[New_Member]

Soccer
Shield
Home
Clash
Goalkeeper
Goalkeeper 2
Goalkeeper 3

Rugby
Logo
Home
Additional Home Back Options
Clash

Basketball
Logo
Jerseys



This project reimagines the identities and uniforms for Barbadian sports teams. Why Barbados? Well, I think they have a pretty cool flag and remember seeing their soccer kits when they played the US a few years ago and being pretty unimpressed. Rather than merely create designs that look good, the idea behind the concepts is to make logos and jerseys that reflect the needs of a small, generally low performing, sporting nation. As such, the goals for the project are…

Economic Development. Barbados is a tourism dependent economy. Uniforms should help create a sporting or cultural identity that is easily recognizable and that can raise international awareness and perception of the country.

Patriotism. West Indians seem to take a lot of pride in their flag and national colors. The jerseys should be an extension of that and mimic the flag without literally trying make a uniform out of the flag. This can tie into the economic development angle as ex-pats wearing jerseys become walking marketers of sorts.

Building Sports Programs. As nation of only a few hundred thousand people, Barbados is unlikely to ever compete globally in athletics. However, building a good sports brand can help create enthusiasm among youth for their teams and help promote athletic participation. This would help improve national sports competitiveness within the Caribbean and have a public health aspect as well.

Low cost. Sports associations have limited budgets so the uniform program should reflect that reality.

To meet project goals, I came up with a few design themes…

Traditional design. This reflects that each sports team won’t have the resources to consistently update their uniforms. A complex or trendy design, or one that uses a major brand’s most recent design template would become dated when worn for more than a couple of years.

Unique designs. No Barbados uniform is likely to become recognizable due to on-field success. A unique, but still classic and low cost, design can help raise recognition anyway.

Consistent design throughout the sports teams. This helps build a sporting identity that will not likely be created organically if each sport has different colors or design themes. Barbados’s colors are gold, blue and black but currently its teams (and even different versions of the flag) have different shades. The colors of the uniforms should be standardized.

Differentiation among each sport. Even though there should be a common style that is recognizable as “Barbados”, each uniform should have enough uniqueness that a spectator can recognize the sport by its uniform. For example, Argentina soccer has vertical stripes while its rugby team has horizontal hoops.

Connection to culture and history.

Appropriate for climate. Even though black is a national color, it will be downplayed because most games will take place in hot weather.

I aim to design for soccer, rugby, basketball, field hockey, cricket and track and field.

First up will be the Barbados soccer team…

Barbados Soccer Shield Concept

Ver. 1

Barbados’ current shield is pretty weak in my opinion. I updated and simplified it with colors that better reflect the flag and using a modern shield shape that reflects the contours of the trident. Brazil's shield was an inspiration for this design.

C & C please!

Kits will be next…

[New_Member]

Soccer kits:

To create a triband-flag-like design, I went with blue raglan sleeves (which I think are underutilized in international sports) on a yellow shirt. There are a surprisingly large amount of yellow shirted teams in soccer: Brazil, Sweden, Ukraine, South Africa, Australia plus regional rivals like Guyana and Jamaica, just to name a few. So I thought the blue raglan sleeves would provide some distinctiveness.

I went with white for the clash kit to be cooler in hot weather, to honor the traditional whites of cricket (the nation's most popular sport), and as a hat tip to the England team (as Barbados still has close ties to England and as England brought soccer to Barbados). The number colors for the uniforms are black on yellow (to reflect the black trident over yellow on flag), blue on white (to reflect blue as the dominant flag color) and yellow on blue (again from the flag). The preference of use goes left to right, the weak link of this concept in my opinion is the yellow over white set. The number typeface is Arial because I wanted a simple, classic look and because it is the typeface currently used in the Barbados soccer crest. I took inspiration from Brazil, England and Aston Villa.

I'm not too sure about the rules of sponsors in international soccer but I think they are barred in all circumstances, even friendlies. I added a sponsor to some of the kits to represent how a replica for sale could look using a sponsor as an additional revenue stream. Lime is a cellular service provider in the Caribbean.


Barbados Soccer Kits Concept

Ver. 1

C and C appreciated (and on the shield concept above as well)

[GeauxColonels]

The shield is a HUGE upgrade over what they hadve right now. Very nicely done. Kits are simple but look good. As far as the sponsor, I know that Ireland has kits with a sponsor on them. So there is a precedent. I don't believe they can wear them in a match thoug.

[New_Member]

Thanks for the feedback GeauxColonels.

Here is the view of the backs. Switched the sock pairings to show possible clash kit combos but the home and alternate kits are still yellow/blue/yellow and white/white/blue. I imagine the uniforms would be worn without names on the back but I included them anyway. Not sure if I like how the numbers and names on back came out. I don't know if it's the typeface, sizing or spacing.


Back of Barbados Soccer Kits Concept

Ver. 1

Hoping for more C and C...

[New_Member]

Goalkeeper kits:

The two keeper kits follow the design of the on field uniforms. The blue, black, black combo uses the colors of the flag but still contrasts with both on field kits. The second kit is all maroon, an homage to the West Indies cricket team, of which Barbados is a member.

Because both keeper kits are dark, I made the on field alternate white kit (with black socks) the primary goalkeeper uniform, to be cooler. The yellow and blue socks could also be worn provided they don't clash with the on field socks.


Barbados Soccer Goalkeeper Concept

Front Ver. 1

Back Ver. 1

[New_Member]

UPDATE:

Tweaked the numbers and names on back. Reduced the number size, increased its height and spacing, and moved its placement higher up on the back. Adjusted the names by increasing letter height, spacing and arching. I think this looks a bit better...


Barbados Soccer Kit Concept

Back Ver. 2

GK Back Ver. 2

[Julius Seizure]

You have a pretty solid looking project going! The one thing I would change is dropping the name/number font.
Not sure if you've been here before, but DaFont has a lot of good ones for free. If you wanted to keep the basic, round look, Compacta is a good looking number (see Portland Trailblazers)

[GeauxColonels]

Julius Seizure, on January 30, 2012 - 01:07, said:

You have a pretty solid looking project going! The one thing I would change is dropping the name/number font.
Not sure if you've been here before, but DaFont has a lot of good ones for free. If you wanted to keep the basic, round look, Compacta is a good looking number (see Portland Trailblazers)

I agree with this. Changing the font is the only "must" on this concept. Other than that it's nicely executed.

[New_Member]

I agree with both comments about Arial not cutting it as a font.

I’d like to use the same type face for all teams, uniforms and logos in my project, meaning what works as a NOB for soccer must also work as the country name on the front of the basketball jerseys and as the writing on all logos. I wanted to pick a typeface that is simple and symmetrical, with minimum serifs and no italics. Ideally, it wouldn’t be too rounded and would have a bit of a block character to it. The idea was that the typeface would be classic and would work for all sports.

I took a hard look at Compacta and some others but settled on Myriad, a font that actually isn’t too different from Arial. Not sure if this is still too corporate for a uniform but do think it is better than Arial.


Subtle Changes

Updated Shield

Updated Kits

Is this good or should I go with something else?

[New_Member]

Bumping. Looking for some more feedback on the change from Arial to Myriad before moving forward to rugby. Thanks...

[New_Member]

Alright, here is the final update to the soccer concept...

Shield



Home and Clash Kits



Goalkeeper Kits








Rugby concept next...

[New_Member]

My Barbados rugby logo concept is inspired by the country's coat of arms, with a dolphin fish and pelican holding a rugby ball. For comparison, here is Barbados' current logo.

Many national rugby logos come from the national flower; however, I had a hard time making a good looking logo from the Pride of Barbados. Coats of arms are not unheard of in rugby; Australia has both its coat of arms and separate rugby logo on its shirt.

Barbados Rubgy Team Logo Concept

Ver. 1

[New_Member]

I altered and cleaned up the rugby logo a bit and have added a few wrinkles and colors which I'd appreciate feedback on.

1. Added brown to the pelican to add some variation and to more accurately depict the brown pelican species common in the Caribbean. The all white version could still be used with any of the variations but I prefer this new one.

2. Made two alternate color schemes for the dolphin fish... One based on the colors of the flag (with a generic bright green that represents the color of a rugby field) and a version of the fish that follows the true, psychedelic colors of a dolphin fish. I like this last one especially because, in addition to its increased accuracy, the bright colors are kind of "Caribbean" and it makes the logo pop more with unique, attention grabbing colors. One thing about changing the colors is that I'm not sure if it would be frowned upon to radically alter the colors of a national emblem if using it as a basis for a logo.

3. Made a second version of the rubgy ball with two Pride of Barbados flowers, which are the national flower and appear on the coat of arms.

4. Added either a banner or plain script underneath the whole logo. Also thinking of alternate text like "Barbados Rubgy", "Barbados Rubgy Union" or "Pride of Barbados".


Barbados Rugby Team Logo Concept

Ver. 2

Ver. 3

Ver. 4

[GeauxColonels]

Great work on the soccer concept. Looks fFantastic.

I really like your idea on the rugby crest. I think the 3rd one is my favorite. But I'm not sure the banner below works. Would there be a way to include the 2 flowers and "BRFU" on the ball and ditch the banner?

[New_Member]

Thanks GeauxColonels, I appreciate the comments and advice.

As GeauxColonels suggests I went with the original colors. I tried to incorporate the flowers more but ultimately decided the plain script is simpler and looks better for a national team logo. Two versions I made with the flower are linked at the end of this post. I'm not sure if I'm ready to consider the rugby logo finished but I am going with this one for now...


Barbados Rubgy Concept

Logo



Other Logo Versions

Flowers alone

Flowers and Text

[New_Member]

Rugby kit fronts...

To keep the overall look the same as the soccer concept but make it instantly recognizable as rugby, I stayed with the raglan sleeve and added a traditional rugby stripe. The alternates are all white and use a thinner stripe. For the primaries, I plan not to extend the blue stripes around to the back and instead just have them end at the side seam.

Barbados Rubgy Concept

Kit Fronts

[New_Member]

Final Rugby Update...

Logo
Logo Link

Home



Clash

[Perfect Zero]

The only thing I don't like about your Rugby kit is that the stripes on the primary don't go around the body. Otherwise, that's a clean set; I'm really liking this series.

[New_Member]

Here are some alternatives for the backs of the home rugby shirt. Please let me know which one works best or if there is a better way to do the number treatment. Poll added.


Barbados Rugby Concept

Home Kit Back Alternatives

[New_Member]

Bump. Please give me some feedback or vote in the poll. Thanks.