BigRed618 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Chief Wahoo retires after this season, but some advocates say that won't be enough. Some are calling for the Indians to change their name completely. If it does come to that, I'd say the Cleveland team should consider reviving one of their older nicknames, such as Napoleons (aka the Naps) or Spiders. Not long ago, I've seen someone's attempt at bringing back the Naps identity, which inspired me to try it myself. The primary features the name Naps on a baseball wearing a feathered cap. A partial logo features that same ball without the wordmark. I so wanted to put a face on that ball, but I was afraid it would be too similar to the Reds' emblem, which also features an anthropomorphic baseball. The cap logo, along with the stars, is meant to evoke Ohio's flag, its red disk with white outline representing the letter O as well as a buckeye seed. Then I added a blue alternate with a red cap to go with it, and a fauxback uni resembling what the team used to wear the last time they were the Naps. I say fauxback because it isn't quite historically accurate. It is based on their home uniform from 1909, which had a block C on the cap instead of the cursive C to match the one on the jersey. That's about it. Let me know what you think. EDIT: I decided to make this a mini-series for rebrand ideas for the Indians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FightingGoldenDevil Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 It looks retro. It's fun and a good look but what would a grey jersey and pants look like. Also how would no shoulder stripes or stars on the caps look? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayJ12 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 This is a very nice and unique look. I like the Napoleons name a lot, and I kind of wish that Cleveland would had kept that name. I’m really digging the color pallete and the design of the uniforms. Reminds me of those Expos and Phillies uniforms. All around, a great concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilChameleon Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Love it. And I can't wait for the day when we change our name, because I am excited to see what the powers that be come up with. Sadly, I don't think it will ever happen. Cleveland sports for life!"Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind." -The Doctor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFGiants58 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Of all of the potential names, "Napoleons" is the one that I'd least want the team to adopt. It just conjures up the term "Napoleon Complex" (a historically-inaccurate term), something that no team would want in their identity. There's also the issue of disconnecting it from Nap Lajoie and connecting it to a fairly tyrannical European monarch, but that's just me. Also, "Naps" sounds too much like "insert WWII-era slur for the Japanese here" for it to ever be considered. Now that I've gotten my gripes out of the way with the name, I like the ideas behind what you've designed. The scripts and the hat ball are pretty good, but the "C" insignia is far too similar to the Cubs' cap logo (especially since you swapped navy for royal). The whole set feels far too 1970s/80s for my tastes, what with the thick stripes on the sleeves and shoulders. It would need some significant revision. MLB: Project 32 (Complete), MLB: The Defunct Saga (Complete) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest darkpiranha Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 Napoleons is a great name for a team! Sure, Cleveland (or any major league sized town) would never adopt it, but it's a fun name and inspires an endless amount of ideas and branding/merchandising possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco1997 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 This is really cool! I'm always a big fan of your baseball concepts and this is no exception. Sure, it's very retro looking, but I'm not entirely sure that's a bad thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRed618 Posted April 13, 2018 Author Share Posted April 13, 2018 UPDATE I revisited this concept recently and made a few changes. First of all, I dulled the powder blue on their road uniforms so its more greyish. Then I used a new cap logo, based on the cursive C from 100+ years ago. I also updated the hat/ball logos accordingly. Basically wherever the old buckeye C was, the new one is there. Although the hat design no longer references the Ohio flag, I decided to leave the stars on the hat for some reason. I think that's all I'll do for this one. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco1997 Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 I think this is an improvement. It has a more modern feel and the cap logo can no longer be compared to the Cubs'. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRed618 Posted April 21, 2018 Author Share Posted April 21, 2018 CLEVELAND BARONS What's that? You don't want your team to be named after a tyrannical French monarch? How about a famous German pilot instead? The Barons have an alternate inspired by Richthofen's famous Fokker Dreidecker plane. Feedback welcome. I'll try a Blues concept next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco1997 Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 Very cool! I love that this is turning into a Cleveland rebrand series. One commment I have is to lose the drop shadows on the home and road jerseys. I think it'd look a lot cleaner without them. I'd love to see your take on the Spiders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolingian Steamroller Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 One detail for the Napoleons: feathers were often attached to hats in the French Army post 1789 around the cockade (which is a type of badge). So one idea might be to put the "C" inside a circle/cockade at a corner with the feather sticking up from that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRed618 Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 CLEVELAND BLUES This one's a bit more simple. The name references their colors and blues music, an ancestor to rock 'n' roll, hence the Flying V underneath the wordmark. C&C appreciated. Gonna try a Spiders one next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco1997 Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 The Blues look good. I like the general concept of a music-themed identity. I do have a few suggestions: - I'd use a graphic of a guitar more synonymous with actual blues music, such as a Gibson Les Paul. - It would be a huge improvement if you could find a real old-timey script style font for the wordmark. Looking forward to the Spiders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRed618 Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 On 4/24/2018 at 3:27 PM, coco1997 said: The Blues look good. I like the general concept of a music-themed identity. I do have a few suggestions: - I'd use a graphic of a guitar more synonymous with actual blues music, such as a Gibson Les Paul. - It would be a huge improvement if you could find a real old-timey script style font for the wordmark. Looking forward to the Spiders! I think I get what you're saying. I'll try the Blues one again when I get a chance. CLEVELAND SPIDERS Here's one for the "Winning Ugly" book. I wanted something fun, funky, and memorable for the Spiders. The font used for the home/road wordmark is called Freestyle, accompanied with a simple spider-ball logo I came up with myself. That's all the alternate names I can think of. I'm open for further suggestions, if you have any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panthers_2012 Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 1 hour ago, BigRed618 said: I think I get what you're saying. I'll try the Blues one again when I get a chance. CLEVELAND SPIDERS Here's one for the "Winning Ugly" book. I wanted something fun, funky, and memorable for the Spiders. The font used for the home/road wordmark is called Freestyle, accompanied with a simple spider-ball logo I came up with myself. That's all the alternate names I can think of. I'm open for further suggestions, if you have any. Not a big fan of the numbers on the pants. Maybe try putting them below the wordmark on the jersey? Other than that, very clean concept! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco1997 Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 The Spiders are awesome! Definitely the most playful team in the series. The baseball comprising the body of the spider is super clever! Any chance we could see the design with black or brown replacing the blue? As for another identity idea, how about the Cleveland Guardians? https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/35444 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRed618 Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 On 5/1/2018 at 12:25 PM, coco1997 said: The Spiders are awesome! Definitely the most playful team in the series. The baseball comprising the body of the spider is super clever! Any chance we could see the design with black or brown replacing the blue? As for another identity idea, how about the Cleveland Guardians? https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/35444 CLEVELAND GUARDIANS The primary is meant to resemble a classic car badge. The font used for the wordmark is the same one used by Studebaker. The wings on the primary and cap logos, and the spire on the sleeve patch, are all inspired by the Guardians of Traffic sculptures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco1997 Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 I love it! Great use of the wing imagery and a really nice color scheme. Thanks for taking my suggestion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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