B1G Revisions

[TimEOBrien]

Today? Indiana:

This was almost how the Hoosiers looked a few years back. Now, they're back to their best Oklahoma impression (down to the white pants on the road if the Ball State game was any sign. Sigh.) I go back to the double stripe helmet, add double stripes to the shoulders and keep the double stripe pants (white at home, red on the road).

And I am one of the many Hoosiers who thinks that the Bucket game should feature special unis whenever possible, so I bring back my candy-striped pants for the occasion.

[DomTheAthlete29]

Nothing terribly groundbreaking here... Not saying they aren't good.. But they aren't terrible.. They are very good! I just think you are being very safe with these.. Uniforms can be traditional but modern at the same time.. Refine some of these..

[thespleenenator]

Make the candy stripe pants full time, and you're golden.

[TheOldRoman]

Sorry but this concept just seems to be regurgitation of a previous illini design. Theres nothing new here that makes it seem like a new "concept". I dont mean to sound harsh, but there absolutely nothing new and exciting here. I know that you were going for 'what you would like to see on the field year in and year out' but if i were an illinois fan and this was what the school decicded to unveil as their new set i would be extremely disappointed. This set would definitely be a downgrade from what theyre wearing now.

Like i said, i get where youre coming from with the tradition of the set (im a PSU student and lifelong fan) but nothing in this set screams "illinois" like a classic set such as Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State or Nebraska. The uniforms is a physical representation of the schools brand and philosophy. Make the set echo the school, dont just slap an old design on a new template and call it a concept

Definitely keep the illinois script on the helmet though, its a defining element of the illini brand

I am an Illinois fan and alum, and I love these. That is my favorite set Illinois has worn, much better than the current crap.

[drdougfresh]

So basically, don't bother leaving C&C unless it's positive. The Old Roman is on patrol to make sure any iota of negativity is flushed out by his omnipotence.

[TimEOBrien]

So basically, don't bother leaving C&C unless it's positive. The Old Roman is on patrol to make sure any iota of negativity is flushed out by his omnipotence.

Come on you two. Play nice. Old Roman was just refuting the idea that Illini faithful will think my concept is worse than the current. Let's not turn this into a thing.

Any C&C are appreciated by me - the creator of these tweaks/concepts - so feel free to defend me or defame me. Any more Hoosier thoughts?

[thespleenenator]

I think this is what they should be wearing now. Really disappointed that they copied Oklahoma.

[andrewharrington]

This is the first one I think you got absolutely right, even the candy-stripe pants. I'd make sure you maintain the size of double stripe they were using, which was a little bit larger than the double stripe we may be used to, and I think that was unique. Maybe add a little yellow to the white so we have the crimson and cream, but not so much that it sticks out as being cream. More of a 'vintage white' I guess. I'd also probably use a grey facemask on this because 1. It looks rough and intimidating, 2. It looks less like Oklahoma, and 3. It's already classic, so it really won't look anachronistic. I'd remove the logo on the pant (seems unnecessary) and definitely scoot the front numeral down a little, because it's really close to the HOOSIERS lettering. Have you tried INDIANA on the front. Have you tried it on an arc? Overall, great look.

[TheOldRoman]

So basically, don't bother leaving C&C unless it's positive. The Old Roman is on patrol to make sure any iota of negativity is flushed out by his omnipotence.

"Nothing too exciting here, dude... But I found ways to tweak tradition so it was interesting." Negativity is one thing, but phrasing it in this manner and then boasting how your concepts are so great rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, if you don't see anything wrong with your original post, I don't know what to tell you. Either way, I am through with this argument.

As for Indiana, not particularly inspired, but not a bad set. The candy-cane pants are just too out there, though. I don't think they could work with the white or red jerseys.

A final word on Illinois, those are not actually the school's athletic colors. I believe they are the university colors, and for the longest time their uniforms in video games were in those colors (even though they got the formats correct). However, they actually use a darker navy and a more reddish-orange. Their colors are pretty close to Syracuse's (if not exact). Illinois' logos often appear in the colors you used, but sometimes they are in the official uniform colors. I believe color standardization is one of the things being planned for the next few years in the DIA. Regardless, I would recommend trying to match the colors to those on their current uniforms, even if you can't do it very accurately.

[TimEOBrien]

Today is Twofer Thursday! Both these designs are pretty simple so here are Iowa and Michigan:

Iowa - Here is my first use of the stripes on the compression shirt in this set. These Steeler inspired uniforms just look better when the stripes are in full bloom. The Hawkeyes are also the first team with full length socks, but this is not a change from the norm for them, they've bean wearing socks like these for years.

Michigan - No real change for the Home (although I changed the socks to blue) but the Road eliminates and superfluous yellow piping.

[TheOneAndOnlyMau]

Theres nothing new here once again... all you did was move some stripes ontp the compression sleeves. You didnt change anything. Remind me again how these are concepts?

[drdougfresh]

Theres nothing new here once again... all you did was move some stripes ontp the compression sleeves. You didnt change anything. Remind me again how these are concepts?

+1.

Not to mention, the compression sleeve striping thing does not work-- look at OSU last year. Interesting idea from Nike, but there's a reason they've only done it once. Linemen and some other players (like Quizz) don't wear compression sleeves. Much like your Iowa concept, sans sleeves: these are boring.

[thespleenenator]

Theres nothing new here once again... all you did was move some stripes ontp the compression sleeves. You didnt change anything. Remind me again how these are concepts?

Seconded.

[TimEOBrien]

Listen, I know that some of these are minimal changes - perhaps I should have called today's entries "tweaks" rather than "concepts" - but I'm not about to start changing things like Michigan home uni just to change them. Michigan should only and always wear the home uni (at home) you see above.

I *could* add a maze alternate or blue pants or do some outlandish modern striping, but I don't want to see UM wear anything like that, so why would I create it?

Once again, I know some of these tweaks seem minor and these "concepts" may look like what the already wear but I assure you I took no less time or care in capturing the details than if I had gone all Nikegon all over everybody's asses. Some of these concepts (as you'll see tomorrow hopefully) are more than just me imitating the current BigTen unis but everything I post here is what I strongly believe these teams should be wearing an I'm not going to throw in a bunch of different helmets and weird stripes just to appease your tastes. These are my opinions and you can have yours (like drdoug has).

While I can understand you may not like these, the only problem I have with your comments is how they smack of a belittling tone that reduces the hard work and time I put into these. At least personally, I don't do that to fellow tweakers. I work 40+ hours a week in the industrial roofing industry and spend much of my free time doing concepts an running my personal site. I take a lot of pride in how hard I work and do not appreciate when someone makes snarky remarks about things I have worked very hard on.

Many good designers have been chased off these boards because people are reductive rather than constructive.

________

As far as the compression sleeve stripes go, in the hypothetical world wear these hypothetical jerseys are hypothetically worn, I hypothetically force all my hypotheical players to wear the hypothetical sleeves.

Any and all spelling errors are the fault of the phone I'm typing on.

Also, I sincerely like to hear comments both positive and negative but please save the reductive comments for someone who will tolerate them.

[thespleenenator]

Part of what attracts people to the concepts board is the thought of seeing something new. Concepts like Mau's USC pro combat, while probably not something USC would wear, are exciting and creative. So when people show concepts that are almost no different than the actually informs, they feel mildly disappointment. Nobody is asserting that you don't work hard. But I think people should stop worrying about whether a school would actually wear, and instead, focus on being creative. There is no such thing as being different for the sake of being different, because the entire point if for it to be different

[TimEOBrien]

Part of what attracts people to the concepts board is the thought of seeing something new. Concepts like Mau's USC pro combat, while probably not something USC would wear, are exciting and creative. So when people show concepts that are almost no different than the actually informs, they feel mildly disappointment. Nobody is asserting that you don't work hard. But I think people should stop worrying about whether a school would actually wear, and instead, focus on being creative. There is no such thing as being different for the sake of being different, because the entire point if for it to be different

This is a fair point. When people hear "concepts" they expect a certain level of newness. Today I doubled up Iowa and Michigan for two reasons,

1) They each only have a Home and Road in my set

and 2) because they're both more "tweak" than "concept"

For that mislead, I apologize. However, I personally disagree with your assertion that, "There is no such thing as being different for the sake of being different, because the entire point if for it to be different." If I change something on a uniform, it is not just to be different it is to affect the design in some way which I feel is significant to the identity of the team/thing I am tweaking/concepting... If your favorite team started wearing pink or neon green or whatever, for no stated purpose (not breast cancer awareness nor in a team color scheme), you would probably get upset. I know I would.

Different just to be different can lead to very poor design. The reason I don't like it when Oregon wears black, gray, neon or whatever is because it is just as absurd (to me) as them coming out in orange, black and white unis. Now people would be up in arms if they came out in Oregon State's colors, but they're just as arbitrary as neon and gray (I'll concede black, but only because BFBS is SOOOOO ubiquitous).

[thespleenenator]

Part of what attracts people to the concepts board is the thought of seeing something new. Concepts like Mau's USC pro combat, while probably not something USC would wear, are exciting and creative. So when people show concepts that are almost no different than the actually informs, they feel mildly disappointment. Nobody is asserting that you don't work hard. But I think people should stop worrying about whether a school would actually wear, and instead, focus on being creative. There is no such thing as being different for the sake of being different, because the entire point if for it to be different

This is a fair point. When people hear "concepts" they expect a certain level of newness. Today I doubled up Iowa and Michigan for two reasons,

1) They each only have a Home and Road in my set

and 2) because they're both more "tweak" than "concept"

For that mislead, I apologize. However, I personally disagree with your assertion that, "There is no such thing as being different for the sake of being different, because the entire point if for it to be different." If I change something on a uniform, it is not just to be different it is to affect the design in some way which I feel is significant to the identity of the team/thing I am tweaking/concepting... If your favorite team started wearing pink or neon green or whatever, for no stated purpose (not breast cancer awareness nor in a team color scheme), you would probably get upset. I know I would.

Different just to be different can lead to very poor design. The reason I don't like it when Oregon wears black, gray, neon or whatever is because it is just as absurd (to me) as them coming out in orange, black and white unis. Now people would be up in arms if they came out in Oregon State's colors, but they're just as arbitrary as neon and gray (I'll concede black, but only because BFBS is SOOOOO ubiquitous).

Well obviously, yes, there are some things that be pretty ridiculous, but my point was that you should change something significant in the uniform. How about using the winged helmet pattern on more of the uniform? The shoulders maybe?

[TheOneAndOnlyMau]

im not trying to say that you didnt put effort or time into these concepts or trying to belittle you as an artist or a designer in any way, shape or form. The point i was trying to make was that it seems like youre just putting seemingly exact replicas of current or past uniforms on the procambat template and calling it a B1G refresh... all i was trying to get you to do was push yourself a little harder, think outside the box a bit. i get that you like the tradition and history that is attached to the majority of the B1G sets (as do I), but there are ways to incorporate classic design elements, themes and existing brands into modern cutting edge designs. Modern is generally simplistic in nature, something that lends fairly well to doing a B1G re-do. With some careful thought and creativity, these could be great... but right now the execution just isnt there.

But hey, part of being a designer is sticking to your guns... but another vital part is taking critique is stride and using it (wether positive or negative) to push yourself to new heights

[drdougfresh]

Is it reductive to call a bush "bushy"? No. These are safe, and they are not concepts-- I think spleen brought up a good point. I see B1G concepts, and I think, "these are always the best because of how subdued the current designs are." I open this thread, and I see basic regurgitation of what they already wear (for the most part).

I don't see any attempts at belittling anyone here, and the fact that you turned it to that makes me a little disappointed. Criticism of your work is not personal-- if you post here, people will offer opinions. That's not an attack on you, nor should anything someone says to you on here ever be considered so.

As Mau said, you have to take all kind of feedback to become a good designer-- you can't gloat in the positive and get angry at the negative.

I just find this series to be a bit safe for a "concept" thread. "Tweaks" would be much better, because calling these concepts is like putting a Steakhouse storefront on a Paradise Bakery-- It's misleading and disheartening when you come in to check it out.

[RedSox44]

Make the candy stripe pants full time, and you're golden.

Bingo.