Milwaukee Bucks Unveil New Logos/Colors, Jerseys & Court

[Sterling84v2.0]

I think that there's a strong likelihood that on a night to night basis the Bucks end up looking better than they have in a long time.

None of which is to say I think the artwork is "good". I do not. Both things can be true.

Did any of you read that piece Paul put up or just skip right to the photos of the unis on the wall? Whatever you think of how this turned out, how they got there all makes a LOT more sense. The time constraints are a big factor, Six weeks is nothing. Sounds like one round of revisions. Hardly enough time to perfect something. And even more egregious the throw away bit about having to use an existing color swatch. That COMPLETELY explains why the blue is such a bad fit up against that green, I like the idea of putting the waterways on the map. That's kick ass> But it just is not the same blue (or apparently green) they wanted and it shows. Could that in fact explain the inclusion of black at all? I think so. If they were allowed to go custom green (I imagine it being called black forest green in all my Bucks concepts) then the contrast with blue works better...no need for black etc.

So you can gain appreciation for these guys and how they did their best under bad circumstances. That's my take away. You can also fairly gripe about the realities of logistics and how they bump up against woulda coulda shoulda in art. I've dealt with similarly short turnarounds and let me tell you for a fact that compromises get made.

And lastly, the story says they've got an designer FROM Milwaukee (my ears perk up as I read) who lists the problems with the old Buck rapid fire as if they're coming from my lips instead of his (my heart races) until the last bit where he says the antler proportions were wrong. UGH. They weren't of course. The antlers were the best part of the old one and virtually traced to perfection. For a whitetail the ratios were perfect and honestly negative space was a huge problem at scale that they've now only made worse by supersizing these antlers like some kind of medieval stag. SO we can be in lock step with someone for 99% of the way and still end up at different places. Life is like that. Po Tay To, Puh Tah To. No accounting for taste.

So the moral of the story is.......close enough? I dunno. It's never close enough when it's your home team. Close enough is for someone else...the Jags or Browns. (if you're me). If I'm those artists? I'll be pissed at the blue swatch issue for years....but I'll also be on cloud nine so........

My wife is in corporate culture and they are always striving for what they call "alignment". It's REALLY hard to come by. And under the circumstances Paul just laid out I'd say alignment was impossible. So.....good enough will have to do I guess.

Best part...State of WI tertiary and (fingers crossed the uniforms).

Worst part(s). Not the palette they wanted. It shows. Antler ball has drastic changes in line weight (because doy ....antlers taper) but the typography doesn't taper at all. It doesn't have thick parts and thin parts> It's as blocky as anything can be. So my brain wants a more traditional ball rendering with thick even-weighted seams to go with it. I know then that mark wouldn't match the primary.....but I'd be OK with that.

And here's why. One is the hint of a ball. The other is a ball. Different problems require different solutions.

Also speaking of typography...the goofy neck M just irritates me to no end. We're all aiming for the next Whalers logo fellas. All of us. But if it's not there you pass and live to fight another day. Just my opinion. Way better than swinging and missing. This isn't a swing and miss but it's a broken bat foul ball. If you force the hidden imagery even an inch too far and compromise the non hidden parts to do it? It looks desperate and amateur.. And given that we're in the same league as the Wizards...who hid the Washington Monument in their ball more effectively. The Nets who did the rondelle more effectively. The Hornets hidden ball in their ancillary art a little more competently.. You just have to be careful I think with who you are standing next to. And the M-Antler-Ball just compounds all the silly into a completely useless alternate mark. My (subjective) opinion on that.

But the type will finally be legible at distance and not too heavy. I think they'll look better through it all. I do. Just not perfect.

[mgdmhl]

Logos were designed in this building in Brooklyn:

Milwaukee "Cream City" Building With Cream Bricks

[Shadojoker]

Man those Paul Lukas Uniwatch articles were incredible reads! Incredible story kn the design firm that did this overhaul!

[seattlesonicsofsacramento]

From Paul Lukas of Uni-Watch/ESPN

But once the new color scheme was settled, some adjustments still had to be made because of dye restrictions. "The reality of the tight deadline is that we were not able to use our preferred shade of green, which was much darker," says Meyer. "The NBA people said, 'Look, if this was six months earlier, we could have done it. But because it's so late in the game, here are the three greens you can choose from.' It was the same with the blue -- we had a choice of the Knicks' blue, the Thunder's blue or a Carolina blue. We went with the Thunder."

This was pretty interesting. Does that mean they're going to fix the shades after next year, or what?

From Paul Lukas of Uni-Watch/ESPN

Along the way, the Bucks made an interesting suggestion. "They said years ago, before computerized fonts, there were a few inconsistencies in the team's lettering that provided a bit of charm," Meyer says. "They challenged us to come up with something like that. That's how we ended up with those little notches in the '3' and '8,' for example. Those are technically wrong, but that was intentional. A controlled mistake."

I had no idea about this detail either

[Sterling84v2.0]

From Paul Lukas of Uni-Watch/ESPN

But once the new color scheme was settled, some adjustments still had to be made because of dye restrictions. "The reality of the tight deadline is that we were not able to use our preferred shade of green, which was much darker," says Meyer. "The NBA people said, 'Look, if this was six months earlier, we could have done it. But because it's so late in the game, here are the three greens you can choose from.' It was the same with the blue -- we had a choice of the Knicks' blue, the Thunder's blue or a Carolina blue. We went with the Thunder."

This was pretty interesting. Does that mean they're going to fix the shades after next year, or what?

From Paul Lukas of Uni-Watch/ESPN

Along the way, the Bucks made an interesting suggestion. "They said years ago, before computerized fonts, there were a few inconsistencies in the team's lettering that provided a bit of charm," Meyer says. "They challenged us to come up with something like that. That's how we ended up with those little notches in the '3' and '8,' for example. Those are technically wrong, but that was intentional. A controlled mistake."

I had no idea about this detail either

No. They mean they are stuck with these shades. Can't release stuff into the merchandise realm you know will not be good in a year. Means they should have waited.

And secondly, that type face anecdote is complete garbage. Thanks for reminding me. Controlled mistake? They are referring to the fact that the 3 and 8 would imply 45 degree corners on numerals but none of the others have 45s. But imagine that 8 without notches?! When you prepare an entire typeface from scratch you face a myriad of these issues. But we don't call attention to them as controlled mistakes. How about the 7? That's "wrong" then too. How about the 1? The serif is smaller than any other block unit for any numeral. The 4? Wrong on the serif and the angle. Technically wrong? Or just wrong? Or perfectly within your purview since it's your custom font? Jesus.

Also what about the upper left corner of the 2 and the 3. Shouldnt they be the same too? Aren't they in many fonts?

No offense intended but this is silly. You can see in the materials they've shown us that they just basically made this on graph or grid paper. It's instinctually what we would all do on our first try of trying to make a font family and have carryover from character to character. You can look at their alphabet and find the same choices made in regards to the B, D, K, M,N,Q, R, V, W, X, Y and Z.

Oh and not for nothing? But the Bucks had what we'll charitably call "inconsistencies" in their font well after the advent of computerized graphics. How about randomly missing bevels way back in the olden days of 2006. So dumb. The marketing speak BS wagon is full to the brim.

[Sterling84v2.0]

Plus looking on Chris' site at the old uniforms throughout the years it looks like the numerals always had 45 degree corners so....

I'm not saying these inconsistencies (in the 3 and 8 ) never happened. Cause I dunno. But it smells like "oh my gosh" I made a font but the 3 and look too different jibberish.

[razorback447]

Has any new gear been released yet? I'm willing to become a bandwagon Bucks fan to sport that diagonal Bucks logo.

[mgdmhl]

Has any new gear been released yet? I'm willing to become a bandwagon Bucks fan to sport that diagonal Bucks logo.

Only at the Bradley Center new Bucks Pro Shop until the season is over, then it will be available online https://twitter.com/bucksproshop

[Teal]

So I'm assuming the unis will be white, green and black?

[KDubK414]

Has any new gear been released yet? I'm willing to become a bandwagon Bucks fan to sport that diagonal Bucks logo.

Only at the Bradley Center new Bucks Pro Shop until the season is over, then it will be available online https://twitter.com/bucksproshop

And only the main logo will be used on the apparel. Stuff with the other logos and word marks will be released after the Bucks last playoff game.

[razorback447]

Has any new gear been released yet? I'm willing to become a bandwagon Bucks fan to sport that diagonal Bucks logo.

Only at the Bradley Center new Bucks Pro Shop until the season is over, then it will be available online https://twitter.com/bucksproshop

And only the main logo will be used on the apparel. Stuff with the other logos and word marks will be released after the Bucks last playoff game.

Thanks to both of you for the replies. It's much appreciated!

[LAWeaver]

This was a tweet that was retweeted by the Browns:

Hearing some really good things about these unis especially some cool designs on the pants..

[j'villejags]

This was a tweet that was retweeted by the Browns:

Hearing some really good things about these unis especially some cool designs on the pants..

I didn't realize you were posting about the Browns. I was thinking... It's happening!

[mjd77]

Has any new gear been released yet? I'm willing to become a bandwagon Bucks fan to sport that diagonal Bucks logo.

Only at the Bradley Center new Bucks Pro Shop until the season is over, then it will be available online https://twitter.com/bucksproshop

And only the main logo will be used on the apparel. Stuff with the other logos and word marks will be released after the Bucks last playoff game.

That sucks. I was hoping Kohls would get some new stuff pretty quick.

[mgdmhl]

Has any new gear been released yet? I'm willing to become a bandwagon Bucks fan to sport that diagonal Bucks logo.

Only at the Bradley Center new Bucks Pro Shop until the season is over, then it will be available online https://twitter.com/bucksproshop

And only the main logo will be used on the apparel. Stuff with the other logos and word marks will be released after the Bucks last playoff game.

That sucks. I was hoping Kohls would get some new stuff pretty quick.

Are you mentioning Kohls because of Herb Kohl the pervious owner? Because he has no connection to the team anymore (except $100M for the new arena)

[LAWeaver]

This was a tweet that was retweeted by the Browns:

Hearing some really good things about these unis especially some cool designs on the pants..

I didn't realize you were posting about the Browns. I was thinking... It's happening!

HA! Woops, my bad. Didn't realize what thread I was in!

[mjd77]

Has any new gear been released yet? I'm willing to become a bandwagon Bucks fan to sport that diagonal Bucks logo.

Only at the Bradley Center new Bucks Pro Shop until the season is over, then it will be available online https://twitter.com/bucksproshop

And only the main logo will be used on the apparel. Stuff with the other logos and word marks will be released after the Bucks last playoff game.

That sucks. I was hoping Kohls would get some new stuff pretty quick.

Are you mentioning Kohls because of Herb Kohl the pervious owner? Because he has no connection to the team anymore (except $100M for the new arena)

Kohls is a department store.

[WCCILibrary]

This... this looks interesting.

[Shadojoker]

Lmao

[Gothamite]

This... this looks interesting.

?