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NBA Project 32 - Timberwolves Update


SFGiants58

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Thanks for the C+C on the updates.

HOUSTON ROCKETS

Now this one should make some people happy. As the "neo-retro" aesthetic has taken hold of the NBA (Warriors, Jazz, Sixers, Wizards, etc.), I thought that the one team that could have benefited the most from this style was the one team who resisted it (for the most part): the Houston Rockets. While I do like the current uniforms, I find that the Rev30 completely wrecked the design by removing the shimmer fabric and the custom number font (replacing both with regular fabric and the Pacers' Agency number font, respectively). Even though shimmer fabric exists in this series, it is only intended for teams with metallic uniform colors (i.e. silver). So, I decided to start from scratch and go back towards a look that not only had a long history within the Rockets' organization, but also calls back to the best periods of the franchise. The color scheme is the classic red and yellow, but in shades that are different enough from the Hawks. So, I modified the original primary logo to rectify its odd shape, distorted "Houston" font, and the black wordmark. I also added the rocket from the 90's primary, albeit with the details removed and the contrail simplified. It was a leftover from an earlier Rockets concept I did back in 2011 (before I figured out the whole "presentation and good templates" thing), but without the Houston skyline (it looked too much like a Sonics rip-off, and I later used that skyline in a better capacity for my Astros primary and secondary logos). The secondary is inspired by the current logo, but in the older font and with the rocket. The tertiary is a text-free version of the primary with several elements shifted. The court uses the tertiary logo at the center, and both the "H" and "R" letters in the lanes.

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Uniforms

These are inspired by the previous red/yellow Rockets uniforms. I kept the original script logos, as I felt that they had enough character in them (with their mix of uppercase and lowercase) to be replaced with some generic font. The collars are wishbone, but done in a way to have actual striping and give a more modern flare to the look while still keeping it grounded in a classic form. The color balance of the home and road uniforms is based on this set. The drop shadow on the number font (which is a modified version of the Knicks' font, like they wore in the 80's/90's) helps distance them from the Hawks and adds a nice idiosyncratic feature (that isn't as distracting as this) that has history with the team. The shorts paneling is a modified version of this paneling (with cleaner striping that fits better with the color distribution of the uniform and "flows" more), meant to be indicative of a rocket blasting off, and the "H"/"R" logo on the shorts is a leftover from the current alts (which is one of the better features of the alts).

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The alternate is a gold uniform that can be worn both at home and on the road (preferably at home), that uses a different striping scheme (based on the scheme of the current alt) as a way to make it feel different from the rest of the set and give it a more modern edge.

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Up next, the Indiana Pacers!

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The main problem with the Rockets is that the brand is a little too similar to the Hawks, in your world, but I guess that's unavoidable since both teams should probably be red and yellow. Still, the color balance for your Hawks and Rockets concepts are fairly similar.

It's definitely an upgrade of the "nba street" uniforms that they currently wear, but in a way I think you went too throwback here. There are also some inconsistencies that could be cleaned up. I don't think the wide side panels on the shorts, with no side panels on the jersey tops, would translate very well. I think the strongest part of your logo set is the partial logo you have with the rocket circling the basketball, but even this logo screams for an update to bring it in to the 2010s. Redoing the line work to make the strokes consistent, modernizing the rocket, anything. That's simply a matter of putting in a little more time to redo these old logos, it looks like a recoloring now. Same goes with the H and R secondary logos. Another thing, the inconsistency between the numbers and the wordmarks (fonts, dropshadow) also is a bit bothersome in my eyes, just pick with one style and stick with it. I think that if you came up with a more rounded, italicized font that matches the existing wordmarks, you'd already have a unique concept that sets it apart from any other rockets concept. At the moment, it looks like you tweaked a couple of aspects of the retro jerseys and called it a day.

You have some nice designs here. Solid presentation, and very thorough with the courts and everything. But, take your time with them. Go beyond just recoloring existing logos and existing wordmarks. The final products will reflect the time you put in to them.

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The main problem with the Rockets is that the brand is a little too similar to the Hawks, in your world, but I guess that's unavoidable since both teams should probably be red and yellow. Still, the color balance for your Hawks and Rockets concepts are fairly similar.

It's definitely an upgrade of the "nba street" uniforms that they currently wear, but in a way I think you went too throwback here. There are also some inconsistencies that could be cleaned up. I don't think the wide side panels on the shorts, with no side panels on the jersey tops, would translate very well. I think the strongest part of your logo set is the partial logo you have with the rocket circling the basketball, but even this logo screams for an update to bring it in to the 2010s. Redoing the line work to make the strokes consistent, modernizing the rocket, anything. That's simply a matter of putting in a little more time to redo these old logos, it looks like a recoloring now. Same goes with the H and R secondary logos. Another thing, the inconsistency between the numbers and the wordmarks (fonts, dropshadow) also is a bit bothersome in my eyes, just pick with one style and stick with it. I think that if you came up with a more rounded, italicized font that matches the existing wordmarks, you'd already have a unique concept that sets it apart from any other rockets concept. At the moment, it looks like you tweaked a couple of aspects of the retro jerseys and called it a day.

You have some nice designs here. Solid presentation, and very thorough with the courts and everything. But, take your time with them. Go beyond just recoloring existing logos and existing wordmarks. The final products will reflect the time you put in to them.

I completely agree with you. This Rockets concept is symbolic of the basic problem with a lot of my series (and many of the ones I've done and have yet to premiere), it is that I play it too conservatively. When I've gone outside the box (Nets), merged history successfully with my own twist (Cavaliers) or done something substantive yet reserved (Hawks), I feel satisfied and ready to present it. Even my tweaks (Celtics, Bulls, Pistons, Hornets to an extent) can be satisfying, as I've tried to make something that looks good even better.

But here, I feel like I didn't go outside enough, that I didn't make it my own. I had doubts about this guy from the time I did some of the initial work on it in March through my various tweaking I did in the intervening months. I felt too tied to "what worked historically" and "keep it conservative/without any real individual character". I don't want this series to become another "simple recolor/logo merge" thread that has polluted the concept board. Sure, some of them are good, but many are problematic. Elliott, this is just what I needed to get the spark lit under my ass and give this series some more oomph. Thank you, and expect a Rockets update within the next few days.

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Love the Rockets logos, but I'm not really feeling the jerseys. The dropshadow seems out of place on the numbers, and the block numbers themselves seem out of place in comparison to the 'Houston' wordmark. Maybe base all the sets off the alternate and get a new number font.

 

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The main problem with the Rockets is that the brand is a little too similar to the Hawks, in your world, but I guess that's unavoidable since both teams should probably be red and yellow. Still, the color balance for your Hawks and Rockets concepts are fairly similar.

It's definitely an upgrade of the "nba street" uniforms that they currently wear, but in a way I think you went too throwback here. There are also some inconsistencies that could be cleaned up. I don't think the wide side panels on the shorts, with no side panels on the jersey tops, would translate very well. I think the strongest part of your logo set is the partial logo you have with the rocket circling the basketball, but even this logo screams for an update to bring it in to the 2010s. Redoing the line work to make the strokes consistent, modernizing the rocket, anything. That's simply a matter of putting in a little more time to redo these old logos, it looks like a recoloring now. Same goes with the H and R secondary logos. Another thing, the inconsistency between the numbers and the wordmarks (fonts, dropshadow) also is a bit bothersome in my eyes, just pick with one style and stick with it. I think that if you came up with a more rounded, italicized font that matches the existing wordmarks, you'd already have a unique concept that sets it apart from any other rockets concept. At the moment, it looks like you tweaked a couple of aspects of the retro jerseys and called it a day.

You have some nice designs here. Solid presentation, and very thorough with the courts and everything. But, take your time with them. Go beyond just recoloring existing logos and existing wordmarks. The final products will reflect the time you put in to them.

I completely agree with you. This Rockets concept is symbolic of the basic problem with a lot of my series (and many of the ones I've done and have yet to premiere), it is that I play it too conservatively. When I've gone outside the box (Nets), merged history successfully with my own twist (Cavaliers) or done something substantive yet reserved (Hawks), I feel satisfied and ready to present it. Even my tweaks (Celtics, Bulls, Pistons, Hornets to an extent) can be satisfying, as I've tried to make something that looks good even better.

But here, I feel like I didn't go outside enough, that I didn't make it my own. I had doubts about this guy from the time I did some of the initial work on it in March through my various tweaking I did in the intervening months. I felt too tied to "what worked historically" and "keep it conservative/without any real individual character". I don't want this series to become another "simple recolor/logo merge" thread that has polluted the concept board. Sure, some of them are good, but many are problematic. Elliott, this is just what I needed to get the spark lit under my ass and give this series some more oomph. Thank you, and expect a Rockets update within the next few days.

Fair enough. That's the problem with some of these series: It's impossible to really improve on a classic look like the celtics for example unless a complete rebrand is in place. But sometimes those concepts are the most fun.... the ones that spark some debate, or riots in the case of messing with boston's look! Good luck

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I'm absolutely in love with the logos and court. Beautiful. Something isn't hitting for me with the jerseys though. Perhaps too retro looking with the side panel only on the shorts? Perhaps go to a more true gold look like the SF 49'ers look maybe? Or perhaps just limit the use of the yellow? I do remember many fans complaints about our current alternate jerseys using too much yellow and that they missed the mark when we wanted our retro colors back. Yellow to be used as only a highlight is what fans seem to want from clutchfans.net

Have you ever thought about using two tones of red? Much like the Mavericks use their dark and light blue highlighted by silver? Perhaps it will help it "POP" more?

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Love the Rockets logos, but I'm not really feeling the jerseys. The dropshadow seems out of place on the numbers, and the block numbers themselves seem out of place in comparison to the 'Houston' wordmark. Maybe base all the sets off the alternate and get a new number font.

In one version of the concept, all of the uniforms matched the alt and had a rounded number font w/o drop shadow. For the purposes of the revision, I've resurrected this edition of the concept.

I'm absolutely in love with the logos and court. Beautiful. Something isn't hitting for me with the jerseys though. Perhaps too retro looking with the side panel only on the shorts? Perhaps go to a more true gold look like the SF 49'ers look maybe? Or perhaps just limit the use of the yellow? I do remember many fans complaints about our current alternate jerseys using too much yellow and that they missed the mark when we wanted our retro colors back. Yellow to be used as only a highlight is what fans seem to want from clutchfans.net

Have you ever thought about using two tones of red? Much like the Mavericks use their dark and light blue highlighted by silver? Perhaps it will help it "POP" more?

Thanks. The jerseys were always a pain in the ass to get right. I tired going for white side panels on the road uniform with white lettering and yellow outlines, but that looked too bland and really sucked the color out of the concept (color is a big thing in this series, as I like teams to have well-defined color schemes that speak to a set balance). The yellow gives the uniforms some life, more so than a metallic gold color (old gold looked too dark and vegas gold is one of my least favorite colors in sports). I also thought about double red with the yellow, and that looked terrible to me (the closest I get to it is the orange in the rocket contrail).

When I wanted to update the concept, I made two versions. The first version only changes the uniforms, applying the alternate's template to the home and road uniforms and switching the number font to the current Blazers' font.

Home

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Road

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Alt

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The next version of the update is far more substantive. It bears more resemblance to a modernization (in the fashion of the Wizards and Warriors, not so much the Sixers and Jazz), as it keeps a visual continuity with the 70's-90's set while making significant changes to get the essence of that look updated for the 2010's. The basic designs are much the same as the first version, but significantly cleaned up and have more of my own style in them than the recolor/slight tweaks I performed in the original and first revision.

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HOUSTON ROCKETS - REVISION

This revision is basically taking out all of the more dated elements of the previous Rockets redesign for the project, and updating them to better reflect the 2010's while still maintaining a visual continuity with the originals (much like my Hornets, Nets, and Cavaliers concepts). When it came to picking the font, I noticed how the original font had a mixture of rounded and straight edges that gave it a unique look. So, to emulate that, I slightly altered the properties of Mizzou's lettering font (which has the rounded/straight mix and some modern features like the serif design). I gave it drop shadow, heightened the letters, and increased the italicization throughout to give it separation from Mizzou and bring it in line with two previous Rockets looks. The basketball has been redrawn to give it consistent line weights, and the rocket is a new design that has more detail than the 90's rocket, and incorporates an old uniform element in its design (namely those old shorts panels I tried to emulate in my original concept). The "H" and "R" logos are now clearer because of the change, and the orbit logo incorporates more of the streamlining from the primary. The court is simply adapted for the new logos, reflecting the change in color balance and new font style.

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Uniforms

The uniforms receive a significant touch-up. I decided to modify the previous alternate's panels to flare out from beneath the arm stripes and continue to the shorts hem. Not only does it give the impression of a rocket rising up from the ground, but it gives the team its own take on the common uniform panel elements without shifting inwards, then outwards like the current panels. The number font is a modified version of the Grizzlies post-Rev30 number font (without the split, which will be reinstated when I get to them), with sharper serifs to match the lettering font (Mizzou's numbers don't look nearly as good as the alpha characters). The scripts are placed on an angle/italicized as they were in the Rockets' classic look to give them a visual continuity without relying on the "character" of the original font to excuse the uppercase/lowercase mix. While they may look markedly different from the 70's-90's teams, there is still a sense that they represent the lineage properly and maintain the essence of the original look.

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The alternates are simple enough. One is a yellow version of the home uniform, and the other is a Hardwood Classics alternate (for both home and road) that represents the classic look (as the old logos were too good to eliminate completely in the revision), and it pleases the fans who don't want all that much yellow in the look.

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I know that this revision will probably be markedly less popular than my previous revision (a couple of posts above this one), but I like this one a lot more because I feel I did more to the team. I don't want this to be a simple "combine eras here, recolor there" kind of series. Sure, better color pallets and visual continuity are the two of the guiding pillars of this series (as well as my previous series with the MLB), but I wanted to take a chance here. I wanted to finally step outside of my comfort zone and approach redesign/modernization with a more thorough touch than "combine eras here, recolor there". I feel that I needed to do something like this, and I am incredibly satisfied with the result. Thank you to all the guys who have given me C+C, I try to take it to heart and use it to become a better concept artist.

Up next, the Indiana Pacers!

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I like where you're going with this, and your update is an improvement over your first version. I think it could use more refining, though. The first two things bugging me are the size of the rocket--it's too small in my opinion--and the inconsistency in the placement between the primary and tertiary logos. I would make the rocket bigger and put it in the center of the logo (still angled upward). I'd also use it as the center seam on the basketball and rework the other seams around it. Then, for the primary, place "Houston" and "Rockets" above and below the rocket. I'd also get rid of the "R" secondary logo--the "H" alone is fine IMO--and use the rocket as the crossbar in the H.

I can draw up a rough sketch of what I'm thinking if that was confusing haha.

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I like where you're going with this, and your update is an improvement over your first version. I think it could use more refining, though. The first two things bugging me are the size of the rocket--it's too small in my opinion--and the inconsistency in the placement between the primary and tertiary logos. I would make the rocket bigger and put it in the center of the logo (still angled upward). I'd also use it as the center seam on the basketball and rework the other seams around it. Then, for the primary, place "Houston" and "Rockets" above and below the rocket. I'd also get rid of the "R" secondary logo--the "H" alone is fine IMO--and use the rocket as the crossbar in the H.

I can draw up a rough sketch of what I'm thinking if that was confusing haha.

Thanks man. I've tested out your ideas for the primary and tertiary (which also allowed me to eliminate the contrail, the last non-original element in the set). I assume this is what you meant with your suggestion for the secondary (the "R" was added so that the road could have a representation of the team's name on the road). I love the way this turned out, thank you so much.

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