To Split A Script...starring the Toronto Blue Jays

[Discrim]

When you have something you wanna improve on, you have something you wanna improve on.  In this case, the split scripts I'd used for a Blue Jays set in the Rivalry Series.  I've thought about making a contemporary uniform with those scripts for a while, and now is as good a time as any.

The two scripts are based on older uniforms worn by the Jays' predecessors, the baseball Maple Leafs, with the addition of the Blue Jays' trademark split.  The jay head is on the sleeve of the whites instead of the front because frankly, with this script, the front would just be too cluttered that way.  For the hell of it, I included an alternate T cap.

 

The alt blue is, like its RL counterpart, a negative of the homes, though I almost went with a royal-to-navy faux gradient and navy pants.  The road alt recolors the grays into powder blue, with a powder-front cap to go with it.

 

And since this one wouldn't leave me alone, fauxback pullovers, 80s style with the current scripts.

 

Posting is a virtue.

[Midway]

Always good to see your work here. I've always liked that your presentation has always been simple which lets the concepts shine. 

[-kj]

Interesting idea, but I'm not really feeling that J.

[Discrim]

1 hour ago, Midway said:

Always good to see your work here. I've always liked that your presentation has always been simple which lets the concepts shine. 

It wasn't always that way, but I'm glad I went in that direction.

 

29 minutes ago, Mockba said:

Interesting idea, but I'm not really feeling that J.

Meh, can't win em all over.  FWIW, my earlier stab at this produced a J that looked like a curved I, so there's that.

 

For reference, the baseball Leafs unis that inspired each script, which @coco1997 brought to my attention the first time around (yes, there was a baseball version of the Leafs...they even had the name first).  I seriously considered somehow incorporating that mustache guy.

[Lights Out]

This is a cool idea, but I think you need to pick one layout for the scripts (either angled or straight across with the logo on the front) and stick with it. I would also suggest using the full team name on the home jerseys instead of shortening it to "Jays."

[coco1997]

Always a treat to see some new MLB concepts of yours, @Discrimihater. A few comments & suggestions:

 

- I agree with @Lights Out that the "Toronto" script should be angled for consistency with the home wordmark.

- I'd lighten up the shade of gray on the road set so the blue pops better. 

- Although I'm not usually a fan of shortened team names on uniforms, I do really like how bold the word "Jays" looks on the home jersey, especially with that big, swooping "J."

- The fauxbacks are outstanding. 

[SFGiants58]

I really like what you've done here! The fauxbacks look good, and I really like the sleeve stripe design. While I do agree with @Lights Out's criticism's, it's still a good set.

[Shane Does Art]

Love this. Perfect balance between their colours, you've really nailed a timeless piece here. Great job.

[Big Yellow Flag]

I would agree that either they should both be slanted (and the home script wouldn't look good straight) or straight, except that slanted Jays and straight Tronno Toronto follows the source material... I'm very conflicted here. 

 

I really like this set, though. Clean presentation, good looking concept, well thought out and faithful to the history. Kudos. Do more of this.

[Discrim]

18 hours ago, Lights Out said:

This is a cool idea, but I think you need to pick one layout for the scripts (either angled or straight across with the logo on the front) and stick with it. I would also suggest using the full team name on the home jerseys instead of shortening it to "Jays."

I see your point, given that one team using different layouts for cursive scripts is uncommon.  Taking away the teams whose home whites use a chest emblem (Cubs, White Sox, Tigers, Yankees, Nats, Reds), here's where scripts differ currently, off the top of my head (home and away uniforms only):

RL Blue Jays: slight (Toronto script has navy outline that's absent on the home Blue Jays script)

Twins: shared underscore, but Twins script is lettering and includes gold, Minnesota script is cursive and lacks gold.

Indians: differing styles (home Indians script is cursive, road Cleveland script is sans serif block lettering)

Mets: differing styles (home Mets script is cursive, road New York script is Tuscan lettering)

Pirates: slight (the P is larger than the rest of the letters on the home Pirates script; all the letters of the road Pittsburgh script are the same size proportionally)

Giants: both script styles consist of lettering, though the home Giants script is more stylized than the sans serif block that makes up the road San Francisco lettering.

Padres: the closest thing currently existing IRL to what I did here (which doesn't really help my case): the home whites use arched Padres lettering, with the P and S being proportionally larger, while for the grays, they brought back the khaki-era fisheye script for no apparent reason.

I can make a case for standing pat, but there's also a good case for making things consistent.

16 hours ago, coco1997 said:

Always a treat to see some new MLB concepts of yours, @Discrimihater. A few comments & suggestions:

 

- I agree with @Lights Out that the "Toronto" script should be angled for consistency with the home wordmark.

- I'd lighten up the shade of gray on the road set so the blue pops better. 

- Although I'm not usually a fan of shortened team names on uniforms, I do really like how bold the word "Jays" looks on the home jersey, especially with that big, swooping "J."

- The fauxbacks are outstanding. 

Already answered @Lights Out. so I'll address the other three critiques.

-well, I'm officially never using this shade of gray again...when I needed it to be seen as cadet gray, people kept mistaking it for powder blue (a color I highly doubt would ever make it onto a West Point uniform), and when I decided to use it to go for a subtle bluish gray, it's just a hair too dark.

-thanks, in hindsight I'm reminded of the ginormous script the old Orlando Cubs used.  FWIW, a straight variant of the home script would very likely read Blue Jays instead of just Jays, though the J would be much different looking than the one I used here.

-thanks

12 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

I really like what you've done here! The fauxbacks look good, and I really like the sleeve stripe design. While I do agree with @Lights Out's criticism's, it's still a good set.

Thak ya

12 hours ago, Shane Does Art said:

Love this. Perfect balance between their colours, you've really nailed a timeless piece here. Great job.

Thanks man.

11 hours ago, Big Yellow Flag said:

I would agree that either they should both be slanted (and the home script wouldn't look good straight) or straight, except that slanted Jays and straight Tronno Toronto follows the source material... I'm very conflicted here. 

 

I really like this set, though. Clean presentation, good looking concept, well thought out and faithful to the history. Kudos. Do more of this.

...and you've made my case for the direction I went in better than I could've.

[Discrim]

I present modified home and away sets from the STL FANATIC school of consistency...first, slanted scripts with the jay head on the sleeve and a lighter gray.  Changed the T in the Toronto script so it wouldn't be mistaken for reading Joronto...problem is, it made for a crappy cap logo, so the T cap was dropped.

 

Then, straight scripts with the jay head on the front, and the word Blue added to the home script.  Not gonna lie, I'm not entirely happy with the home script.

 

So, which do you prefer?  Differing scripts, straight or slanted?

[coco1997]

Definitely prefer the first option, but a case can be made for both. The lighter gray is a big improvement.

[Carolingian Steamroller]

I think I like the second option a little better but both look outstanding.