a similar one upon becoming a franchise, but being the nostalgiac '90s uniform enthusiast I am, I prefer it with the Nuggets. It has driven me nuts ever since they abandoned it for the 2003/04 season that a franchise with a team name referring to literal golden nuggets favors a color scheme incorporating yellow as opposed to actual gold.

 

Anyways, I wanted to retain both the aforementioned '80s skyline design and the '90s navy/maroon/gold color scheme; however, I wanted a quirkier, slightly retro font to tie those two elements together without looking unnecessarily tacky nor dated. The font I found (and modified over and over and over again!) fit that description while lending itself well to the linearity of the skyline graphic.

 

Unfortunately, the shorts are where I'm running into problems. The prominence of the skyline graphic makes it difficult to balance the shorts design against, and it's so horizontal that there aren't many ways to incorporate its elements into the typically vertical space of the shorts' side panels. The repeating skyline graphic stripes as I have them currently just feel a bit forced, but it's the best of the handful of designs I've played with so far....as I sit here and think about it, I may flip the horizontal skyline stripes vertically just to see what it would look like. A Google search of Denver Nuggets uniform concepts yielded this awesome concept by @Lights Out that makes great use of the same elements I have here while perfectly balancing out the jersey and shorts -- that's the balance I'm hoping but struggling to achieve. 

 

Denver Nuggets Home Uniform

 

Denver Nuggets Away Uniform

 

 

 

Thanks for looking -- any and all thoughts, ideas, comments, and criticism are welcomed!

[CLEstones]

10 hours ago, Hoopladawg87 said:

I finally had some time to develop a new concept I felt comfortable sharing -- it's still a work-in-progress, but I've more or less reached a point where I'm stuck and would appreciate any and all constructive criticism.

 

The Denver Nuggets' current uniform set is kind of a mess in my eyes, as the color balance seems off, the design, fonts, etc. are all generic, and they don't make use of an exciting uniform history nor a fun team name. Their '80s skyline throwbacks are some of my favorite jerseys of all-time, and I think their '90s navy/maroon/gold color scheme was underappreciated at the time -- the Cavs used a similar scheme in the first LeBron era, and the Pelicans adopted a similar one upon becoming a franchise, but being the nostalgiac '90s uniform enthusiast I am, I prefer it with the Nuggets. It has driven me nuts ever since they abandoned it for the 2003/04 season that a franchise with a team name referring to literal golden nuggets favors a color scheme incorporating yellow as opposed to actual gold.

 

Anyways, I wanted to retain both the aforementioned '80s skyline design and the '90s navy/maroon/gold color scheme; however, I wanted a quirkier, slightly retro font to tie those two elements together without looking unnecessarily tacky nor dated. The font I found (and modified over and over and over again!) fit that description while lending itself well to the linearity of the skyline graphic.

 

Unfortunately, the shorts are where I'm running into problems. The prominence of the skyline graphic makes it difficult to balance the shorts design against, and it's so horizontal that there aren't many ways to incorporate its elements into the typically vertical space of the shorts' side panels. The repeating skyline graphic stripes as I have them currently just feel a bit forced, but it's the best of the handful of designs I've played with so far....as I sit here and think about it, I may flip the horizontal skyline stripes vertically just to see what it would look like. A Google search of Denver Nuggets uniform concepts yielded this awesome concept by @Lights Out that makes great use of the same elements I have here while perfectly balancing out the jersey and shorts -- that's the balance I'm hoping but struggling to achieve. 

 

Denver Nuggets Home Uniform

 

Denver Nuggets Away Uniform

 

 

 

Thanks for looking -- any and all thoughts, ideas, comments, and criticism are welcomed!

 

I see what you are trying to do, but the white backdrop on the skyline is clashing to much for me.  It may be the best combination, but can we see a mock up with the navy negative space?

[cjm3114jr]

56 minutes ago, CLEstones said:

 

I see what you are trying to do, but the white backdrop on the skyline is clashing to much for me.  It may be the best combination, but can we see a mock up with the navy negative space?

I don't think that'll work due to the top of the buildings being navy. The whole uniform would have to change colors.

[CLEstones]

6 minutes ago, cjm3114jr said:

I don't think that'll work due to the top of the buildings being navy. The whole uniform would have to change colors.

 

It would require substituting navy for white in th stripe pattern. 

[iamdaviinci]

12 hours ago, CLEstones said:

 

I see what you are trying to do, but the white backdrop on the skyline is clashing to much for me.  It may be the best combination, but can we see a mock up with the navy negative space?

 

Definitely! Perhaps the thing I subconsciously liked most about the home uniform was how the white jersey transitioned into the negative space of the skyline/mountain. The white is also part of what is throwing me off in regards to the shorts, so this'll also make me look at things from a new angle. I'll hopefully post an update later in the week or sometime this weekend.

 

11 hours ago, cjm3114jr said:

I don't think that'll work due to the top of the buildings being navy. The whole uniform would have to change colors.

 

It'll require some minor changes to the striping for sure, but we'll see what happens!

[iamdaviinci]

After quite a bit of experimenting, I'm back with a minor update to the shorts striping on both the home and away uniforms. Per @CLEstones's suggestion, I switched the navy and white on the away jersey's skyline to mirror that of the home jersey; unfortunately, I feel like the mountain backdrop created by the navy negative space gets a little lost, so to speak. Please let me know what you guys think:

 

 

 

 

As for the changes to the shorts striping, I simply incorporated the entire color palette of navy, maroon, gold, and white on both uniforms, but made sure to break up the color blocking to eliminate a boxy, cluttered design. I'm not completely satisfied with the look, but I think it's a fair improvement from the original design. 

 

Denver Nuggets Home Uniform

 

Denver Nuggets Away Uniform

 

 

 

Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Wow- I never liked that color scheme when they last used it, but it works with the skyline template. Really nice. It also never hit me that they're sort of Colorado's flag colors as well. 

[iamdaviinci]

On 2/4/2017 at 11:06 AM, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

Wow- I never liked that color scheme when they last used it, but it works with the skyline template. Really nice. It also never hit me that they're sort of Colorado's flag colors as well. 

 

Thanks! I'm glad you brought up the Colorado flag colors -- I originally tried to incorporate the design elements of their flag into the collar and/or side panels, but it looked too absurdly '90s even by my standards and was too much of an eyesore from a design perspective to consider posting. 

[iamdaviinci]

Here's a random alternate uniform for the Cleveland Cavaliers I originally started working on during their championship run last season. This morning I rediscovered my unfinished work and made some adjustments, and while it still isn't close to being finished I'm once again finding myself stuck with what to do for the shorts. It definitely needs a logo or two, and perhaps some trim around the waistband and/or along the bottoms of the legs -- however, I'm hesitant to do too much with it because I really like the minimalism of some of Nike's recent work at the college level.

 

This concept incorporates a couple different elements: 1) the Cavaliers' black alternates they wore on their way to winning the NBA Finals last year; 2) the silhouette of the Cleveland skyline that's been added to their home court; 3) the black, light blue, and orange Cavaliers' uniforms from the mid-'90s. 

 

Any and all thoughts and suggestions are very much welcomed and appreciated!

 

Cleveland Cavaliers Alternate Uniform

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Thats...incredible. 

[iamdaviinci]

On 2/10/2017 at 11:19 AM, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

Thats...incredible. 

 

Thanks!

 

I've updated this Cleveland Cavaliers alternate uniform and now have two versions -- one that still has 'CLEVELAND' as the front wordmark, the other that has 'THE LAND' as the front wordmark. I think 'THE LAND' is fun, but I prefer 'CLEVELAND' I think. The jersey collar as well as the shorts have been finished to further resemble the black alternates, with the triple striping pattern and recolored logos. Finally, the oversized 'C' logo from the chest of the black alternate uniforms was recolored and added as a belt buckle logo.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers Alternate Uniform

 

Cleveland Cavaliers 'THE LAND' Alternate Uniform

 

 

 

Thank you for looking -- please let me know your thoughts!

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Version 1. I dislike city nicknames on unis (Motor City, Rip City, etc.)

[iamdaviinci]

On 2/13/2017 at 10:39 AM, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

Version 1. I dislike city nicknames on unis (Motor City, Rip City, etc.)

 

Agreed -- both of those examples resonate with me. I actually really liked Portland's Rip City alternates, but think they would definitely look better without the city nickname....Detroit's Motor City alternates were pretty rough to begin with, but the city nickname made them even worse....so 'CLEVELAND' it is!

[CLEstones]

I'm not against the Cavs alts.  However, the blue skyline needs something on the underside.  I would either carry over the slash from the original '90's uniform.  Or, add some sort of bridge truss to the underside since Cleveland does have some fantastic bridges.

[panthers_2012]

On 2/13/2017 at 10:35 AM, Hoopladawg87 said:

 

Thanks!

 

I've updated this Cleveland Cavaliers alternate uniform and now have two versions -- one that still has 'CLEVELAND' as the front wordmark, the other that has 'THE LAND' as the front wordmark. I think 'THE LAND' is fun, but I prefer 'CLEVELAND' I think. The jersey collar as well as the shorts have been finished to further resemble the black alternates, with the triple striping pattern and recolored logos. Finally, the oversized 'C' logo from the chest of the black alternate uniforms was recolored and added as a belt buckle logo.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers Alternate Uniform

 

Cleveland Cavaliers 'THE LAND' Alternate Uniform

 

 

 

Thank you for looking -- please let me know your thoughts!

Wow....These are FABULOUS!!! I'm the exact opposite of how @tigerslionspistonshabs I love The Land jersey. I would go out and buy one in an heartbeat!!

[iamdaviinci]

On 2/15/2017 at 7:08 AM, CLEstones said:

I'm not against the Cavs alts.  However, the blue skyline needs something on the underside.  I would either carry over the slash from the original '90's uniform.  Or, add some sort of bridge truss to the underside since Cleveland does have some fantastic bridges.

 

Very intriguing suggestion -- I originally incorporated the skyline in place of the slash, but I agree that the straightness of the bottom line could be changed some. The bridge trusses sound like a good place to start....I'll work with it and see what can be done!

 

On 2/15/2017 at 9:22 AM, panthers_2012 said:

Wow....These are FABULOUS!!! I'm the exact opposite of how @tigerslionspistonshabs I love The Land jersey. I would go out and buy one in an heartbeat!!

 

Thanks -- I appreciate it! I could definitelty see 'THE LAND' jerseys being a hit with the local Cleveland crowd.

[FMeez]

On 02/02/2017 at 10:54 PM, Hoopladawg87 said:

After quite a bit of experimenting, I'm back with a minor update to the shorts striping on both the home and away uniforms. Per @CLEstones's suggestion, I switched the navy and white on the away jersey's skyline to mirror that of the home jersey; unfortunately, I feel like the mountain backdrop created by the navy negative space gets a little lost, so to speak. Please let me know what you guys think:

 

 

 

 

As for the changes to the shorts striping, I simply incorporated the entire color palette of navy, maroon, gold, and white on both uniforms, but made sure to break up the color blocking to eliminate a boxy, cluttered design. I'm not completely satisfied with the look, but I think it's a fair improvement from the original design. 

 

Denver Nuggets Home Uniform

 

Denver Nuggets Away Uniform

 

 

 

Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

Love all the concepts, especially these two for the Nuggets.

I agree, the contrast is better when the mountain backdrop is white on the navy kit and shorts stripping is way better on this way. Great job !

Could you share your psd file please ? I'd love to get fun with it.

[RIPALDI]

Amazing work man, love all of these. Any chance i could get my hands on a psd version, thanks mate cheers.

[Jonesn08]

Any chance on getting a copy of this PSD?