Tradition Evolved: Tennessee Titans Unveil New Uniforms

[Gothamite]

29 minutes ago, joepro said:

Why are so many people on this forum so against anything that is not a boring block number font? Sports are supposed to be fun. Might as well have some fun with the uniforms.

 

“Fun”?

 

 

No, wait.   I mean  .

 

How is overdesigned for its own sake “fun”?   How is planned obsolescence to drive merchandising “fun”?

 

I understand liking something.  Or not liking another thing.  But to claim that one’s preferences are more “fun” than somebody else’s is a little goofy.

[hugevolsfan]

Apparently what we consider good taste or design is not fun... I always think you can have both... that font would not be both...

[GFB]

1 hour ago, joepro said:

Why are so many people on this forum so against anything that is not a boring block number font? Sports are supposed to be fun. Might as well have some fun with the uniforms.

 

It’s really hard to butcher a block font. It’s a solid and safe option, especially if the look you are trying to go for is more conservative. It also ensures that the numbers are immediately identifiable for fans, coaches, refs.

 

Custom fonts can be better than block fonts or add unique character to the uniform. However, there’s also the potential for being unreadable, confusing, or poorly designed.

 

So ultimately it depends on which custom font you’re talking about... I think the majority of people here are cool with fonts like the Texans, Falcons, Bears, Seahawks, Vikings, etc... but if you’re going to argue that the Bucs, Titans, or Browns numbers are better than block numbers ONLY because they are unique, then that’s not a wise position to take.

 

[CrookedThumb]

I just recently discovered this video/meme, but it sums up how I felt when seeing the new uniforms for the first time...

 

 

This is especially true considering how good the pre-leak/unveiling mock-ups looked.

[henburg]

2 hours ago, DG_Now said:

Don't mind the colors, but I think I found an acceptable font for the new Titans uniforms. And about every team in the league:

 

This isn't a serious opinion right? 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

2 hours ago, DeFrank said:

 

Ah yes, "acceptable" the pinnacle of design

 

I'm just a guy who likes to be able to read the numbers on the players. Call me old fashioned.

[shaydre1019]

1 hour ago, DG_Now said:

 

I'm just a guy who likes to be able to read the numbers on the players. Call me old fashioned.

 

There are better block fonts you could've used for your argument. 

[Morgan33]

2 hours ago, Gothamite said:

How is overdesigned for its own sake “fun”?   How is planned obsolescence to drive merchandising “fun”?

 

How does any deviation from a bloc-font automatically get classified as over-designed or worse, planned obsolescence?  Good font choices can be readable, creative and timeless all at once.

[Gothamite]

They can.  

 

But this example certainly isn’t. 

[Morgan33]

15 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

They can.  

 

But this example certainly isn’t. 

 

Definitely not arguing that .  The font might be the worst part of this travesty.

[BBTV]

1 hour ago, Morgo said:

 

How does any deviation from a bloc-font automatically get classified as over-designed or worse, planned obsolescence?  

 

Can't answer, because it's not true.

[BBTV]

5 hours ago, joepro said:

Sports are supposed to be fun. Might as well have some fun with the uniforms.

 

Absolutely agree.  Unfortunately looking at things that are so ugly and poorly designed that they hurt my eyes isn't what I'd call having fun.

 

You can have fun and still adhere to solid design principles.  This isn't how to do it.  

 

also, I'm typically not a blockhead, but if block font and what we got are the only two options, then sign me up for some block.

[IceCap]

6 hours ago, DeFrank said:

 

Ah yes, "acceptable" the pinnacle of design

I’ll take “acceptable” over “unreadable” or “jagged cluster  ” any day of the week. 

[DeFrank]

4 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

I’ll take “acceptable” over “unreadable” or “jagged cluster  ” any day of the week. 

Agreed! I would too.

 

But "acceptable" doesn't trump "about every other" non-traditional number font in the NFL

[Bathysphere]

Here’s a hot one: we will never see another team introduce a new uniform utilizing a standard block font ever again. If you think about it, such has only happened about five times during this millennium (Bills, 49ers, Lions, Seahawks, and... Bills...). The people love kooky fonts these days, so that’s what teams are gonna give them. I don’t like it, but the good old regular block font of old is dead.

[IceCap]

16 minutes ago, DeFrank said:

Agreed! I would too.

 

But "acceptable" doesn't trump "about every other" non-traditional number font in the NFL

Well this is a thread about the Titans' uniforms. And the Titans' custom font sucks hard. Plain old block trumps it in every regard.

 

As far as "every other custom font" in the league? I wouldn't go that far. That being said? The custom fonts since the turn of the Millennium haven't wowed me. We have the Chargers' font, which looks like the designers were just trying too hard. The Browns' numbers, rise shadows and all, look ridiculous. The Bucs? Ahahahahahaha! The Jags? See the Chargers. The Vikings' font is too clever by a half, and may very well look dated in a few years.

Then you have stuff like the Vikings' old Reebok font or the Cardinals' font that might as well just be block.

The only post-2000 fonts I think I like are the Seawhawks', Falcons', and Texans' fonts. Everything else is just way too clever for its own good.

 

I'm no fan of the excesses of 90s sports fashion, but I'll give the decade this. It produced some excellent custom fonts in the NFL. Yeah, you're always going to have people who just don't like the Eagles, Ravens, Steelers, Broncos, or Jags' custom fonts from the 1990s, but at least they were/are legible. I hated the Eagles' font for aesthetic reasons for the longest time. Now though? It's risen to the top of the NFL's collection of custom fonts. Aesthetics aside? It's just competently designed. Which is more than you can say about the vast majority of fonts Reebok or Nike have put out since the early 2000s.

 

[DeFrank]

1 hour ago, Ice_Cap said:

Well this is a thread about the Titans' uniforms. And the Titans' custom font sucks hard. Plain old block trumps it in every regard.

 

 

It's a threat about the Titans' uniforms, but I used quotes because I was directly quoting someone who was talking about "about every other" team with custom number fonts.

 

 

1 hour ago, Ice_Cap said:

As far as "every other custom font" in the league? I wouldn't go that far. That being said? The custom fonts since the turn of the Millennium haven't wowed me. We have the Chargers' font, which looks like the designers were just trying too hard. The Browns' numbers, rise shadows and all, look ridiculous. The Bucs? Ahahahahahaha! The Jags? See the Chargers. The Vikings' font is too clever by a half, and may very well look dated in a few years.

Then you have stuff like the Vikings' old Reebok font or the Cardinals' font that might as well just be block.

The only post-2000 fonts I think I like are the Seawhawks', Falcons', and Texans' fonts. Everything else is just way too clever for its own good.

 

I'm no fan of the excesses of 90s sports fashion, but I'll give the decade this. It produced some excellent custom fonts in the NFL. Yeah, you're always going to have people who just don't like the Eagles, Ravens, Steelers, Broncos, or Jags' custom fonts from the 1990s, but at least they were/are legible. I hated the Eagles' font for aesthetic reasons for the longest time. Now though? It's risen to the top of the NFL's collection of custom fonts. Aesthetics aside? It's just competently designed. Which is more than you can say about the vast majority of fonts Reebok or Nike have put out since the early 2000s.

 

 

I agree with basically all of this. My point: there are a ton of really good custom fonts in the NFL. 

 

Choosing a font should be about it looking good, not about it looking exactly the same as every other font.

[gosioux76]

1 hour ago, Gupti said:

Here’s a hot one: we will never see another team introduce a new uniform utilizing a standard block font ever again. If you think about it, such has only happened about five times during this millennium (Bills, 49ers, Lions, Seahawks, and... Bills...). The people love kooky fonts these days, so that’s what teams are gonna give them. I don’t like it, but the good old regular block font of old is dead.

Let's not overstate things here. "The people" likely don't give a damn about fonts.

 

These custom fonts are just another aspect of the overwrought Nike narratives behind these redesign. No element of the uniform can be spared in telling a brand story and these clubs fall hard for this nonsense. I can't wait until they toss out custom stitching or crotch zippers.  

[DeFrank]

2 hours ago, Gupti said:

Here’s a hot one: we will never see another team introduce a new uniform utilizing a standard block font ever again. If you think about it, such has only happened about five times during this millennium (Bills, 49ers, Lions, Seahawks, and... Bills...). The people love kooky fonts these days, so that’s what teams are gonna give them. I don’t like it, but the good old regular block font of old is dead.

 

Completely disagree. Falcons are primed for a “classic” revamp. Could totally see them going with a classic font. Cowboys too. Or the Saints! Or the Giants! Redskins!

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

1 hour ago, DeFrank said:

My point: there are a ton of really good custom fonts in the NFL. 

There is one good custom number font in the NFL: the Bears' font. Looking at all the top leagues, I can think of only the Cavs, the Cubs, the Blue Jays, and the baseball Giants. (If you want to include the Red Sox, the last wearers of a formerly widely-used standard font, fine.)

 

All other custom number fonts are awful, and are far inferior to standard block fonts.