Universal Maxims of Uniform Design

[8BW14]

10 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

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

 

That Ravens uniform is pretty bad, though.

I agree. I was just about to post the Ravens as an example that does not work. Georgia does, though. I'm having a hard time thinking of an example of a good uniform with the helmet, colored jersey, and pants that are different colors and the pants are not white or gray/silver. 

[Carolingian Steamroller]

57 minutes ago, 8BW14 said:

I agree. I was just about to post the Ravens as an example that does not work. Georgia does, though. I'm having a hard time thinking of an example of a good uniform with the helmet, colored jersey, and pants that are different colors and the pants are not white or gray/silver. 

 

I think it's tough in part because three color teams often design one of the three as a neutral like grey/silver.

 

For example: Ole Miss

[Carolingian Steamroller]

Maybe this counts for half? 

 

[Carolingian Steamroller]

This is a three color uniform which is awful for obvious reasons:

 

[Jetlodge]

16 minutes ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

I think it's tough in part because three color teams often design one of the three as a neutral like grey/silver.

 

For example: Ole Miss

 

One major gripe with that uniform in particular is the discontinuity of the shades of blue present. I’m all for powder blue helmets but the navy stripe on the pants make it clash pretty badly. 

[Carolingian Steamroller]

1 minute ago, Jetlodge said:

 

One major gripe with that uniform in particular is the discontinuity of the shades of blue present. I’m all for powder blue helmets but the navy stripe on the pants make it clash pretty badly. 

 

That's another rule: stripe colors ought to maintain continuity across the whole uniform. New Orleans Saints, I'm looking in your direction...

[Ray Lankford]

11 minutes ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

That's another rule: stripe colors ought to maintain continuity across the whole uniform. New Orleans Saints, I'm looking in your direction...

I'd add stripe design as well. It bugs me how the the Nats' home and alt piping has two stripes but their road has three.

[SFGiants58]

Side note to the squatchee rule: it shouldn’t be a color that appears nowhere else on the cap.

 

 

Compare the modern Phillies’ cap with the vintage ones.

[Discrim]

I'd say teams with a metallic gold or silver helmet should generally opt for same color pants in football...but then there were two exceptions to that: UAB during the Roddy White era (at least at home) and the Tampa Bay Storm, both of whom inexplicably looked better in white pants than gold.

[WavePunter]

On 4/26/2018 at 2:33 PM, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

That's another rule: stripe colors ought to maintain continuity across the whole uniform. New Orleans Saints, I'm looking in your direction...

When you say "continuity", what exactly do you mean? There are several ways to evaluate that statement and apply that "rule" to uniforms..

[The_Admiral]

I think this one's a universal rule: there should never be more layers on a NOB than there are on the number beneath it. It can match or have fewer, but never more. Single-layer names go with anything, but you could never do a triple-layer (or double-outline, whatever you prefer) above a single-layer number. It would look ridiculous.

[Carolingian Steamroller]

1 minute ago, the admiral said:

I think this one's a universal rule: there should never be more layers on a NOB than there are on the number beneath it. It can match or have fewer, but never more. Single-layer names go with anything, but you could never do a triple-layer (or double-outline, whatever you prefer) above a single-layer number. It would look ridiculous.

 

Ohhh that's a good one.

[BrandMooreArt]

ive laid out my thoughts about football specifically. y'all can do with it as you wish: https://medium.com/graphic-language/football-uniform-grading-scale-e351024bdc3c

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

7 minutes ago, the admiral said:

I think this one's a universal rule: there should never be more layers on a NOB than there are on the number beneath it. It can match or have fewer, but never more. Single-layer names go with anything, but you could never do a triple-layer (or double-outline, whatever you prefer) above a single-layer number. It would look ridiculous.

 

Excellent.  This is one that I was going to mention.

The 1980 Blue Jays came close to violating this principle. 

 

The number, despite the thin line in the middle, can be thought of as a one-colour number because it has no outline. So the two-colour name was terrible alongside it.

That was the first year the Blue Jays had names on the road.  They took them off the next year, and didn't return them for the duration of this uniform, which lasted through 1988.  (Though the home uniforms had names, in one colour. And when the names returned on the road, they, too, were in one colour.)

 

[SFGiants58]

9 minutes ago, the admiral said:

I think this one's a universal rule: there should never be more layers on a NOB than there are on the number beneath it. It can match or have fewer, but never more. Single-layer names go with anything, but you could never do a triple-layer (or double-outline, whatever you prefer) above a single-layer number. It would look ridiculous.

 

Also, when dealing with 3-layer numbers, either use single-color NOB letters or a 3-layer condensed font. Drop shadows, on the other hand, should be left off most NOB’s:

 

 

It just makes things look messy, even with a condensed font.

[Carolingian Steamroller]

11 minutes ago, BrandMooreArt said:

ive laid out my thoughts about football specifically. y'all can do with it as you wish: https://medium.com/graphic-language/football-uniform-grading-scale-e351024bdc3c

 

 

Out of curiosity, as a Bears fan where did you grade their uniforms?

[jdavidev]

All hockey jerseys must have hem stripes UNLESS the pants color contrasts the jersey color.

[Gothamite]

3 hours ago, WavePunter said:

When you say "continuity", what exactly do you mean? There are several ways to evaluate that statement and apply that "rule" to uniforms..

 

I took it to mean that since the Saints have Braisher stripes on their helmet, they should have Braisher stripes on their gold pants.   Or they should take the single black stripe from the gold pants and put it on the helmet.

 

Like elements should have like stripes.  That’s my rule here. 

[8BW14]

11 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

I took it to mean that since the Saints have Braisher stripes on their helmet, they should have Braisher stripes on their gold pants.   Or they should take the single black stripe from the gold pants and put it on the helmet.

 

Like elements should have like stripes.  That’s my rule here. 

Exactly. I have always though that the helmet and pant stripes should match since they are long and vertical, especially when the pants and helmet are the same color. Sleeves don't necessarily have to have stripes, nor do they have to "match" but they should "go with" the helmet and pants stripes, like this:

 And this:

but not this:

[BrandMooreArt]

3 hours ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

Out of curiosity, as a Bears fan where did you grade their uniforms?

 

A for them. sometimes the jersey stripes can get pinched off, depending on cut/tailoring, but for the most part they are there, so theres no glaring flaws.