Fixing and/or finishing a custom team font/wordmark

[Blackjack76]

This all started in the forum celebrating Conrad's excellent work creating fonts from existing sports-centric typefaces. Quite a few people asked about the Mizzou New Era Bold font, created for the brand update the athletics department unveiled in 2012.

At that time, I loved the logo update, the colors, the uniforms and football helmet designs. I didn't really care for the custom typeface; something just seemed off. But then I stopped thinking about it; it is just one small gripe on an otherwise awesome brand identity system.

Flash forward to Conrad's work and the want of Mizzou's font (myself included), and the deep dive back into that typeface design. And again, something was just not right.

When I went to Mizzou's website, it jumped out at me: the "R" is really nothing like some of the other letters. I know each person has his or her own baselines, but mine are the "I" and the "O." Just looking at the "MISSOURI TIGERS" masthead, you instantly see that the R and O are very different. So I started there:

Needless to say, continuity is missing throughout the font suitcase the original creators posted.

I'm somewhat OCD on symmetry, so the Mizzou New Era Bold "R" turned into a splinter in the mind for me. I'm now finishing up "fixing" the original typeface to be more symmetric/consistent in each letterform and numeral, and hope to have that done shortly.

My question to you guys and gals...what other team fonts, typefaces, scripts, etc. do you want to fix OR finish to create a complete font package? Much of the recent/new MiLB brand identities have gone towards an asymmetrical/hand drawn look, and I personally cannot stand it.

But that's just me. I am interested to hear what you all think.

[tv15]

I like it

[slapshot]

The way you drew the R, the horizontal strokes now seem too heavy. As clunky as the original R is (based on the gridlines), the counter is a good size, and there's no confusing it with an A. Your R has a much smaller counter (which would almost disappear at a smaller size), as well as the indentation on the right hand side.

As far as fonts I'd like to see, I think the Red Sox font is at the top of my list. When the Red Sox modified the scripts a few years ago, they fixed some things, but messed up others. The script in the logo is now much more consistent with the uniform version. But, some letters now don't feel right. Especially when you see them without outlines. For example, the horizontal stroke of the T is way too wide. The S had a much more slanted middle stroke than before.

Andrew Harrington drew up a nicer version of the Red Sox lettering a few years ago. I don't know if I still have the Illustrator file, but if you and him worked together I think you'd have a much nicer representation.

And don't get me started on the freeware Red Sox font out there (the one with upper and lowercase). Yuck.

Other fonts/typography I'd like to see revised:

Boston Bruins. The lettering is great, but the uniform numbers don't match at all. To go all out and use custom type in the logo and nameplate lettering, then use a much more plain block font for the numbers, it's lazy.

Pittsburgh Pirates. The 2 and 7 are wonky. They stick out like sore thumbs. Would like to see an expanded alphabet.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I do remember a particular font used years ago by UMass-Lowell hockey, and by a few teams in the AHL, most recently Worcester and Manchester. I can provide pictures of that one.

[Blackjack76]

I hear you on the counter. In the original Mizzou New Era Bold set, the three horizontal strokes - top, middle (for B, E, F, G, H, P, R and S) where not consistent at all. The only times there was at least some consistency was in the letteforms based on the O. So this turned into really my decision, which was use the O as the baseline, and set the top and bottom horizontal strokes to this current thickness.

The side effect is a much smaller counter. I didn't want the A and R to be different than the O, so I went with the smaller counter.

My previous indentation on the R was not enough - very good eye, thank you - so I updated it:

Another consistent inconsistency = different serifs for the "cat ear" on the top left. This is something else I standardized across all of the updated letterforms.

The other letterforms are beginning to take shape, and while it is "fixed" to some degree (whether or not anyone agrees with me using O as the baseline), it still holds the original intent of the design:

[Sec19Row53]

Interesting exercise. I'm frequently curious if a full letterset has been developed based on the Wisconsin motion-W, as so many high schools in the state make use of it.

[slapshot]

Wisconsin uses a modified version of Aachen Bold for its athletic identity, but this does not match the motion W.

Sort of surprising that they'd go all out with a "custom" font, but not use it for the primary logo.

Back to Mizzou...

Are you going to match the width of the numerals with the letters, or will they remain narrower?

[Blackjack76]

Are you going to match the width of the numerals with the letters, or will they remain narrower?

Narrower, like the uniforms. This turned into a random guess, but I kept the consistency throughout:

[JPDesign]

The counter on the R still looks too small. While I understand the desire for geometric consistency, the illusion created by the counter is of a squished letterform. There's a lot of "fudging" that goes into a seemingly geometric typeface to make it look right.

[Blackjack76]

So let's change the baseline O and make all of the horizontal strokes the same size:

This makes the counter larger and the letterform more readable. Great feedback; many thanks.

[slapshot]

Much better. This was along the lines of my observation in my first comment...by making the horizontal strokes shorter height-wise, it opens up more space for a larger counter, and increased legibility.

[Blackjack76]

And I'm done. It's a subtle change, but you can really tell the difference in the R:

Thanks for the feedback; this is why this board is so great.

[Blackjack76]

And here's the update "TIGERS" wordmark:

[jlog3000]

Great job on the font modifications Blackjack, while showing some tribute to Conrad.

[tbdaniel15]

Awesome observation and tweak that makes a huge difference once you compare them. Good work!

[Blackjack76]

And for part 3 (and most likely, last) of this series, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Just a couple of tweaks to make it a bit more symmetric.

[jlog3000]

Blackjack - I'll assume that the new Buccaneers wordmark font is named Swashbuckler. But nonetheless, great re-modifications.

[Blackjack76]

Blackjack - I'll assume that the new Buccaneers wordmark font is named Swashbuckler. But nonetheless, great re-modifications.

Correct; named it close to the inspiration. And after seeing the number and nameplate font on the Bucs' uniform release today, I think I'm going to have to do the numerals now....

[jlog3000]

Blackjack - I'll assume that the new Buccaneers wordmark font is named Swashbuckler. But nonetheless, great re-modifications.

Correct; named it close to the inspiration. And after seeing the number and nameplate font on the Bucs' uniform release today, I think I'm going to have to do the numerals now....

Fair enough. And you'll plan to do the numbers? Cool! Would look forward to it. Hope you'll show the comparisons along the way. Good luck!

[Blackjack76]

We all know the Bucs' new unis - and specifically the numbers - are "less than desirable."

For the SM Swashbuckler font, I made the numerals similar to the letterforms. The only difference being the serifs, which simply don't look good with any outline around them.

Please let me know what you think.

[jlog3000]

We all know the Bucs' new unis - and specifically the numbers - are "less than desirable."

For the SM Swashbuckler font, I made the numerals similar to the letterforms. The only difference being the serifs, which simply don't look good with any outline around them.

Please let me know what you think.

The numbers you modified look great. Great job! I'm starting to admire you more and more. Keep it up! And can't wait to see the alphabet, based on your format.