Maroon

Thank you, each of @MDGP @johnrafael @Ben5 for your feedback and advice. Based on some of the recommendations and demonstrations here alongside requests by Missouri State fans I shared this with, I tried to make a new version with some sharper corners and points, that is a bit more "modernized" while trying to maintain the retro script feeling, and that makes curves and internal shapes more consistent. I'm sure there are still improvements to be made, but I like the direction these are going! EDIT: A Missouri State fan requested the "State" over the Missouri outline with an additional thin maroon outline around the white stroke.

I appreciate that insight. Right now it is just for personal use and for fun because I want this concept to exist in the world and share it with fellow Bears fans (and I would not be using it to make apparel myself - ever), but I do have a few people I know to contact that are at the university and I want to at least suggest that they consider something like this for the university. Even if I would expect that if they like the idea (and that is a big if) they probably would have a professional recreate it and do a better job than I did. But what I wouldn't want to do is send something that uses someone else's intellectual and creative property that could accidentally be misconstrued as theft even if (very hypothetically) any final and official version was made using a different process. Does that make sense? This is incredibly helpful and not harsh at all. In fact, even showing your pen work with the paths helps me a lot, as I didn't create the "S" (or any of the letters) by creating a path that crosses over itself - I made an outline and then made another shape for the internal gaps. You make a really good point about the inner loop and outer loop. Now that you've explained your process and the need to make inner curves at least be generally the same as the outer curves, you can tell that the "S" has an inner shape is disconnected with the outer curve of the letter.

Thanks! That is really good advice that I honestly did not consider. I literally just used the pen tool and manually traced the edges, which was hard with often indefinite edges. Your method would have been much clearer and resulted in more automatic consistency in stroke width. I appreciate the suggestion. I did consider that, but I wanted to avoid violating any license requirements (and maybe I wouldn’t have, I’m just not aware enough of how those work and was afraid I would on accident).

Absolutely beautiful. Keeping with tradition while updating stylistic sensibilities to a modern audience. The use of the resigned lion but while staying yellow (which creates a necessary contrast with the other colors of the crest) was the perfect choice.

I initially did not want to make an individual "State" wordmark without "Missouri" or "MO" ahead of it, understanding that a maroon "State" would be more associated with Mississippi State. But on the Missouri State fan forum someone requested a design with "State" overlaying the shape of Missouri (thereby indicating that this does, in fact, refer to Missouri State). I made a few variations. Maroon "State" against Maroon State Outline (and with yellow background to show white outline) Smaller "State" within Missouri Outline: Maroon "State" with Maroon Missouri: White and Gold "State" with Maroon Missouri, with an alt color swap: Maroon "State" with Gold outline against a solid and filled Missouri (probably my least favorite of the variations):

Loons is probably my favorite one here as well. Love that center logo.

Recently, notable college athletics programs have reintroduced historic script wordmarks to their brand identity, sometimes just in "retro" apparel and sometimes for the team uniforms – Bradley, Michigan State, and Mississippi State are ready examples. My alma mater, Missouri State University, also has a history of a script wordmark from 1950 to 1956 first reading “Southwest State” then later “Southwest Missouri” in two variations: a white jersey with a maroon script and a maroon jersey with a white script with an outline. It was with these uniforms that the 1952 Bears made a surprise tournament run to capture the 1952 NAIA national championship and repeat in 1953. Thus far, Missouri State has not introduced any kid of script wordmark, so I thought I'd try my hand at recreating it using photos of the 1950s teams from digitized yearbooks. I am a complete amateur and have never done anything like this before, so I would love feedback. I tried my best to make them match the jerseys, but it was difficult because (1) when zoomed in these are very pixilated and I am unclear what the original details are such as precise curves or angles, and (2) there are variations between different jerseys from year-to-year and sometimes even within the same year so I had to sometimes choose between different styles. I will accept any feedback, but especially covet critiques and advice on ways to make it better reflect the historic jerseys, places where curves, angles, and ligatures could be made better, and how to perhaps make something look better/cleaner/more consistent even if it doesn't follow the historic version perfectly. I created this by hand tracing with the CS5 Illustrator pen tool and absolutely believe there are areas for improvement. Thank you! EDIT: Updating the OP to include the most current versions of the script wordmarks. Many thanks to MDGB, johnrafael, and Ben5 for their suggestions that helped this become better. I am still very open to recommendations and potential improvements! The original versions prior to suggested edits: Photographs that inspired this wordmark:

LA Chargers vs. Las Vegas Minnesota vs. Cincinnati Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis Denver vs. Detroit NY Giants vs. New Orleans Chicago vs. Cleveland Atlanta vs. Carolina Tampa Bay vs. Green Bay NY Jets vs. Miami Kansas City vs. New England Houston vs. Tennessee San Francisco vs. Arizona Washington vs. LA Rams Dallas vs. Buffalo Baltimore vs. Jacksonville Philadelphia vs. Seattle

I woulda picked Pittsburgh so that’s a loss for me. Houston vs. NY Jets LA Rams vs. Baltimore Carolina vs. New Orleans Indianapolis vs. Cincinnati Tampa Bay vs. Atlanta Jacksonville vs. Cleveland Detroit vs. Chicago Seattle vs. San Francisco Minnesota vs. Las Vegas Denver vs. LA Chargers Buffalo vs. Kansas City Philadelphia vs. Dallas Green Bay vs. NY Giants Tennessee vs. Miami

Seattle vs. Dallas Indianapolis vs. Tennessee Atlanta vs. NY Jets Detroit vs. New Orleans Denver vs. Houston LA Chargers vs. New England Arizona vs. Pittsburgh Miami vs. Washington Carolina vs. Tampa Bay San Francisco vs. Philadelphia Cleveland vs. LA Rams Kansas City vs. Green Bay Cincinnati vs. Jacksonville

Shoot, missed a week Green Bay vs. Detroit Washington vs. Dallas San Francisco vs. Seattle Miami vs. NY Jets Tampa Bay vs. Indianapolis New England vs. NY Giants Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati Carolina vs. Tennessee Jacksonville vs. Houston New Orleans vs. Atlanta LA Rams vs. Arizona Cleveland vs. Denver Buffalo vs. Philadelphia Kansas City vs. Las Vegas Baltimore vs. LA Chargers Chicago vs. Minnesota

Chicago tonight Rest to come EDIT: Indianapolis vs. New England Cleveland vs. Baltimore Green Bay vs. Pittsburgh San Francisco vs. Jacksonville New Orleans vs. Minnesota Houston vs. Cincinnati Tennessee vs. Tampa Bay Detroit vs. LA Chargers Atlanta vs. Arizona NY Giants vs. Dallas Washington vs. Seattle NY Jets vs. Las Vegas Denver vs. Buffalo

Tennessee vs. Pittsburgh Miami vs. Kansas City Minnesota vs. Atlanta Chicago vs. New Orleans LA Rams vs. Green Bay Washington vs. New England Seattle vs. Baltimore Tampa Bay vs. Houston Arizona vs. Cleveland Indianapolis vs. Carolina NY Giants vs. Las Vegas Dallas vs. Philadelphia Buffalo vs. Cincinnati LA Chargers vs. NY Jets

I am having a very poor prognostication season, and my fantasy football teams reflect that reality as well. Tampa Bay vs. Buffalo NY Jets vs. NY Giants Jacksonville vs. Pittsburgh Philadelphia vs. Washington LA Rams vs. Dallas Minnesota vs. Green Bay Atlanta vs. Tennessee New England vs. Miami New Orleans vs. Indianapolis Houston vs. Carolina Cleveland vs. Seattle Cincinnati vs. San Francisco Kansas City vs. Denver Baltimore vs. Arizona Chicago vs. LA Chargers Las Vegas vs. Detroit

Though still not great, this looks so much better.

The absolute worst crest in all of MLS. The chrome is bad enough but at least it could be forgiven, the rainbow-adjacent gradient outline is heinous. The primary visual on the logo also is just some abstract lines and curves that mean nothing. They fabricated four “virtues” to justify something that isn’t identifiable as anything. And as for those “virtues” I don’t think it makes a lot of sense for one of them to be - literally - that they aren’t loud.

New Orleans Tampa Bay Las Vegas Cleveland Washington Detroit Buffalo Seattle LA Rams Kansas City Green Bay Philadelphia San Francisco

Kansas City wins Thursday. Rest of picks come later Baltimore Atlanta Chicago Seattle San Francisco Miami Indianapolis New Orleans Las Vegas LA Rams Philadelphia Detroit Buffalo Dallas

Chicago vs. Washington Jacksonville vs. Buffalo New Orleans vs. New England Tennessee vs. Indianapolis Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh Carolina vs. Detroit Houston vs. Atlanta NY Giants vs. Miami Cincinnati vs. Arizona Philadelphia vs. LA Rams NY Jets vs. Denver Kansas City vs. Minnesota Dallas vs. San Francisco Green Bay vs. Las Vegas

The Timber's crest truly is fantastic. Sometimes I forget how good it is.

Basically, I think the Sounders successfully achieved their goal of simplifying their logo to fit current trends and scalability issues with the previous logo without butchering their brand. What they produced is straightforward, easily identifiable with their city, and includes shape/color nods to previous iterations of their brand. But really it's the wordmark that is beautifully done.

Detroit vs. Green Bay Atlanta vs. Jacksonville LA Rams vs. Indianapolis Baltimore vs. Cleveland Minnesota vs. Carolina Cincinnati vs. Tennessee Tampa Bay vs. New Orleans Miami vs. Buffalo Denver vs. Chicago Washington vs. Philadelphia Pittsburgh vs. Houston Las Vegas vs. LA Chargers Arizona vs. San Francisco New England vs. Dallas Kansas City vs. NY Jets Seattle vs. NY Giants

Week 3 schedule: Missed out on picking SF Atlanta vs. Detroit LA Chargers vs. Minnesota New Orleans vs. Green Bay Houston vs. Jacksonville Denver vs. Miami Tennessee vs. Cleveland Buffalo vs. Washington Indianapolis vs. Baltimore New England vs. NY Jets Carolina vs. Seattle Chicago vs. Kansas City Dallas vs. Arizona Pittsburgh vs. Las Vegas Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay LA Rams vs. Cincinnati

Minnesota vs. Philadelphia Baltimore vs. Cincinnati Seattle vs. Detroit Indianapolis vs. Houston Chicago vs. Tampa Bay Kansas City vs. Jacksonville Green Bay vs. Atlanta Las Vegas vs. Buffalo LA Chargers vs. Tennessee San Francisco vs. LA Rams NY Giants vs. Arizona NY Jets vs. Dallas Washington vs. Denver Miami vs. New England New Orleans vs. Carolina Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh

Detroit vs. Kansas City Cincinnati vs. Cleveland Houston vs. Baltimore Tampa Bay vs. Minnesota Carolina vs. Atlanta Arizona vs. Washington Jacksonville vs. Indianapolis San Francisco vs. Pittsburgh Tennessee vs. New Orleans Las Vegas vs. Denver Philadelphia vs. New England LA Rams vs. Seattle Miami vs. LA Chargers Green Bay vs. Chicago Dallas vs. NY Giants Buffalo vs. NY Jets