MLB Redesigns Series

[coco1997]

Having recently visited Music City and attended a Sounds game myself, I fully agree that the Sounds have one of the best, most MLB-worthy identities in the minors, and I really like what you've done with them here. I'm not sure I would have gone with that color scheme (I think this scheme fits them better personally) but I do like the new details you introduced, like the guitar pick logo near the pants pocket and the musical staff on the alternate cap. A Northwestern-style uniform where the staff extends across the front of the jersey is something I'd like to see. 

[MJD7]

1 hour ago, coco1997 said:

Having recently visited Music City and attended a Sounds game myself, I fully agree that the Sounds have one of the best, most MLB-worthy identities in the minors, and I really like what you've done with them here. I'm not sure I would have gone with that color scheme (I think this scheme fits them better personally) but I do like the new details you introduced, like the guitar pick logo near the pants pocket and the musical staff on the alternate cap. A Northwestern-style uniform where the staff extends across the front of the jersey is something I'd like to see. 

Here's a Northwestern style jersey:

[WavePunter]

3 hours ago, MJD7 said:

Thanks! I removed the "expos" in the original post.

 

Moving on now to today's expansion team, the Nashville Sounds!

 

Logos

-As easily one of the best identities in the Minor Leagues, this team occupies the AL East with a refurbished color scheme that in my opinion better suits the area and the name.

-That color scheme is not so subtly taken from another popular team in the state, and I knew I wanted to incorporate orange and light blue somewhere, since it's a scheme that I think needs to be used more.

-I'd like to somehow be able to remove the black if possible, but for now it's the only plausible accent color dark enough to work with the set.

 

Uniforms

-The set takes the five-stripe motif seen on a musical sheet and runs with it. The home alternate also has this striping on the front panel of the cap, a unique design element. 

-The numbers take on the same double-shadow format seen on the wordmarks.

-I chose a anthracite away because of this uniform, which I admit I think looks pretty sweet.

-The pants feature a small version of the 'N' logo, I just thought it fit pretty well.

-I thought doing a Northwestern-style uniform where the stripes wrap around would be a cool idea, with the 'N' logo on the front, let me know if I should try that out.

 

That's what I've got for Nashville, let me know what you guys think!

A dark "pickguard-brown" (the dark teardrop shaped part on an acoustic guitar) could be a decent alternative to black..

[MJD7]

52 minutes ago, WavePunter said:

A dark "pickguard-brown" (the dark teardrop shaped part on an acoustic guitar) could be a decent alternative to black..

That's a really good idea, so here are a couple different options: The first including the cream and brown colors of a guitar, the second using a double smokey gray.

 

Which do you all think is better? I really like them both, the only reason I hesitate to include brown is because of its similarity to the in-division Orioles.

[coco1997]

Definitely go with the first option. Nice suggestion, @WavePunter. 

[BenD]

Awesome job on the sounds I really love the vols orange identity. However I think you could use the light blue more prominently and use the music City alt as the away but with the Nashville script.

[scottyeagle]

When the Sounds rolled out their most recent rebrand, they originally used orange as their primary color.  That move proved so unpopular that the team decided to change to their traditional red and black before even playing a game.  So while I agree that the orange/sky blue combo is underused in sports, I don't think this is the best place for it. 

[MJD7]

21 hours ago, coco1997 said:

Definitely go with the first option. Nice suggestion, @WavePunter. 

The more I look at it, the more I'm liking the second option... I don't know, the first one feels a little too discombobulated. I'd really like to hear what others prefer, though.

20 hours ago, BenD said:

Awesome job on the sounds I really love the vols orange identity. However I think you could use the light blue more prominently and use the music City alt as the away but with the Nashville script.

As this series has gone on, I've realized that I really like to use a lot of light blue throughout... So I don't wanna use too much, but I could maybe add a light blue cap for a home alternate or something.

18 hours ago, scottyeagle said:

When the Sounds rolled out their most recent rebrand, they originally used orange as their primary color.  That move proved so unpopular that the team decided to change to their traditional red and black before even playing a game.  So while I agree that the orange/sky blue combo is underused in sports, I don't think this is the best place for it. 

Huh, I did not know that. Was the uproar because it was too close to Tennessee, or just that it was a switch from red and black?

 

What do you all prefer, grays or browns as the accents? Let me know.

[WavePunter]

What if you switch orange to red, but keep the brown, cream, and blue?

[MJD7]

1 hour ago, WavePunter said:

What if you switch orange to red, but keep the brown, cream, and blue?

Three out of those four colors are shared with Cleveland, so I'd probably like to avoid that. Orange is also pretty underused by itself (with or without light blue) so I'd probably like to keep that.

 

For now, I'm just gonna go with double gray for the update. I kept the striped alternate, because it keeps the set unique.

 

Yet another expansion team coming tomorrow!

[coco1997]

I wonder what @SFGiants58's thoughts are on your Nashville concept. He always offere solid feedback.

[WavePunter]

13 minutes ago, MJD7 said:

Three out of those four colors are shared with Cleveland, so I'd probably like to avoid that. Orange is also pretty underused by itself (with or without light blue) so I'd probably like to keep that.

 

For now, I'm just gonna go with double gray for the update. I kept the striped alternate, because it keeps the set unique.

 

Yet another expansion team coming tomorrow!

I have to say I kind of disagree with your assessment.. The cream used by Cleveland is the vintage white uniform look, but only shows up as their uniform base and could easily be replaced with white as the franchise evolves.. With Nashville, it's a deep, golden, wood-colored cream, used in addition to White within the identity.. While I'm indifferent towards the decision to go another route, I do disagree with the reasoning.. Especially with the option to adjust color shades 

[MJD7]

16 hours ago, WavePunter said:

I have to say I kind of disagree with your assessment.. The cream used by Cleveland is the vintage white uniform look, but only shows up as their uniform base and could easily be replaced with white as the franchise evolves.. With Nashville, it's a deep, golden, wood-colored cream, used in addition to White within the identity.. While I'm indifferent towards the decision to go another route, I do disagree with the reasoning.. Especially with the option to adjust color shades 

That's fair, but the mockup of Nashville also has the same shade of vintage white for the home, the road was the darker, golden shade you mentioned. Also, it's pretty difficult to adjust color shades of red and brown to look much different than they do. The main point is, I'd prefer to allow the schemes to look as different as possible, so I'd like to stick with the orange, light blue, and gray, personally.

 

Today's expansion team is up to the plate, and it's the New Orleans Zephyrs!

 

Logos

-Some New Orleans team had to do it, and it might as well be baseball to embrace this colorful scheme. Purple and teal, based off of the main colors of Mardi Gras, are the primaries, with gold as a close secondary.

-Although the idea of the New Orleans Baby Cakes identity is pretty absurd, there are many salvageable elements that could go into creating a fantastic brand. I took the secondary crest logo and gave it primary status, as it best fits the reversion to the previous Zephyrs moniker. I like mostly that the Baby Cakes have a more subdued version of the obvious color scheme, which allows for its use without being too over-the-top. 

-I adjusted the former Zephyrs wordmark to fit in better within the confines of the new New Orleans-themed typeface.

-I took the "NO" from the "NOLA" wordmark to form the cap logos and the road logo, complete with the zephyr in the middle of the O. The Zephyr also tops the other wordmarks to complete the look.

-I love the New Orleans wordmark on the Baby Cakes away, but since there isn't any sort of vector version of it I can't really incorporate it.

 

Uniforms

-This team occupies the NL Central, as I thought their colors were pretty diverse from the rest of that division.

-The stripes on the sleeves, pants, and socks are modeled after Mardi Gras beaded necklaces, like in this logo.

-The home uniform is an off-white to add to the vintage feel.

-The number font is designed to match the wordmarks.

-The second alternate is primarily teal and gold, which I chose as it reminded me of a look I wish the Jaguars would use.

 

Side note, just as a heads up there has been a color change of one team each in the NL Central & East, but nothing more.

 

Let me know what you guys think!

[willmoen]

New Orleans looks absolutely amazing. I have always wanted a team in New Orleans to use this Mardi Gras inspired color scheme and you have perfected it. I didn't get a chance to comment on Nashville and they look fantastic as well. Can't wait for the next team.

[BenD]

New orleans looks great, I love the yellow road set and the color balance. My only suggestion is to maybe change the teal to green

[coco1997]

Nice job on the Zephyrs! I'm glad you chose this identity, as it has a really cool, old-school sounding name. The bead pattern on the sock stripes are a nice touch. All in all I think this is your best expansion concept yet.

 

No real suggestions, as the colors and wordmarks fit the team name and location perfectly. 

[WavePunter]

5 hours ago, MJD7 said:

That's fair, but the mockup of Nashville also has the same shade of vintage white for the home, the road was the darker, golden shade you mentioned. Also, it's pretty difficult to adjust color shades of red and brown to look much different than they do. The main point is, I'd prefer to allow the schemes to look as different as possible, so I'd like to stick with the orange, light blue, and gray, personally.

I'd argue that the vintage white for Nashville is unnecessary, especially considering you have a version of the logo with a true white N and another version with a true white background, so I'd avoid the vintage white for them, and just use the darker cream, as it gives much more of a Nashville feel imo, but that's just me.. The gray set looks good as well, just not a color scheme that correlates to either the Nashville area or the Sounds nickname imo..

 

Zephyrs look great.

[MJD7]

4 hours ago, willmoen said:

New Orleans looks absolutely amazing. I have always wanted a team in New Orleans to use this Mardi Gras inspired color scheme and you have perfected it. I didn't get a chance to comment on Nashville and they look fantastic as well. Can't wait for the next team.

 

4 hours ago, BenD said:

New orleans looks great, I love the yellow road set and the color balance. My only suggestion is to maybe change the teal to green

 

4 hours ago, coco1997 said:

Nice job on the Zephyrs! I'm glad you chose this identity, as it has a really cool, old-school sounding name. The bead pattern on the sock stripes are a nice touch. All in all I think this is your best expansion concept yet.

 

No real suggestions, as the colors and wordmarks fit the team name and location perfectly. 

Thank you all! I tried green originally in the concept, but I didn't think it looked as good because it was closer to the yellow than teal.

1 hour ago, WavePunter said:

I'd argue that the vintage white for Nashville is unnecessary, especially considering you have a version of the logo with a true white N and another version with a true white background, so I'd avoid the vintage white for them, and just use the darker cream, as it gives much more of a Nashville feel imo, but that's just me.. The gray set looks good as well, just not a color scheme that correlates to either the Nashville area or the Sounds nickname imo..

 

Zephyrs look great.

I'd love to get some more comments to see what others prefer, but for now I'm just gonna stick with the gray.

[SFGiants58]

20 hours ago, coco1997 said:

I wonder what @SFGiants58's thoughts are on your Nashville concept. He always offere solid feedback.

 

Well, your summons worked!

 

Nashville: I kind of agree with @scottyeagle that black/red is probably a good way to go. You haven't used it for any of your other concepts, so it fits with your "all unique color schemes" objective. However, you should put your own spin on it with one of the brown or orange colors as accents/shading. The grey doesn't go well with the orange/powder. Might I recommend re-purposing orange/powder for another team?

 

The logos really could use a little simplification. This is less a problem I have with your concept, and more a problem with the original design. Maybe dumping some of the additional outlines/drop shadows would be a good idea. It would also alleviate the problem I have with concept artists just reusing minor league team logos for expansion teams. 

 

I'd get rid of the "Music City" wordmark, but that's just personal preference. I like the music notation pattern (especially on the orange alternate), and the font choice. I don't want to sound too negative, but this one was kind of a miss for me.

 

New Orleans: I really like what you've done here! The teal (which "jives" more with purple than green) and pale gold look fantastic with purple, and I'm a sucker for patterned trim (no joke, I would want a pair of those teal socks). The font choices/modifications are solid, and I do like that you incorporated the good bits of the Baby Cakes identity. My one complaint is that the bill on the green alternate's cap should be purple, for consistency's sake (the cap bill matching the fleur-de-lis' color). Good work!

[MJD7]

4 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

Well, your summons worked!

 

Nashville: I kind of agree with @scottyeagle that black/red is probably a good way to go. You haven't used it for any of your other concepts, so it fits with your "all unique color schemes" objective. However, you should put your own spin on it with one of the brown or orange colors as accents/shading. The grey doesn't go well with the orange/powder. Might I recommend re-purposing orange/powder for another team?

 

The logos really could use a little simplification. This is less a problem I have with your concept, and more a problem with the original design. Maybe dumping some of the additional outlines/drop shadows would be a good idea. It would also alleviate the problem I have with concept artists just reusing minor league team logos for expansion teams. 

 

I'd get rid of the "Music City" wordmark, but that's just personal preference. I like the music notation pattern (especially on the orange alternate), and the font choice. I don't want to sound too negative, but this one was kind of a miss for me.

 

New Orleans: I really like what you've done here! The teal (which "jives" more with purple than green) and pale gold look fantastic with purple, and I'm a sucker for patterned trim (no joke, I would want a pair of those teal socks). The font choices/modifications are solid, and I do like that you incorporated the good bits of the Baby Cakes identity. My one complaint is that the bill on the green alternate's cap should be purple, for consistency's sake (the cap bill matching the fleur-de-lis' color). Good work!

Trust me, your comments are totally understandable, I can see that Nashville didn't go over quite as well as expected. Don't ever be afraid to be too negative though, I could really use the advice to help improve the set.

 

To me, black and red seems slightly plain for Nashville, especially when I have the sort of "clean slate" for an expansion team to choose any scheme (I also kind of used black & red already for Vegas, albeit along with a few other colors, haha). I probably will add brown & tan/orange as accents regardless of what I do, since that seems like a popular idea. 

 

What about like maybe purple & red? That's a scheme I wanted to use somewhere that might work. I would like to use orange and powder somewhere else, though. What do you all think I should use as Nashville's scheme? Any ideas would be appreciated.