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

[texashockeyfan]

What’s the nickname for San Francisco? 

[Silence of the Rams]

On 7/15/2022 at 11:55 AM, PERRIN said:

Um..  you know that's las Vegas motor speedway in the background right

[PERRIN]

15 minutes ago, Silence of the Rams said:

Um..  you know that's las Vegas motor speedway in the background right

I did not actually, I took it straight from google images whilst searching for Charlotte Motor Speedway. Don't pay nearly enough attention to racing to be able to tell. Never would've known unless you pointed it out haha

 

1 hour ago, texashockeyfan said:

What’s the nickname for San Francisco? 

As discussed in several posts on the previous page, it's gonna be Grizzlies.

[sky1324]

So glad to see you back with some new concepts! I always love to see your work.

 

BOS: Stellar work here! That logo is beautiful and the hidden B in the sails is such a nice touch. The uniforms are also gorgeous, that light shade of blue works wonders here. The yoke is a modern touch that still feels very classy. The throwback is still probably my favorite but it's all great. Also, is that the old lighthouse shield logo on their pants?

 

JAX: I like the name change from Cyclones, this is a more unique concept that still feels right. The curved "Jacksonville" script is sooooo good and I love how it looks on the jerseys. The one thing I'm not feeling as much is how much the logo in blends in on the helmet. I'm not really sure how to fix it, but maybe swapping the light purple and white would work?

 

NO: New Orleans remains one of my favorite sets you've made and this new brassy shade of gold is wonderful. It feels so rich and lively, as does the rest of the set. The bead necklace collar is such a nice detail that adds so much without being overwhelming.

7 hours ago, PERRIN said:

I did not actually, I took it straight from google images whilst searching for Charlotte Motor Speedway. Don't pay nearly enough attention to racing to be able to tell. Never would've known unless you pointed it out haha

For what it's worth, I didn't notice until it was pointed out. There certainly aren't any mountains that close to CMS, haha.

[Silence of the Rams]

On 1/14/2023 at 2:57 PM, PERRIN said:

I did not actually, I took it straight from google images whilst searching for Charlotte Motor Speedway. Don't pay nearly enough attention to racing to be able to tell. Never would've known unless you pointed it out haha

Ok. No worries.

 

 

If you do update the image. This would be the one you were looking for 

[PERRIN]

I happened to get cursed by the creativity goblin this weekend and slapped together another logo update, plus there were a few small uniform tweaks that I had backlogged, so I thought I’d share them just for kicks and giggles.

 

Toronto gets the lone logo update - a modified badge, with a stronger, more accurate anchor, a thicker rope pattern, and adjusted spacing on the text. The helmet logo is now single-color blue instead of silver on the blue background of the badge. The uniforms previously had UCLA-style stripes, but now instead go for a more unique 4-line stripe on the shoulders.

 

Las Vegas gets a unified striping pattern with a subtle card suit pattern across the uniform set, a chest word mark inspired by the Fabulous Las Vegas sign, and striping detail on the collars.

In case it's hard to see, here's a close up of the chest area.

Spoiler

 

Milwaukee, one of two teams in the league with a non-white away jersey, now has two distinct stripes for black and cream bases. Felt like a good solution that keeps the colors balanced without bleeding together too much. Black touching the blue is a bit too harsh.

 

New York gets brightened shades of blue and orange and now features the NY monogram on the collar and pants. I feel like there might not be enough white on the home jersey, but I don’t want to part with the striping consistency of the helmet and pants. I’ve tried making the center stripe white, but it throws off the vibe I’m going for. Not too much of an issue, but it’s a little bit frustrating.

 

St. Louis gets an updated number font and tweaked shoulder detail, now using a badge logo on the shoulders instead of an arrow sticking out of the shoulder cap. Something about a big arrow on a football jersey felt a bit cartoonish to me.

Another close up of the shoulder cap, just in case.

Spoiler

Ok, now that’s all I have for a while. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze out some new concepts by the end of the semester, but I can’t count on it. Gonna be a busy couple of months for me. 

 

Made in Affinity Designer. C&C appreciated.

[CLEFAN94]

Missed seeing this series, thought it had fallen by the wayside. Love the updates. 

[jbird669]

Welcome back! There are great. One small gripe- Carolina Flyers sounds off to me. Charlotte Flyers sounds better. 

[PERRIN]

45 minutes ago, jbird669 said:

Welcome back! There are great. One small gripe- Carolina Flyers sounds off to me. Charlotte Flyers sounds better. 

The name was switched to Charlotte months ago per @CDCLT's suggestion, already way ahead of you haha

[PERRIN]

It’s been far too long since I last left an update but I’ve been steadily working away at this series in the background while homework kept me busy all semester. To give myself a break as I dive headfirst into finals the next two weeks, here’s a collection of small tweaks and updates.

 

Boston Mariners

I know I literally just updated Boston, but turns out I stopped liking what I had almost immediately. Something about their uniforms felt off, the logo felt undercooked, I don’t know. Regardless, I overhauled them for what’s got to be the dozenth time, reverting to a shield-and-lighthouse logo, an updated wordmark, and a uniform set I designed way back in November 2020. Somehow I got their uniforms right back then, and I really like how they look with a tweaked colorway and an updated logo package. Anyways, I’m finally happy with Boston again, but I fully expect to become unhappy again within the next 3-6 months. That seems to be the trend with them. We’ll see.

 

Cincinnati Shamrocks

The Shamrocks ditch the blocky C in favor of a decorative rounded faux-wishbone C. The gradient details are optional, and can easily be swapped out for flat color, but I thought they added some nice detail. The shades of green and orange are a bit darker and richer. The uniforms are also slightly tweaked with a new number font, the new detailed logo on the helmet, and a shiny orange facemask.

 

San Francisco Grizzlies

San Francisco is finally just about done! I stuck with a simple logo package for them: An SF monogram, and stepping bear logo inspired by California’s flag, and a bear claw mark. The uniforms rely on a modern simplistic route, using the bear logos on the shoulders and the arched word mark on the jerseys.

 

I’ve also made a handful of small color tweaks for a handful of teams, which can be seen below. Each team has had their respective color schemes slightly darkened or adjusted to feel richer and more realistic to modern color choices.

Spoiler

 

Also, as a fun experiment, I’ve also been goofing around with throwback looks for a bunch of teams. I’m still figuring the history of the league out, but I have a general idea of when teams entered the league and basic info like that. Regardless, I thought it’d be fun to experiment with throwbacks to different eras, so here are a few examples.

 

That’s all I’ve got for now! With finals approaching and summer just around the corner, I’m not sure exactly what my plans for the series are. I’ll be working pretty often over the summer so I don’t know how much room I’ll have for side projects, but I’ll see how it goes. Hoping to wrap up a few more updates and finally finish up this project for good in the next year or so.

 

C&C appreciated. Made in Affinity Designer.

[sky1324]

Glad to see some updates! Let's see what we have here.

 

BOS: I actually think my favorite logo here is the compass rose. The new lighthouse logo is good but a little too detailed in my opinion, especially for a helmet. Have you considered putting the B on the helmet instead? The jerseys are great and I love the new wordmark as well.

 

CIN: Hmm, not really feeling this one. I dig the new wishbone C but the gradients feel extremely tacky to me, like it's not something a professional sports team would do, especially one presumably as traditional as this one. I actually think there's a little too much orange on the helmet as well, at least in comparison to the rest of the set. The rest of the jerseys are really nice, very classy.

 

SF: Nice work! I really love the monogram and wordmark. What inspired their color scheme? I can get behind a red and darker red but I think it might be even better if you make the maroon brown. The jerseys are nice, I love the shoulder stripe + bear combo but I feel like on the field they'd run into the same issue the IRL Panthers do, where differing jersey templates make the numbers tiny.

 

For the minor tweaks you made I can't tell the difference without a reference so I'll just say that they all look really nice.

 

The throwbacks are great! The script "Shamrocks" is especially nice.

 

Awesome work, as always! I'm very excited to see you wrap this series up.

[PERRIN]

Oh boy, it has been far too long since the last update, my summer was especially busy between vacations and work and moving so I simply didn’t have all that much time to design anything in the logo department until the last few weeks. Still, I managed to stockpile a massive bunch of small tweaks over the summer. I mostly have uniform updates, some minor, some major, and a concepts that are still a work in progress.

 

First off, I’ve updated the league logo and branding. The shield has been simplified down to just the Canadian and American flag motifs, along with an updated NAFA wordmark. Colors have been brightened a bit as well. I’m slowly fleshing out the visual identity of the league, and I’m experimenting with supplemental materials like championship logos, which aren’t quite there yet but are super fun to explore. I also tried out an All Star game uniform set, just for fun.

 

Los Angeles Suns

Los Angeles is getting an updated brand identity. The primary logo is still a work in progress as a unique sunburst mark is surprising difficult to make, but the identity will definitely revolve around a new, retro-inspired LA monogram. The updated wordmark consists of a script font to match the monogram and a rotationally symmetrical rounded inline typeface. The colorway has been brightened with richer shades throughout. The uniforms are updated accordingly, with bigger striping patterns and an inline number font to match the wordmark.

 

San Antonio Wranglers

I’ve used this uniform idea for at least two other Texas team concepts before, but whatever. San Antonio continues to be a team I’m at odds with, as I’m perfectly happy with their logos but their uniforms and color scheme never look quite right. This isn’t a look I’m entirely happy with, but it works for the time being. I included a new secondary logo that I am quite fond of, however.

 

Minnesota Evergreens

Minnesota gets the smallest change, with a darkened shade of green and wider striping on the helmet and pants.

[PERRIN]

(Splitting this into two posts bc the page keeps reloading and clearing my progress)

 

Philadelphia Cannoneers

The Cannons become the Cannoneers, largely just because I think it sounds cooler. Their uniforms have been updated with a new white helmet, tweaked colors, and flat-color numbers more a more classic feel. I’m fiddling around with revamping their identity to feel more classic and more fitting of a Revolutionary War-inspired team (similar to the New England Revs) but that’s still in the sketch stage for now.

 

Winnipeg Blizzards

As a result of Philly switching to a white helmet, I’ve been worried they and Winnipeg look too similar at a distance. It might not be a big deal, but for the sake of considering all my options, I’ve tried out a few ideas for the Blizzards. Firstly, a simple switch to a royal blue helmet with a white facemask. Not a drastic change, but something about it doesn’t sit right with me. Perhaps I’ll change my mind, it’s just simply not my favorite idea. I also tried out something a bit more drastic: changing the Blizzards’ shade of blue from Royal to Powder. I absolutely adore this color scheme and really wish more teams would try it out. I think the powder blue helmet works better than the royal, but the contrast between powder and white might be a bit of an issue. I’ll continue to play around with the precise shade I use, but I’m leaning towards the powder blue out of these two options, assuming I ultimately decide to part with the current white helmet look.

 

Québec Lumières

Québec gets a tweaked uniform set, with their signature aurora stripe now being placed in the collar and sleeve cuffs. I like the idea of having the gradients arranged where the dominant secondary color of the jersey striping changes depending on the angle you see it at, if that makes sense.

 

Jacksonville Stingrays

Lastly, Jacksonville gets an updated color scheme, inspired my the PLL’s WaterDogs franchise: A dark indigo paired with a vibrant purple and a bluish-grey-off-white color. Their jersey striping has been moved from the sleeve caps to swooping down from the shoulders.

 

Before I forget, I also made a more realistic mockup template for seeing how uniforms would look in action. I had mocked up most of the teams but unfortunately the file reverted to an old save and I lost a ton of progress(first and only time Affinity has ever done that to me). I haven’t gotten around to finishing the rest of the league’s uniforms on this template, nor most of these updates, but here’s Jacksonville as a sample.

 

That’s all I have for now. Hopefully I won’t go 5 months without an update next time, as I’ll continue to keep this project in my periphery whenever I need a break from schoolwork. Until next time!

 

Made in Affinity Designer. C&C appreciated.

 

[neo_prankster]

For Jacksonville, I think the Stingray would look better against that bluish gray you use for the road jersey.

 

Or, you can keep the lavender Helmet and add a white outline to the stingray decals.

 

For teams like the Suns and Evergreens, I think the stripe patterns on the jerseys should be condensed just a teensy bit to account for the way sleeves on football jerseys have shrunk in real life since the 1990's.

[neo_prankster]

Before I forget, your New York logos could easily work for the Giants if you have time to do an NFL series.

[henburg]

Your growth as a designer is clear from looking through this thread, really great stuff. The league branding is a big improvement in particular

[sky1324]

So glad to see you back! I've loved watching your progress and I can't wait to see you finish this series out.

 

NAFA: I love the bones of the new logo, but the white-to-gray gradient isn't doing it for me. I think it looks a lot bolder without the gradient.

 

LA: Oh, this is beautiful. I love the gradient here, especially its use as a shortened block gradient on the helmet an white pants. My only minor complaint is that the orange and teal clash a little but it's really not that big of a deal.

 

SA: Hmm. I think I agree with you where the logos are great but the uniforms and color scheme isn't quite right for me. The white jersey's yoke is super dark with the green and black. Maybe getting rid of black is the way to go? I like the new secondary logo but I'm not huge on including the year and I think the star isn't quite centered in its little pocket.

 

MIN: The cream is a really warm shade here and I'm not quite feeling it on the green jersey - maybe make the numbers white to emulate the white jersey? Other than that it's a great set. I love the sublimated plaid.

 

PHI: Very classic feel here and I love it. Nothing much to say here, a great look.

 

WPG: Huuuuuuge fan of the powder blue here. It's such a unique shade and it's used really well here.

 

QUE: The Lumieres remain my favorite set of yours. The aurora stripe is sick and I agree, I love how the secondary color changes depending on the angle of the jersey. 11/10, no notes.

 

JAX: I like the purple and lavender, but the gray isn't working for me. It kinda dulls down the set and I think it would look better if it was a pure white anyway. Still really nice-looking, the double purple is great.

 

Keep it up! I can't wait to see the league at the end of this project.

[mrcubfan415]

One thing I thought I’d mention: if you ever consider changing the Las Vegas team’s name, I’d recommend checking out JB-the-Hunter’s aborted “Alternate Universe National Football League” thread: 

 

 

Personally, I like the sound of  “Las Vegas Lights” better than “Las Vegas Gamblers”, though now that I think about it, I can see how it would conflict with your Quebec team. Maybe for Quebec, you could go all-in with the Northern Lights theme and call them the Aurores?

[PERRIN]

Alright, already been 2 months since the last update (holy hell this semester is flying by) so I thought I’d share some small tweaks I’ve made. I haven’t made any major changes to any teams yet, as other projects have been eating up my free time. I did also make some extra, other designs that are more fun additional explorations than serious concepts, but it’s fun to fiddle around with stuff. First up, San Diego.

 

San Diego Admirals

The Admirals get a bunch of small tweaks throughout the identity. The colors are darkened slightly with the shade of gold now having a subtle shine to it, the jersey striping has been tweaked to better reflect an admiral’s insignia, and the wordmark and numbers have been tweaked to feel bolder and more accurate to Naval typography. The logo has been tweaked as well, with more consistent spacing and an updated monogram. I’ve also included a potential logo concept that I think works well, mixing the current badge style with a stylized anchor and separating the SD monogram. I like it, but I worry about having two teams using an anchor in their logo (The Toronto Lakers being the other) and I feel like it needs something more before I commit to it. Either way, I’m happy with these small streamlining updates.

 

 

San Antonio Wranglers

The Wranglers get a tweaked uniform set, since the previous iteration was a bit off-putting to me and looked a bit too much like the Emeralds. The new set emphasizes a darker color scheme, with helmets becoming a grayish silver and white being absent from the home jersey. Again, still not quite sure this is there yet, but I definitely like it more than the previous version.

 

 

Fun Extra Stuff

I made a hockey template recently and decided to test it out by slapping some NAFA teams onto it, had a lot of fun seeing how the team identities translate to other sports and coming up with ideas for alternate uniforms. Might try getting into doing hockey concepts in the future, even though I’m not very invested in the sport. Something about hockey uniform aesthetics is really growing on me.

 

I also made a scorebug, just for fun: a linear version and a more condensed version. I made all the additional functionality like flags and challenges and stuff but didn’t wanna include pics of everything here. Had a lot of fun with shadows and effects on it, mostly inspired by the two most recent NBC scorebugs.

 

That’s all I have for now, hoping to keep at it with some overarching NAFA stuff like an updated league branding page over on Bēhance, but it’s tough to work on it when I have so much homework and so many other projects competing for my attention. Next semester looks like it’ll be less hectic so hopefully I’ll have more time to work on everything I want to get done. We’ll see. Until next time!

 

Made in Affinity Designer. C&C appreciated.

[raysox]

A few really good brands here, but absolutely love the sleeve designs on St. Louis