Universal Maxims of Uniform Design

[Carolingian Steamroller]

One question that has been bugging me is how to define what make a good or bad design. Specifically, what are the aesthetic maxims that any designer ought to follow to make a "football uniform" or "baseball uniform" or "hockey uniform." Given those rules, can they be bent or broken in certain scenarios? 

 

So for example a baseball uniform in my mind, follows the following rules:

 

Home uniforms should have either pinstripes or piping (collar, headspoon, sleeve cuff, pants) BUT NEVER both. 

 

Undershirts should match either the very top or bottom of the stirrup (sanitary socks do not count unless they are a non-white color)

 

Whatever script is on the front of a jersey should match the numbers on the back in terms of colors. For example red outlined in blue for both the team name and the number on the back.

 

Belts should match either the cap or the cleats, preferably both. 

 

Pants piping should be no wider than 1 inch. 

 

Piping should match from the jersey to the pants in some capacity.

 

Softball tops should generally be worn with a cap of the same or darker color. 

 

The squatchee on the cap should match the brim when the brim is a different color from the crown. If the brim is the same color as the crown, the squatchee can be any color. 

[jn8]

This is interesting. The only thing I’m overly picky about is when football teams have a white helmet. White helmets don’t work unless they are worn with white pants and/or a white jersey. Examples I dislike include Wyoming W/B/Y and the Tennessee Titans old W/N/C. I can’t stand that look of three different colors with the lightest being the helmet. It just looks unbalanced. On the other side, when Nebraska goes W/R/W or the Jets go W/G/W I’m perfectly fine with it. This is really the only thing I don’t have a single time there’s an exception to my rule, almost everything else I prefer has one or more exceptions to it. 

 

Good combination with a white helmet:

 

 

Bad combination with a white helmet:

[VDizzle12]

11 hours ago, jn8 said:

This is interesting. The only thing I’m overly picky about is when football teams have a white helmet. White helmets don’t work unless they are worn with white pants and/or a white jersey. Examples I dislike include Wyoming W/B/Y and the Tennessee Titans old W/N/C. I can’t stand that look of three different colors with the lightest being the helmet. It just looks unbalanced. On the other side, when Nebraska goes W/R/W or the Jets go W/G/W I’m perfectly fine with it. This is really the only thing I don’t have a single time there’s an exception to my rule, almost everything else I prefer has one or more exceptions to it.

 

I've always felt that teams should have a pant color option that matches their helmet. All but four (or five?) NFL teams followed this in 2017. Steelers, Giants, Broncos, Browns and maybe the Bengals. Although one could argue that their helmet is half orange and half black. Seems like when two elements of the uniform match, it creates a nice color balance. Which is one reason I think the Jets, Nebraska, etc look good.

 

For other sports...

 

Basketball:

Always match the jersey with the shorts and jerseys should never have sleeves. 

Never really liked it when teams use a logo on the front of the jersey instead of a wordmark. Although the black Cavs jersey has really grown on me.

 

 

Baseball:

Side panels on jerseys never look good, even for BP jerseys.

 

Hockey:

Pants and gloves shouldn't be bright colors, such as white, silver, or neons like green, orange, volt etc.

I'll give Vegas a pass for the white gloves. For some reason I really like them. But I can't think of another instance where that worked.  

[TBGKon]

For football, my opinion is that the helmet should match either the jersey or the pants, but never both.  

 

Also the helmet, jersey, and pants should not be three different colors.  It just looks disorganized that way.

[MJWalker45]

11 minutes ago, VDizzle12 said:

 

I've always felt that teams should have a pant color option that matches their helmet. All but four (or five?) NFL teams followed this in 2017. Steelers, Giants, Broncos, Browns and maybe the Bengals. Although one could argue that their helmet is half orange and half black. Seems like when two elements of the uniform match, it creates a nice color balance. Which is one reason I think the Jets, Nebraska, etc look good.

The Browns have orange pants, they just aren't primaries. 

[VDizzle12]

42 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

The Browns have orange pants, they just aren't primaries. 

 

I know they had them with the new uniforms, but figured they were never going to wear them again. Didn't wear any orange in 2017.

[8BW14]

I was gonna harp on some things football teams do with their uniforms, but as I was typing, I thought of an exception to almost every rule. The one I'll fight for to the bitter end though, is that socks should always contrast the pants color on a football uniform.

 

I know someone has said it before, but in baseball, if the cap has a contrasting brim, the squatchee should match the brim. ALWAYS, with no exceptions.

 

Did I do that right?

 

[C-Squared]

1 hour ago, AstroBull21 said:

Also the helmet, jersey, and pants should not be three different colors.  It just looks disorganized that way.

 

I don't think its an issue if the colors feel well-balanced overall.

 

 

 

 

[RichO]

13 hours ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

Home uniforms should have either pinstripes or piping (collar, headspoon, sleeve cuff, pants) BUT NEVER both. 

 

 

Inevitably, when someone tries to come up with "rules" there are exceptions where something that shouldn't work by the "rules" does but this one might be the rare absolutely true one.

[Carolingian Steamroller]

23 minutes ago, 8BW14 said:

I was gonna harp on some things football teams do with their uniforms, but as I was typing, I thought of an exception to almost every rule. The one I'll fight for to the bitter end though, is that socks should always contrast the pants color on a football uniform.

 

I know someone has said it before, but in baseball, if the cap has a contrasting brim, the squatchee should match the brim. ALWAYS, with no exceptions.

 

Did I do that right?

 

 

Yep! Nailed it.

 

The socks contrasting with the pants is an absolute of good design. Any design that fails to show off the knickers get a demerit. 

[Carolingian Steamroller]

13 hours ago, jn8 said:

This is interesting. The only thing I’m overly picky about is when football teams have a white helmet. White helmets don’t work unless they are worn with white pants and/or a white jersey. Examples I dislike include Wyoming W/B/Y and the Tennessee Titans old W/N/C. I can’t stand that look of three different colors with the lightest being the helmet. It just looks unbalanced. On the other side, when Nebraska goes W/R/W or the Jets go W/G/W I’m perfectly fine with it. This is really the only thing I don’t have a single time there’s an exception to my rule, almost everything else I prefer has one or more exceptions to it. 

 

Generally I think this is a good rule but I'd make an exception for the gold pants Chargers.

[jn8]

1 hour ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

Generally I think this is a good rule but I'd make an exception for the gold pants Chargers.

Honestly, I’ve never liked this look. Maybe that’s just me being a Broncos fan clouding my judgement, but either way, I still don’t like it. 

[8BW14]

1 hour ago, C-Squared said:

 

I don't think its an issue if the colors feel well-balanced overall.

 

 

 

 

I would agree that all of these examples work. I would also add the Falcons home uniforms and the Texans red alts to the list as well... oh and the beauty that was the Cleveland Browns home uniform.

 

 

I think it almost always works as long as the helmet is darker than the pants. That's why I don't really like those yellow pants the Chargers used to wear. They would need to be paired with a blue helmet, (which they did and it looked amazing) or with a yellow one to match the pants.

[McGlinchey23]

I don't care much for uni rules

[B-Rich]

My personal:

-- The ONLY time the jersey and pants in football should be the same color is when they are both white. Everything else looks "bush league" .

[Gothamite]

2 hours ago, C-Squared said:

 

I don't think its an issue if the colors feel well-balanced overall.

 

 

 

 

 

Those may be well-balanced only because they all involve white pants.  Try another color, and the whole thing comes crashing down.

[Gothamite]

16 hours ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

Home uniforms should have either pinstripes or piping (collar, headspoon, sleeve cuff, pants) BUT NEVER both. 

 

2 hours ago, RichO said:

Inevitably, when someone tries to come up with "rules" there are exceptions where something that shouldn't work by the "rules" does but this one might be the rare absolutely true one.

 

And yet, there's an exception to that one.  For a retro-style look, it does quite well.

 

[Carolingian Steamroller]

5 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

Those may be well-balanced only because they all involve white pants.  Try another color, and the whole thing comes crashing down.

 

Thoughts on this version?

 

Or:

[Gothamite]

16 hours ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

The squatchee on the cap should match the brim when the brim is a different color from the crown. If the brim is the same color as the crown, the squatchee can be any color. 

 

Yes, yes, yes.  And like so many rules, that one was understood and accepted until recently.

 

These look great.

 

These do not.

[Gothamite]

4 minutes ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

Thoughts on this version?

 

Or:

 

That particular gray is close enough to white to work.  They're relatively neutral.

 

That Ravens uniform is pretty bad, though.