Lights Out's NFL: Revisited

[Lights Out]

This is the kind of modern, yet simple tweak I'd like the Browns' new owner to make. The sleeve stripes, which are currently obnoxiously huge, are pared down to a simple two-tone stripe, which keeps the essence of their classic striping pattern while not using too much real estate on the limited sleeve space that modern uniform cuts provide. This pattern is repeated on the helmet, pants, and socks.

The other big change: brown helmets. After all, the team IS named the Browns. I decided to have some fun with that idea by also adding in a similar faux-leather texture to what the Redskins are using on their fauxback helmets, to reflect the long history of football in Ohio. Thoughts?

[The Imperfect]

IDK it looks completely amateurish for a professional football team, while getting rid of their current stripping pattern for an even worse one. The numbers don't look good on the helmet and look like a college football team. And there's no way they would ever allow the change from the orange helmet to a brown helmet. The new logo you made is pretty weak, with a font used in the letter that doesn't really match anything else. It's almost like you thought the Browns don't really have an identity, and then decided to input this one that has even less direction and identity to it. Not trying to be harsh, this is just an honest opinion from a Browns fan, and I'm sure you'll get a similar reaction from others.

[ColeJ]

things i love:

brown being the main focus. they're not the oranges, after all.

the number font. looks championy and gorgeous. it just works.

the simple "double stripe" motif.

brown pants on the white jersey.

things i don't love:

helmet numbers.

the double stripe on the helmet, causing non-symmetry.

the mis-matched fonts from helmet number to jersey number.

the brown helmet... i know i said love the focus on brown, but the orange helmet IS the browns. nothing is more iconic of cleveland football than a blank orange helmet.

[Lights Out]

the mis-matched fonts from helmet number to jersey number.

I was trying to capture this look:

Since I decided to use faux-leather helmets, I figured it'd look even more old-school if I went with a curvier number font that looked hand-painted.

[ColeJ]

i understand where you were coming from. i just don't like how it looks. never have.

[andrewharrington]

the mis-matched fonts from helmet number to jersey number.

I was trying to capture this look:

Since I decided to use faux-leather helmets, I figured it'd look even more old-school if I went with a curvier number font that looked hand-painted.

That was a good choice, as long as the font looks right. I think the one you chose looks too much like a digital typeface, but that's probably just due to the limitations of the process you use to make your artwork.

Anyway, this is a great uniform. If the helmet was orange, it'd be better (they're not named for a color, so it's not necessary to go overboard on the brown). It's a bit repetitive with the stripes all being the same, but it might look better in action. I think the biggest improvement you could make is one-color numerals, which would look more crisp and make more sense since you don't have any outlines or thin orange linework anywhere else.

I'd like to see white pants, personally, but orange pants are nice as well. I was never a fan of those wordmarks. Their current one is among the best in the league.

[JGCleveland]

Yeah it's not awful, but the brown seems too Milk Chocolate as opposed to the deep dark brown that the browns currently use. And for the love of god don't make the helmet anything other than orange.

[Lights Out]

Since I'm kind of in an NFL mood now, I decided to make this a series. I did a few more teams. Note that I've been trying out some different templates, so bear with me. First up...

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

I made a San Diego wordmark to match the Chargers' current wordmark, and also made a custom font based off of it. The rest is pretty straightforward, although I'm not quite sold on the sleeve design.

[Lights Out]

NEW YORK GIANTS

Not much change for the defending champs. I updated the classic italic Giants wordmark to fit better with their NY monogram, removed as much white as possible from their look, chose one pants design, added grey trim to the home jersey, used a number font that matches better with their wordmark and helmet logo, and brought back the general design of the Kerry Collins-era road jersey.

[Lights Out]

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

I took their current uniform design and cleaned it up a bit, wrapping the horn design around the sleeves and using a simpler pants stripe. I picked a curvy font for the numbers that I felt worked well with the curves of the design. Additionally, the outdated, ugly Viking head logo is dropped from the Vikings' identity in favor of the helmet horn.

[generalshepherd141]

Nice work on the Chargers, Giants, and Vikings. The only thing I would change is make the Chargers' yellow pants an alternate.

As for the Browns...it is very creative. However, it definetly would not look good on the field.

Here's some suggestions:

*Keep the helmets at the current orange. Brown as a helmet does not work.

*Make the home pants brown. Under the cameras brown doesn't look bad on the pants.

*Darken the brown to a less crap-looking color.

*Make the away socks identical to the home ones.

*After these changes, make sure all the stripe, number, and belt colors are updated.

[Lights Out]

OAKLAND RAIDERS

Not too much change for the Raiders. Consistent trim, silver road numbers, and fonts that match their wordmark... that's about it.

[aawagner011]

Not feeling the Browns. I think it's one thing to make a set that doesn't go over well and have actual reason for doing what you did, but I don't feel that here. It's not bad, it just isn't the Browns. Claiming the new stripes try to capture the "essence" of the current stripes does not hold much water. They're completely different and don't imply that they're similar at all. Also, your basis for focusing on the brown because of their name doesn't work, either, since they were named for Paul Brown, not the color. I also think you need to darken up the brown; it's very "milk chocolate" like the other poster said.

San Diego is pretty cool, though I'm not sold on the color of the bolt on the yellow pants. Seems like a weak color combo. Might just be me, or personal preferences. I would also try to get some consistency in your bolts. You've got the helmet bolt repeated on the shoulders but a wavy bolt on the pants. I'd try to make the pants and jersey bolt the same style. I don't think it's as important if it's different than the helmet, so long as the jersey and pants one are the same (since the one on the helmet flows with the curvature). Pretty nice set.

Gmen look good, but I'd return the white to the numbers. I understand why you did it, but I think it'd look a little dirty. Also, now you've made your white socks pop out too much when there's no other white on the home set.

The Vikings look alright, seems like a lateral move from their current set. Same for the Raiders, though I would return the standard block numbers.

[Lights Out]

ST. LOUIS RAMS

The Rams currently have one of the most boring, dreary uniform sets in the entire league. Their unnecessarily-dark colors look horrible, especially in the cavernous dome they play in, and the striping is really stale and generic. Their current uniforms also come with the baggage of early playoff losses to the Saints (who had never won a playoff game before) and Vick's Falcons, a Super Bowl chokejob to the Patriots, Warner leaving, Bulger's career being wrecked by injuries, losing out on a playoff spot to the 7-9 Seahawks, etc. I decided to bring back their Greatest Show on Turf-era uniforms, as those are iconic and have a better color scheme. Everything stays largely the same as it used to be, other than the custom name and number fonts.

[thespleenenator]

I LOVE those Rams uniforms! It's what they should be wearing now.

[knnhrvy16]

The Giants concept is stellar. Love the new script, and the uniforms are solid. Your Rams concept is superb too, it's pretty much exactly what they should be wearing.

The Browns, however, are a miss for me. It's the brown helmet for me, mostly. Just a bit too drastic. If the helmet were orange, I think the uniform would be closer to something that'd work.

[cohenj21]

Browns- I like the jerseys alot, I like the new shade of brown alot. However, the helmets are a miss for me. I don't like the fact that it's brown, and I don't like the numbers either. Revert to the orange helmet and you got a winner.

Chargers- I like the new script alot, however, the stripe on the bottom of the numbers, especially on the white jersey, is distracting, so I wouldn't use it on the numbers. I also don't love those helmet numbers.

Giants- White jersey looks solid. However, I don't like all the gray on the home, especially the numbers and the helmet. The gray pants are good, but don't love it on the helmet.

Vikings- I like the idea about using the horn more in the striping, but I think you should put the horn design on the pants and your current pants stripe on the jersey. I like both stripes, but feel like they are in the wrong places right now.

Raiders- Almost perfect. I would just delete the white outline around the helmet logo.

Rams- Absolutely perfect. Nailed it, solid job.

[Fifty8_Black O]

I have always liked your style man and I am really diggin the Rams, Vikings, and Giants. I'm not a huge fan of the Raiders, I just don't think that font screams 'Raiders' to me. It's just not fierce enough I think, I've thought this about the wordmark for some time now. The Chargers and Browns just don't really do it for me. I think making the Brown's lids brown just because they're named after a guy who's last name happens to be a color is a little much. But I do appreciate the way you gave them a streamlined look and kept them a pretty classic design. The Chargers is just too busy for me. I like the powder blue and the shoulder design with the off color shoulders but the number stripes just seem like overkill. I think just matching the number font with the wordmark will give it enough consistency without cluttering up the design. All in all good work man, keep this train rolling like I said I love the way you attack concepts.

[andrewharrington]

That Rams look is really something. Make the collars the same color as the jerseys and make the pant stripe solid blue and it goes from good to great.

I don't know that the font matching on the raiders does much for it, and the collar trim doesn't really hook into anything else. Maybe try some thin trim on the socks to remedy that? I always like the silver numbers on the throwbacks, but I don't think they work as well on a more modern Raiders set.

The Vikings numerals are maybe too cute, and the jersey design looks a bit like suspenders or a gun belt.

I like the addition of grey to the Giants, but I would keep the jerseys solid blue and solid white, with no colored trim. I also prefer the one-color block numerals. I don't think the wordmark is all that successful.

You nailed the color scheme for the Chargers, but the bolts with the multiple outlines don't work well in conjunction with the straight lines that cut through the numerals and wordmark.

[Lights Out]

MIAMI DOLPHINS

The 'Phins have a pretty good identity, but it needs to be simplified a bit. Navy is gone, and the color scheme is pared back to classic aqua and coral. All striping is based on the sunburst in the logo, which is updated with the streamlined dolphin from the Dolphin Stadium logo. The helmet is actually supposed to be matte white.