NeatO Gang MLB Color Rush (24. Minnesota Twins)

[raysox]

 

Flash back to 2009. My late grandmother was in town, and we decided to take her to Tropicana Field to see a World Series rematch between the Rays and the Phillies. Two things I remember about that day is that we got a baseball card made with her picture on it, and she could not for the life of her make out what teams were which sitting in left field because the grey is really really light.

 

Baseball teams play 162+ games a year, they have throwback games, and some teams wear their colored alts more than their regular uniforms. So let's have a little fun, and go all the way.

 

I started a group text chat with a couple young professional designers a few months ago, and over time we titled ourselves the Neat-O Gang. We always talk about doing a collaboration, but this is the real first one we do. You'll see my concepts, but you'll also see ones by my buddies. They'll link their twitters when they post their concepts.

 

Pretend Nike signed a deal with the MLB for next year. Let's just say they're for weeknight games where the crowd might be smaller than normal. We're going to post some colorful alternate uniforms for all 30 teams, no matter the history. The colored uniforms can be worn as a road team against a white team, or as a home team forcing the other team to wear their Color Rush uniforms. 

 

So put on some sunglasses and sit back!

 

Quick shout out to MJD7, I had this idea for a few months but they just completed their color rush concepts and I didn't want to steal their thunder.

 

Arizona Diamondbacks

Atlanta Braves

Boston Red Sox

Chicago Cubs

Chicago White Sox

Cincinnati Reds

Cleveland Indians
Colorado Rockies

Detroit Tigers

Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals

Los Angeles Angels

Milwaukee Brewers

Minnesota Twins

New York Mets

Oakland Athletics

Pittsburgh Pirates
San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Seattle Mariners
St. Louis Cardinals

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

Washington Nationals

[raysox]

I wanted to break up these concepts to different posts.

 

 

Anyway, I'll start with my first one. I've wanted the pirates to do this for YEARS. I think white lettering with a thick black outline makes the white pop on colors like yellow and orange. This is the same idea for the Buccos. Nothing really crazy other than that outline pattern. I created a stirrup with yellow stripes, and thought the current Pirates cap was good enough to use to balance it all out.

 

[raysox]

This was the second one I did. Of course I had to bring back the most colorful baseball uniform of all time. So this uniform is all orange with enough of the tequila sunrise uniform to know that's what it's referencing. I made a simple pull over look to switch out the buttons look that the template came with, and the navy bands to help balance out the colors. Don't know how many people remember this, but those tequila sunrise uniforms had a number on the pant leg. That font was curly, and too good not to also put on the back of the jersey. Finally, some stirrups to match on navy.

[coco1997]

LOVE it! I'm so happy the idea of doing MLB Color Rush concepts has caught on. Keep up the good work!

[hendocfc]

Let me just say I love that graphic at the start... The designs look great as well. 

[raysox]

Thanks guys, I always loved this template and some people on twitter were nice enough to find me the vector. The headers I made are probably my favorite thing about this whole thing haha

 

I'm gonna let these sit a few more hours, I have like 6 done. Matt finished Arizona and Oakland, so those will get posted. Trying to get Nate and Dylan to make some too.

[MJD7]

I saw the top header and I immediately knew this is going to be amazing! I really appreciate the shoutout (which I was surprised to see while reading this) and I'm glad to see that you're making this a Nike concept, that's something I'm interested in seeing. Fantastic start!

[raysox]

Yeah man! Certainly didn't want to show you up in any way, and there are bound to be a lot of similar sets. Just wanted to send  some traffic your way.

[Clintau24]

Can't wait to see the rest of these. These look great already, Michael!

[Saathoff]

 

Hey everyone! I'm Nate, part of the NeatO Gang and Creative Lead with Sporting Kansas City. Next up is the Kansas City Royals my local team and submission to this great concept series started by Michael. This set is a fauxback to the Royals 1985 jersey. The hat features one of my favorite and relatively unseen Mr. Royal logo. Left sleeve also features a "City of Fountains" circle patch.

 

 

 

[mhenderson95]

 

Hey gang, my name is Matthew, another key part of the NeatO Gang and a graphic designer in the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia. This is my first post on here but I've been a casual observer for a long time, and when Michael mentioned this project I definitely wanted to be on board. 

 

Starting with the A's, their colours are so beautiful and perfect for a colour rush campaign. They are the only team that can use true green as their colour, and the yellow accent is a perfect touch. Plus, I got the opportunity to use the incredibly rad elephant logo that they used as a spring training alternate for a few years.

 

 

 

[coco1997]

I'm liking the group effort, guys!

Royals - It's weird to see that obscure old logo on the cap, but I can dig it!

 

A's - The yellow sleeves and elephant patch are great touches. What's going on with the hosiery striping, though?

[raysox]

This one is actually a throwback. In the 70s, the Indians wore this logo set. The script and cap logo is probably the best they've had, and pairing them with their correct uniform. They had an all red uniform option from 1974-76, so other than being worn by a winning team, this wouldn't be too different.

[bucknut42]

I love love LOVE that Indians set. I've always liked the old font with the kind of random lettering. It looks really good. Also, where did you get your template?

[raysox]

http://addicted2chaos.deviantart.com/art/SVG-baseball-template-212006309

[FlyingLamprey]

This is great!  I especially love the work done with the Royals and Astros - the throwback look for KC feels appropriate (the patch really sells that!), and the tequila sunrise isn't super overbearing.  I can only think of one potential thing to change - with the Pirates, did you try a yellow cap?  I do love their regular cap, but I'm curious to see if a yellow cap would be better.  Kind of like this old Jacksonville Suns cap (https://lf.lids.com/hwl?set=sku[20292697],c[2],w[400],h[300]&call=url[file:product]).  It's totally great as is, though, so don't feel obligated to change it.  Regardless, I'm super excited to see what teams like the Dbacks and Mariners and Marlins will look like.  Keep up the great work, everyone!

[mhenderson95]

Next up for me is the Seattle Mariners. Being from Vancouver, Seattle has always been the local MLB team and though I am a devoted Jays fan, because Canada, I've always enjoyed the experience of seeing a game at Safeco, a truly beautiful ballpark. Some of my favourite sports memories have happened in that ballpark, so I definitely have a soft spot for them. They are moving into their 40th year, so I decided to go with their trademark teal and use "Seattle" on the front instead of "Mariners" like is typically on the teal uniform, to pay homage to the city. Another quirk is using the full Mariners logo on the cap, something they never do but, I've always wished they had. 

 

[coco1997]

Indians look great. I love the throwback look.

 

The Mariners are also solid, though I would go with white letters on the jersey instead of silver. 

[-kj]

This is some solid work.

 

That said, you're all horrible people and I hope nothing like this ever finds the light of day. 

[KCDesign]

As a fellow Kansas Citian, I think you absolutely nailed that Royals set @Saathoff. I'd buy that hat & uni combo in a heartbeat! Great job!