NAFA Project | MIA, CHI, SA, DET updates added 1/19

[packerfan21396]

On 11/5/2020 at 7:56 AM, PERRIN said:

...I'd love to hear suggestions for Milwaukee ... if I choose to switch.

 

On 11/5/2020 at 10:41 AM, QCS said:

I've thought that "Milwaukee Schooners" was a nice name, inspired by the start of the Milwaukee Bridge War. I don't know much about Milwaukee to be honest, it's just a name that appeals to me.

Schooners I think might fit more of a port town, Milwaukee is more of an industrial town.

 

On 11/5/2020 at 11:58 AM, Brian in Boston said:

Off the top of my head, I'd suggest Milwaukee Hogs or Milwaukee Iron. The first references both the Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson, Inc. and the fact that the sport of football is played with a piece of equipment colloquially dubbed a "pigskin". The second also pays homage to Harley-Davidson's history in the city, and recognizes that American football is  contested on a field dubbed the "gridiron" by players who are "armored" in protective gear including helmets and pads.

If you're going the Iron route with that color scheme, please, for the love of God, do better than this:

 

If we're going historical, here's all the Milwaukee-based football teams:

Milwaukee Badgers (NFL, 1922-26): An orange and black team for every season except 1926, part of the small Midwest town NFL boom of the 1920's, probably named after the Badger State.

Milwaukee Chiefs (AFL III, 1940-41): A royal and gray team part of the third attempt to resurrect the American Football League (the fourth attempt in the 60's is the one everyone's heard of), that was surprisingly good for a Milwaukee team but was cut short due to WWII, probably named after the Algonquins that inhabited Milwaukee first and whose language "Milwaukee" is based on.

Milwaukee Mustangs (arena, AFL, 1994-2001): A purple and teal team based on an even more 90's version of the new Bucks colors at the time, wearing monochrome purple to begin with then wising up and wearing white pants to the end, attempting to fill the void of Milwaukee losing the Packers, lasting as long as their Bradley Center lease, and possibly named due to alliteration, hinting at the industrial nature of the Ford Mustang, and fitting in with majority of the Arena Football League teams being named after animals.

Milwaukee Bonecrushers (indoor, CIFL, 2008-09): A black and purple team that probably shouldn't have existed but was a spectacle in the way you can't stop looking at a car crash, probably existed to attempt to recapture the Milwaukee Mustangs' popularity, and possibly named to draw the most amount of attention.

Milwaukee Iron (arena, af2, 2009, AFL, 2010): As seen above, probably named in earnest about Harley-Davidson and the motorcycle industry and attempted to actually be a decent arena football team, and succeeded, in a way, being the only Milwaukee football team to finish on top of any sort of standings when it was 2010 Midwest Division champs.

Milwaukee Mustangs (arena, AFL, 2011-12): Same franchise and colors as the Iron and named after the original Mustangs, what was supposed to be the continuation of the legacy of the original got shipped to Portland instead.

 

So to wrap up this wall of a ramble, I think your best bet is to go with a black and orange color scheme and have an industrial name based around the motorcycle industry, or a name based around the Germanic culture with a black, red, and yellow color scheme to break from the historical Milwaukee football norm a tad while retaining a similar historic and recent color scheme.

 

I'm also sure @NicDB and @Gothamite might have some thoughts on the matter as well.

[PERRIN]

4 hours ago, packerfan21396 said:

[Well crafted and helpful response]

I'm glad to hear your thoughts. Right now, for Milwaukee, I'm leaning towards the germanic theme with a black, blue, and cream color scheme. As for a name, I like the Barons suggestion but I feel like I could do better. For Louisville, I'm not quite as sure, but I like both the bourbon and derby influences. I'm leaning towards navy and a shimmery mustard gold for them, perhaps I'll throw in some reddish brown to further emphasize the bourbon themes. I like the suggestions of Thunder, Stallions, and Coopers, but I might throw in Brewers or Racers if I want something different. Thanks for the help everyone, it's great to know that people here have such good ideas and constructive thoughts.

[_DietDrPepper_]

2 hours ago, PERRIN said:

I'm glad to hear your thoughts. Right now, for Milwaukee, I'm leaning towards the germanic theme with a black, blue, and cream color scheme. As for a name, I like the Barons suggestion but I feel like I could do better. For Louisville, I'm not quite as sure, but I like both the bourbon and derby influences. I'm leaning towards navy and a shimmery mustard gold for them, perhaps I'll throw in some reddish brown to further emphasize the bourbon themes. I like the suggestions of Thunder, Stallions, and Coopers, but I might throw in Brewers or Racers if I want something different. Thanks for the help everyone, it's great to know that people here have such good ideas and constructive thoughts.

Thought I'd make one more comment. As much as I love the Brewers name, you don't brew Bourbon, you distill it. If you want to go that route though I've always been interested in the Louisville Bourbons name. That names been used before in the 1934 AFL league. They would rebrand to the Tanks like a year after being founded though, but the name I think is pretty neat. 

[packerfan21396]

2 hours ago, PERRIN said:

I'm glad to hear your thoughts. Right now, for Milwaukee, I'm leaning towards the germanic theme with a black, blue, and cream color scheme. As for a name, I like the Barons suggestion but I feel like I could do better. For Louisville, I'm not quite as sure, but I like both the bourbon and derby influences. I'm leaning towards navy and a shimmery mustard gold for them, perhaps I'll throw in some reddish brown to further emphasize the bourbon themes. I like the suggestions of Thunder, Stallions, and Coopers, but I might throw in Brewers or Racers if I want something different. Thanks for the help everyone, it's great to know that people here have such good ideas and constructive thoughts.

That's going to be quite an interesting color scheme, but everything else in this thread is high quality, so I look forward to what you come up with!  Regarding a Milwaukee themed name, if we're leaning into Harley more, I'd suggest Milwaukee Choppers/Cream City Choppers or Milwaukee Cruisers/Cream City Cruisers.  If we're going German, you could do Milwaukee Bierbrauer ("Brewers" in German, note Bierbrauer is the plural form), Milwaukee Beers (Love me some BASEketball) or Biers, or even something as simple as Football-Club Milwaukee (I know it might be Washington levels of lame, but it's on par with the names of teams in the Bundesliga).  Otherwise, Milwaukee Barons is a pretty good name.  As for the possibility of a Louisville Brewers...  C'mon bud, Brewers should stay in Brew City, regardless of if this universe is made in a vacuum.

[MilSox]

Barons is a pretty good name for Milwaukee.  There are several different ways you could go with it and tie it into the local culture. 

If you're gonna go for a motorcycle theme, I like Milwaukee Machines. The alliteration works, and you could probably make a cool logo out of two M's.

One of the teams on the schedule on Any Given Sunday was the Wisconsin Icemen.  I always loved that, and the team's initials coincide with the postal code for Wisconsin.  I also always liked how Wisconsin Knights was a homonym for "Wisconsinite." Consider those too if you're open to the Milwaukee team claiming the entire state.

[PERRIN]

Hey guys, I've got some ideas down on Milwaukee and Louisville, but they're still far from ready right now. For now, I've got some updates to a bunch of teams along with an updated team/division alignment graphic.

 

Atlanta Honeybees: The most notable change, of course, is the name. I found the whole 'Swarm' identity a bit too edgy for the mascot being a honeybee, so I switched it up to a softer, less aggressive package, now with an emphasis on peach. The uniforms are stripped down and more traditional, using the drop shadows from the logo on the numbers and wordmarks.

 

 

Boston Mariners: What is this, the seventh update? I've lost track at this point, but I'm much more happy with the team than I've been in a long time. The logo now focuses on the lighthouse, steering (get it?) away from the ship wheel imagery. The color scheme shifts to a ocean turquoise and navy blue, and the wordmark is redesigned to feel a bit more nautical. The uniforms are completely redone, with shoulder stripes becoming the main focus. Nautical alphabet flags spell out 'BOSTON' in the pants stripe and back of the collar.

 

Seattle Emeralds: I finally figured out how to use the space needle without it looking inconsistent with the rest of the logo. The wordmark is now blocky and angular to fit better with the rest of the package. Uniforms are updated accordingly, with minor tweaks to the striping.

 

Washington Sentinels: I wasn't very happy with the old look, so I started over. The new logo is more simple, but is still heavy on the DC imagery. The pentagonal badge shape makes for a much more balanced logo in my opinion. The font is now a more standard block, with the occasional sharp edge. Uniforms are updated accordingly.

 

Here's the updated list of teams and divisions. (It definitely doesn't hint at any potential future updates.)

 

That's all for now.

 

Made in Affinity Designer. C&C appreciated.

 

[Chromatic]

Looks great.

 

I'm excited to see Vancouver, I think 'Ravens' is an excellent moniker for a sports team here. My only concern is that since the Ravens are already an existing team that wears purple and black, how its going to differ from Baltimore.

[texashockeyfan]

Milwaukee Hogs sounds good to me. How about Stallions for Louisville?

[raz]

"Honeybees" seems a little unmanly... 

[PERRIN]

3 hours ago, Chromatic said:

Looks great.

 

I'm excited to see Vancouver, I think 'Ravens' is an excellent moniker for a sports team here. My only concern is that since the Ravens are already an existing team that wears purple and black, how its going to differ from Baltimore.

Vancouver will mainly lean on purple and silver. Uniform-wise, they'll be completely different than the Baltimore Ravens.

 

2 hours ago, texashockeyfan said:

Milwaukee Hogs sounds good to me. How about Stallions for Louisville?

I'll be going with Barons for Milwaukee. I love the idea of German-inspired, industrial vibes a lot more than 'hrnng motorcycle manly tough guy'. It feels a lot more suitable for Milwaukee to me.

 

2 hours ago, rjrrzube said:

"Honeybees" seems a little unmanly... 

I couldn't care less about what is and isn't considered manly. Besides, in this fictional league, there are plenty of female players, so manly team names are hardly even wanted.

[_DietDrPepper_]

I think these are the best versions of each of these designs you've done, great work! I love the updated Mariners logo and I might have to steal that nautical flag pattern idea for a concept of my own, but I think the uniforms need one or two tweaks. Mostly it's just the striping on the blue uniform. I think switching the placement of the white and teal on the over the shoulder stripes and helmet stripes would balance the color a bit better. I think applying the same idea to the white uniform would work well too, switching the shoulder stripes to the same pattern on the pants would work well. 

 

Over all though these are just nitpicks. It's a good look either way

[Section30]

All the updates are big improvements, especially the Mariners

 

Boston is giving me strong Maine Black Bears vibes and that is always a good thing. I really like the nautical flag designs in the collar and pants as well

[Raptorman415]

I'm probably a little late to the party here but, maybe if you wanted to stick with the international side of the IAAF but keeping with Milwaukee and Louisville you could do the Milwaukee Bavarians (because of the german heritage in the city) and the Louisville Kings (because of the city being named after the french king). Your call, I just thought I'd pitch my ideas to you.

[PERRIN]

4 hours ago, _DietDrPepper_ said:

I think switching the placement of the white and teal on the over the shoulder stripes and helmet stripes would balance the color a bit better. I think applying the same idea to the white uniform would work well too, switching the shoulder stripes to the same pattern on the pants would work well. 

I appreciate your thoughts. I cycled through a lot of ideas for the stripes, but the one I chose works the best with the color balance I'm going for. I wanted the turquoise and white to be the main focus, with navy acting as more of an accent color. I'm happy with what I've got right now, but I definitely appreciate the comment.

 

2 hours ago, Raptorman415 said:

I'm probably a little late to the party here but, maybe if you wanted to stick with the international side of the IAAF but keeping with Milwaukee and Louisville you could do the Milwaukee Bavarians (because of the german heritage in the city) and the Louisville Kings (because of the city being named after the french king). Your call, I just thought I'd pitch my ideas to you.

Those are some solid ideas. I'll be going with Barons for Milwaukee, as it will have Bavarian/German influences but still leaves some room to explore. For Louisville, I don't have a final name yet. I like the Kings suggestion, (I actually had a team called the Louisville Kings long before this project was on the boards.) but since I already have a Monarchs team, that won't work very well. Right now Stallions, Racers, and Coopers are my top three favorites.

[texashockeyfan]

Vancouver should be the Huskies or Hawks. 

[PERRIN]

4 hours ago, texashockeyfan said:

Vancouver should be the Huskies or Hawks. 

A bit too late for that. I'm going with Ravens. I considered Huskies for a while, but ditched because I had trouble with a logo. I already have a mostly ready Vancouver concept, but it needs some touching up before I post it.  I already have final names for every team as of now, and I would appreciate constructive thoughts or comments on the actual concepts more than random suggestions.

[packerfan21396]

On 11/17/2020 at 3:57 PM, PERRIN said:

Seattle Emeralds: I finally figured out how to use the space needle without it looking inconsistent with the rest of the logo. The wordmark is now blocky and angular to fit better with the rest of the package. Uniforms are updated accordingly, with minor tweaks to the striping.

I usually don't particularly like bezels with random lighting, but since there's so many segments with different lighting, it's more like a patterned font than attempting to emulate a physical object which I think definitely works for a Seattle team.  One of my favorites so far!

[PERRIN]

After a long hiatus mostly caused by full-time college classes, I've finally come around with a new slew of updates. I'm in the middle of a bunch of overhauls for a number of teams, namely San Francisco, Montréal, Cleveland, and Los Angeles, as well as finishing up first looks for Kansas City, Vancouver, and Louisville. But for now, I have a bunch of updates prepared, some small, some complete overhauls.

 

First, A new team, the Milwaukee Barons. I was inspired by an array of ideas, namely references to Milwaukee's industrial history, German/Bavarian heritage, and brewing industry. Combined together, the full logo resembles a soccer crest more than a football logo, but I honestly don't mind a bit. Uniforms use brick styling on the cream helmet, with blackletter fonts used throughout.

 

Toronto Lakers: Deepened the colors for more contrast, updated the font, and made the uniforms much more traditional. The rope-pattern striping just wasn't working for me.

 

Charlotte Aviators: Redesigned to emulate a pin or badge, colors are tweaked, uniforms are redesigned. 

 

Minnesota Evergreens: Complete overhaul. Name switches to Evergreens for a more classic yet still outdoorsy feel, Colors reflect pine trees and the lakes in Minnesota. Logo is the same idea as it was previously, an M with pine trees in the negative space topped off with the North Star.

 

Dallas Outlaws: With Milwaukee switching to a cream helmet, I decided that Dallas didn't need one too. Cream is gone, with the uniforms now relying on a deep navy and copper. 

 

Atlanta Honeybees: Made the peach color more saturated and bold and changed up the uniforms to be a bit more modern.

 

 

I'm still bent on finishing this series, however long that may take. Expect updates to be few and far between, with a bunch of new concepts at a time. School has made posting consistently next to impossible. 

 

That's all I have for now.

 

Made in Affinity Designer. C&C appreciated.

[sky1324]

I really, really like Milwaukee. That's a very nice that works super well. I am wondering if the helmet would be fine with just the shield on it, which brings me to something I've noticed about your concepts: the helmet logos are almost always super complex and a little too detailed to work well as helmets. If you look at NFL teams, they use a "less is more" mentality with helmets and I think that could be applied here.

 

Toronto looks nice, the new colors are good. Two tweaks: change the maple leaf on the whites to blue for contrast, and if at all possible, find a way to avoid the patches interfering with the striping.

 

Charlotte is great, the new logo is a banger and the colors are beautiful. Again, only two small things here: the shoulders feel crowded with the full logo and the Nike logo there (and the Nike logo should be purple on the white) and I'm not really feeling the wordmark font, especially with the new logo. I also like Flyers as a name more than Aviators, but that's just personal preference.

 

Minnesota is fine, I preferred the Lumberjacks and I don't think there's enough contrast between the white and ice blue to warrant them touching so much.

 

Dallas is really good, my only complaint is the beveling on the star, which is really only visible on the sleeve and doesn't seem to match anything else in the set. The wordmark is also kinda large.

 

Atlanta is also really good, I'd just tweak the size of the wordmark.

[_DietDrPepper_]

Gonna reiterate a lot of the stuff QCS said. I like the Barons, really big fan of the name. I don't think the helmet logo is too complex. Its a nice alternate. I think the brick design is a miss though. Toronto looks the best yet, but I'd swap the leaf on the shoulders for numbers and you need to add the shoulder striping to the back of the home uniform. Charlotte and Minnesota at both great updates. I love the Evergreens especially. I think the only change I'd make is dropping the helmet stripe for Charlotte. Finally, Dallas and Atlanta look good too. I love the copper and blue for Dallas. I agree with QCS though that each of their word marks are a bit big. 

Great work!