MLS Concepts (Series Complete!)

[sky1324]

I like the update to the hexagon, not what I was expecting but it feels more cohesive.

 

As for Vancouver: good god man, how do you do it? Absolute, pure, unadulterated fire. I love the new logo, I love the '70s-style font, I love every single thing about all three jerseys, literally just nothing to say but praise here.

[vtgco]

On 7/23/2021 at 3:41 PM, QCS said:

I like the update to the hexagon, not what I was expecting but it feels more cohesive.

 

As for Vancouver: good god man, how do you do it? Absolute, pure, unadulterated fire. I love the new logo, I love the '70s-style font, I love every single thing about all three jerseys, literally just nothing to say but praise here.

Thank you! I'll say the font is just the team's original NASL-era wordmark, but your kind words about the rest are appreciated and the suggestions and encouragement have definitely helped make this happen.

 

Speaking of inspiring comments, this one is based on a comment on my short 2020 Fauxback series from @Whittier S:

The Sporting KC rebrand seemed to be a part of the team's massive revitalization, but the Wizards name is more fun IMHO, and it sounds like the retro brand is finally gaining a bit more respect amongst KC fans. So the logo is an era-combination, with the team's classic rainbow and the modern badge reshaped into a cauldron (inspired by the aptly named supporters group). The C in KC is surrounded by stars to evoke a moon & stars wizard hat design! (The fonts are Fonia and Sebastien Slab Round.)

 

The home is a combo of the Sporting-era 2013 state-line, 2013 argyle, and 2015 windowpane kits.

The away places the rainbow of old on top of the Kauffman Center for the Arts.

 

C&C appreciated, especially Sacramento and DC suggestions. 

[sky1324]

Very nice! I love that crest and the rainbow clash kit is nice. The argyle is always nice, that KC monogram is fire. Great work!

[vtgco]

Next up, the Quakes:

This logo is inspired by this Earthquakes concept by Benjamin Alvarado, but also incorporates the zig-zagging Q from the NASL-era logo. (The font is Righteous.)

 

I really tried to make a San Jose City Hall-themed home jersey work, but I couldn't get it to a place where I was happy with it...

So instead I just went with a design based on the logo, which if you squint at it could maybe justified as representing the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Bay.

 

The away is admittedly similar to my Nina Simone/music-inspired Carolina Courage concept, but this one is a seismograph theme that uses sound waves from of Quakes fans chanting as the seismic activity (Ideally it'd be a better audio source but you get the point)

 

[Axe]

That logo is a great fusion of the NASL and current logo. Very nicely done! 

 

I love how outside the box your work is.

[sky1324]

Excellent logo, big fan of the jerseys as well. Great stuff once again!

[TheGiantsFan]

I haven't commented on here in a while, but still some consistently good stuff coming from you! I do have some little nitpicks as well, though

 

Miami: I know you're going for the asymmetrical look for the clash, but I don't know if I'm feeling the Calle Ocho mosaic being relegated to a bottom corner of the kit. Have you tried replacing the curved line at the top with a mosaic-inspired design so that the mosaic is the main focal point?

 

Portland: The home kit looks slightly off with the chevron abruptly ending where it is: what if you try extending the chevron all the way to the side panels while keeping everything else as-is? I LOVE the clash kit, as it's subtle and very pleasing to the eye. Great job on that one!

 

Atlanta: The railroad stripes is a nice new adaptation of Atlanta's five-stripe design, and it's cool how you incorporated the map of Georgia into a unique new crest.

 

Dallas: It's a nice crest you've made there, and I like how it's a more "futuristic" design for Dallas instead of the usual Western design tropes. I like the addition of pale green to the mix, and I always love the little details that you put into your kits (especially the hoops of these ones).

 

Vancouver: Nice and classy! If you really wanted to, you can even make the clash wave kit more like a totem pole to suit the area, but this kit is good as-is!

 

Kansas City: I'm not really feeling the 3D-style clash kit, unfortunately . You could probably convert the 3D design to something flatter like this SoCal casino's logo and to fit what you have going on in the crest.

 

San Jose: I really like the current Quakes crest, but this one's good too! I really like the move to a light teal, and your crest slightly reminds me of this discontinued Sharks alternate logo. I would probably ditch the horizontal stripes and fully commit to the diagonal stripes for the full kit to make San Jose stand out. The City Hall version can be salvaged by making the white stripes go all the way down the crest (instead of stopping at the sponsor logo), and you can probably even pull off a reference to the exterior of the SAP Center. I love the clash kit, by the way!

 

---

 

Future Sacramento suggestions: Remaining cognizant of your NWSL Sacramento concept, I would suggest a blue/gold color scheme that many consider as California's "unofficial" state colors. For my two Sacramento teams, I was inspired by downtown's wayfinding signage and rigid diagonal grid. Even though Sacramento is the state capital, I would kinda stray away from the red/cream bear motif that Sac Republic currently uses, only because the Fresno Grizzlies (who are hated in Sacramento) use it.

 

---

 

I hope my nitpicky comments aren't too much, and I always enjoy seeing what you put out in the world (it inspires my designs as well!). Keep up the good work, and I can't wait to see what's next

 

 

[vtgco]

On 8/8/2021 at 10:49 PM, Axe said:

That logo is a great fusion of the NASL and current logo. Very nicely done! 

 

I love how outside the box your work is.

Why thank you; I'm glad the era combination comes through, and that the designs are "fun" outside-the-box and not "too far!"

 

 

 

On 8/9/2021 at 8:21 AM, QCS said:

Excellent logo, big fan of the jerseys as well. Great stuff once again!

Glad to hear it! Thanks again.

 

 

 

On 8/9/2021 at 9:13 AM, TheGiantsFan said:

 hope my nitpicky comments aren't too much, and I always enjoy seeing what you put out in the world (it inspires my designs as well!). Keep up the good work, and I can't wait to see what's next 

Hey, I appreciate the nitpicks; it means people cared enough to take a closer look! Glad to have the inspiration going both ways
 

Kansas City

Spoiler

On 8/9/2021 at 9:13 AM, TheGiantsFan said:

Kansas City: I'm not really feeling the 3D-style clash kit, unfortunately . You could probably convert the 3D design to something flatter like this SoCal casino's logo and to fit what you have going on in the crest.

I just figured that perspective made for the most easily recognizable image of the Kauffman Center, but that's a fair opinion... So I found a straight-on shot of the building that feels less iconic but might be more to your liking:

 

Portland

Spoiler

On 8/9/2021 at 9:13 AM, TheGiantsFan said:

Portland: The home kit looks slightly off with the chevron abruptly ending where it is: what if you try extending the chevron all the way to the side panels while keeping everything else as-is?

Glad you like the woodgrain kit; I really was proud of that one. As for the home, I wasn't sure how to integrate the spires on each side of the bridge tower any other way, but I agree that it probably looks better without them:

San Jose

Spoiler

On 8/9/2021 at 9:13 AM, TheGiantsFan said:

San Jose: I really like the current Quakes crest, but this one's good too! I really like the move to a light teal, and your crest slightly reminds me of this discontinued Sharks alternate logo. I would probably ditch the horizontal stripes and fully commit to the diagonal stripes for the full kit to make San Jose stand out. The City Hall version can be salvaged by making the white stripes go all the way down the crest (instead of stopping at the sponsor logo), and you can probably even pull off a reference to the exterior of the SAP Center. I love the clash kit, by the way!

That Sharks logo definitely seems underused! Funny that you mention it; I briefly considered referencing the SJ civic sun symbol that appears both on that logo and the Quakes' old logo for this concept... I figured it'd have to be pretty geometric to match the rest of the logo, though, so maybe the callback's not as obvious:

 

Here's that all-diagonals version of the home kit that you suggested:

 

And, with your good idea of extending the white stripes down farther, a couple of takes on the City Hall jersey:

Sacramento brainstorming

Spoiler

On 8/9/2021 at 9:13 AM, TheGiantsFan said:

Future Sacramento suggestions: Remaining cognizant of your NWSL Sacramento concept, I would suggest a blue/gold color scheme that many consider as California's "unofficial" state colors. For my two Sacramento teams, I was inspired by downtown's wayfinding signage and rigid diagonal grid. Even though Sacramento is the state capital, I would kinda stray away from the red/cream bear motif that Sac Republic currently uses, only because the Fresno Grizzlies (who are hated in Sacramento) use it.

Hadn't considered the Fresno Grizzlies (though the Republic had those colors first...)

And the idea of ditching the bear hadn't occurred to me until your comment. That line of thinking led me to a bit of inspiration!

 

That said, I might just ditch red and keep the cream and brown; those colors are underused. Maybe I'll try to use blue and yellow for the away, but hopefully I can do it without copying your Capital City concept or getting too close to the Galaxy or IRL Quakes away.

 

Anways, thanks again for your comprehensive critique!

 

[vtgco]

And the LA Galaxy:

Switching to the spiral galaxy-shaped crest has been done very nicely before by some excellent Galaxy concepts, so really my only addition to that formula is my attempt to make an A look a bit like the LAX Theme Building:

Take that how you will. (The wordmark font is Venera.)

 

The home jersey is an odd take on the sash, with a night-time skyline photo, a sunset beach photo, and a galaxy photo embedded inside.

The away jersey is a reference to the Whittier Blvd sign in East LA, which has four-pointed stars--perfect for the LA Galaxy!

 

I also tried to make a version in the original LA Galaxy crest shape:

 

As always, C&C appreciated!

[GriffinM6]

That honestly might be my favorite crest in the whole series. Great idea to use the LAX building. Love both kits as well!

[TheGiantsFan]

Great job on the updates! I particularly like your first City Hall-inspired San Jose kit, as the second one looks a little clunky with the additional City Hall element.

 

I LOVE what you did for the Galaxy! The home crest is a very vibrant and refreshing take on their iconic sash, and I really like seeing a different take on a Whittier Arch kit (which itself lends to really cool designs). Somehow I never actually thought of using the LAX Theme Building for a soccer design, and now you got ideas stirring in my head for this Inglewood design I've been stuck on for a while.

 

Well done!

[MDTrey4]

That Galaxy home kit is such a refreshing take on probably the only classic jersey in MLS. I also don't think the KC monogram is getting enough love. It's so clean and the placement of the stars around it are perfect. Not to mention the cauldron-shaped crest. A good call back to the Wizards days.

[vtgco]

5 hours ago, GriffinM6 said:

That honestly might be my favorite crest in the whole series. Great idea to use the LAX building. Love both kits as well!

Thank you; I had my doubts about that crest so I'm glad you like it so much

 

2 hours ago, TheGiantsFan said:

Great job on the updates! I particularly like your first City Hall-inspired San Jose kit, as the second one looks a little clunky with the additional City Hall element.

 

I LOVE what you did for the Galaxy! The home crest is a very vibrant and refreshing take on their iconic sash, and I really like seeing a different take on a Whittier Arch kit (which itself lends to really cool designs). Somehow I never actually thought of using the LAX Theme Building for a soccer design, and now you got ideas stirring in my head for this Inglewood design I've been stuck on for a while.

 

Well done!

Oof I hadn't noticed that you did a Whittier sign design; I guess great minds or something, but I'm glad they're still pretty distinct.

I look forward to seeing your take on the Theme Building, if you end up doing that; I imagine yours will probably look more like the real thing

Also, thanks for the advice on those updates; I'm glad you liked them.

 

2 hours ago, MDTrey4 said:

That Galaxy home kit is such a refreshing take on probably the only classic jersey in MLS. I also don't think the KC monogram is getting enough love. It's so clean and the placement of the stars around it are perfect. Not to mention the cauldron-shaped crest. A good call back to the Wizards days.

Thank you! I started out with a pretty traditional Galaxy sash, but I wanted to try remixing it a bit more, so I'm happy it's "refreshing" and not "sacrilegious."

And don't forget the Chicago Fire's hoop, that's classic MLS and it was ridiculous of them to ditch it!

 

And that KC monogram only looks as good as it does because I switched to the existing Fonia font; it did not look quite as good when I tried to make it custom

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

[RichardWitham]

On 8/10/2021 at 1:33 PM, vtgco said:

Why thank you; I'm glad the era combination comes through, and that the designs are "fun" outside-the-box and not "too far!"

 

 

 

Glad to hear it! Thanks again.

 

 

 

Hey, I appreciate the nitpicks; it means people cared enough to take a closer look! Glad to have the inspiration going both ways
 

Kansas City

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I just figured that perspective made for the most easily recognizable image of the Kauffman Center, but that's a fair opinion... So I found a straight-on shot of the building that feels less iconic but might be more to your liking:

 

Portland

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Glad you like the woodgrain kit; I really was proud of that one. As for the home, I wasn't sure how to integrate the spires on each side of the bridge tower any other way, but I agree that it probably looks better without them:

San Jose

  Reveal hidden contents

 

That Sharks logo definitely seems underused! Funny that you mention it; I briefly considered referencing the SJ civic sun symbol that appears both on that logo and the Quakes' old logo for this concept... I figured it'd have to be pretty geometric to match the rest of the logo, though, so maybe the callback's not as obvious:

 

Here's that all-diagonals version of the home kit that you suggested:

 

And, with your good idea of extending the white stripes down farther, a couple of takes on the City Hall jersey:

Sacramento brainstorming

  Hide contents

 

Hadn't considered the Fresno Grizzlies (though the Republic had those colors first...)

And the idea of ditching the bear hadn't occurred to me until your comment. That line of thinking led me to a bit of inspiration!

 

That said, I might just ditch red and keep the cream and brown; those colors are underused. Maybe I'll try to use blue and yellow for the away, but hopefully I can do it without copying your Capital City concept or getting too close to the Galaxy or IRL Quakes away.

 

Anways, thanks again for your comprehensive critique!

 

i mean sacramenot city flag colors are blue white greena nd gold so a combo of all 4 for the away?

[GoCubsGo]

Got to love em’ quakes! Love the Second Jersey for SJ. And For those Bay area fans, they shake the stadium(No pun here was planned-Jerry Bob Dud, 2019)

[sky1324]

I love that Galaxy home kit, the images embedded inside the sash is great. That crest is awesome as well, the galaxy-shaped design is always great and you've done it justice here.

[vtgco]

On 8/13/2021 at 3:33 PM, RichardWitham said:

i mean sacramenot city flag colors are blue white greena nd gold so a combo of all 4 for the away?

Yeah, I think the addition of green is a great idea to help differentiate it from my blue Sacramento flag-themed kit for my NWSL series!

 

As for the design, I worry I might end up doing another Tower Bridge or Capitol design, but if you know of any other city landmarks/icons that might also help inspire the design, that'd be appreciated!

 

On 8/13/2021 at 7:52 PM, GoCubsGo said:

Got to love em’ quakes! Love the Second Jersey for SJ. And For those Bay area fans, they shake the stadium(No pun here was planned-Jerry Bob Dud, 2019)

Thanks! I look forward to seeing that for myself at the Sounders away game in San Jose; or, rather, I hope to see Quakes fans not celebrating that much 

 

On 8/14/2021 at 5:56 PM, QCS said:

I love that Galaxy home kit, the images embedded inside the sash is great. That crest is awesome as well, the galaxy-shaped design is always great and you've done it justice here.

The photos were a last second addition; glad it worked 

 

I really appreciate all the enthusiastic responses! I'll have NYCFC done shortly, and I'm open to advice on the three remaining teams (SAC, ATX, DC)

[vtgco]

So, for New York City, I have two logo ideas that are pretty similar:

   

The first one is pretty much marrying the best elements of three existing NYCFC concepts by Milo Kowalski, Hyperakt, and mcrosby...  (The font is Zeronero.) The ideas might not be the most unique, but I feel good about the execution 

 

The second one leans into the Pigeons nickname. It also includes a 5-borough (instead of 7-contintent) Statue of Liberty crown, based on Gotham FC's logo.

 

I also have one last one that I never got to look *quite* right, and it's kinda out there:

I think a Metrostars & Empire State Building vs NYCFC & Chrysler Building tag-team rivalry would be fun! Feedback on this one is appreciated.

 

Anyways, on to the jerseys!

If you couldn't already tell, I want NYCFC wearing dark blue and orange like the other local teams. Treating powder blue and white as the primary colors like they've done IRL this year just feels like a sad Manchester City clone...

But I can justify using the color at all to myself if I treat it like a powder blue baseball uniform—i.e. not present on the logo, just the base for a jersey!

In this case, I'd consider the jerseys co-primaries, much like NYRB has done lately.

 

The light blue jersey has a Chrysler Building pattern, which took forever and then I realized New Amsterdam FC had done something similar... Oh well. Also, baseball-esque racing stripes!

 

The dark blue jersey has a traffic map of most of NYCFC (sorry Staten Island).

 

Thanks again everyone for your comments!

[TheGiantsFan]

Your NYCFC kits are absolutely gorgeous with all its high detail! I bet the file size of that thing is massive 

 

I do think, however, that your crest may be a bit too crowded with all the things you're trying to pull off there. I would suggest taking out the roundel in this one and just going all-out on the unique pentagon design like you already have with the shorts. If you really need to include the name, you can probably just put some ribbons around or below the pentagon.  

[vtgco]

On 8/18/2021 at 2:12 PM, TheGiantsFan said:

Your NYCFC kits are absolutely gorgeous with all its high detail! I bet the file size of that thing is massive 

 

I do think, however, that your crest may be a bit too crowded with all the things you're trying to pull off there. I would suggest taking out the roundel in this one and just going all-out on the unique pentagon design like you already have with the shorts. If you really need to include the name, you can probably just put some ribbons around or below the pentagon.  

Hey, thanks! The file size isn't especially big, but I did create the Chrysler Building pattern on a separate file (which took a bit long to load) then export it to a PNG before adding it to the jersey.

 

You're right there's not really a need to include the name AND the monogrma, but the roundel + pentagon was a subway token callback (which the IRL crest could afford to lean into a tad more). I'd prefer the whole thing altogether, 'cuz just pentagon + monogram is maybe a bit plain, but it's not bad:

Spoiler

Not sure how I'd get a ribbon to work. I did add white sleeves and shorts to the away; those look good with that mostly-white crest, IMO.

 

Personally, I think the just pentagon + pigeon version is a bit more interesting:

Spoiler

 

Anyways, thanks for the feedback, as always!