MLB 2019-20 Fix 'Em Up: Minnesota Twins (Three Takes)

[SFGiants58]

23 hours ago, Blindsay said:

HE’S DONE IT AGAIN!

 

Thanks!

 

On 2/27/2020 at 7:28 AM, bcon_731 said:

You keep doing a great job, Salute to you! But I have to ask which team is the hardest for you to redesign? 

 

Thanks. The hardest ones are ones where I re-do something from the ground up or have to recreate an entire uniform with only a few reference images and have to replicate shadows/highlights/etc.

 

Also, could you please not quote MY ENTIRE POST just to add one line of commentary? It makes the thread harder to read for people.

 

On 2/27/2020 at 7:05 AM, Carolingian Steamroller said:

Radical idea:

 

Make sand the road uniform base color. 

 

It'd be a way to better incorporate an otherwise lesser served color and keep the volume of official team colors within 3.

 

Thanks for the idea! I'm not as keen on it as with the grey, but I think it still looks good.

 

 

 

 

 

On 2/25/2020 at 7:32 PM, _DietDrPepper_ said:

I think it's hard to really improve on what the D-backs did this off season, i think they look the best they've ever looked right now. Part of that is the sand color they've emphasized over teal. So in all honesty I can't say this is an improvement, I like your home and road, and the throwback and the teal alt looks gorgeous, I like the Crótalos script too (although i think Culebras is the translation I hear and use commonly so it might work better.) But the teal A logo on red isn't the best and and I don't think the neon-like affect on the black uniforms work either. In general the red and teal is a hard combo to get to work and that's why I think they nailed it with the sand this off season. So if i had to update your set; I'd replace the teal with sand on your home and road, change the red set to a white ARIZONA word mark and put the snake head alt on the cap like irl, and replace the teal with sand on the black alt. I think you could keep the teal jersey however as a special promotional jersey. All in all, i really like this concept, and it's definitely an improvement to what the d-backs had from 16-20. It might not be my style but it's one of my favorite teal d-backs concepts I've seen so good job! Your pads concept is stellar as well.

 

Thanks. I can totally see where you're coming from, but I'm sticking with turquoise all around. The sand just feels dull to me, without that special flair of the red/black/turquoise. You might as well restore the '07-'15 uniforms at that rate (which I like a bit more, as far as fonts go).

 

"Culebras" means snakes in general, not as much "rattlesnakes" - which Diamondbacks are. "Crótalos" works better in that regard. 

 

On 2/25/2020 at 6:05 PM, coco1997 said:

Beautiful work as always! That teal alt is just spectacular.

 

One small suggestion I have is for the Sedona red alt. I’d go with black undersleeves and a black bill on the cap. The all red look is a bit much. 
 

Really can’t wait for Pt. 2!!

 

Thanks! I've incorporated the changes above.

 

 

[coco1997]

21 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Thanks! I've incorporated the changes above.

 

 

 

Ah, that's much better. The color balance on the red alt with the black cap bill and under sleeves is a definite improvement. 

[Carolingian Steamroller]

59 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Thanks for the idea! I'm not as keen on it as with the grey, but I think it still looks good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LIKE IT!

 

I think the red and turquoise really compliment it. 

 

Everything is personal preference naturally but if it were me, I'd roll with it. 

 

Teams really should think about pursuing alternative tints beyond basic grey. I know Arizona tried the charcoal look to but I think they went with the wrong patch colors. (Also the snakeskin pattern just looks bad generally)

[SFGiants58]

Thanks, guys! I'm glad you like the updates/variations.

 

Now, for the main picture!

 

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS, PT. II - Southwest Sweetness

 

 

Out of all of the ’90s expansion teams, Arizona nailed a lot of their brand on the first try. The “A-snake head” logo beautifully combined the location name with their sobriquet, while the beautiful southwestern colors of purple, turquoise, and copper gave them a distinctive appearance in the purple/teal-loving '90s. The home uniforms, namely the 2001-2006 set (after they dumped the “Diamondbacks” stacked wordmark), was a brilliant look - especially when coupled with the purple jersey. However, the road uniforms looked hideous (especially after they dumped turquoise), the black jerseys were dull, and the Matrix Bold font aged poorly  Also, the D-Snake wasn’t that pretty. Again, with the Gibb family comparison, I’m going to liken it to the youngest Gibb’s most notable song:

 

 

 

It may seem dated on the outset, but damn it’s good and holds up pretty darn well (it’s also the best thing to come of the infamous Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie, aside from the Earth, Wind & Fire cover of “Gotta Get You Into My Life”).

 

Like I’ve said before:

 

On 11/20/2019 at 1:30 PM, SFGiants58 said:

I have the purple cap, which is one of my favorites. The Southwest look is something they really should have owned. That’s why I hope the team eventually just goes full homage to the classic team. Of course, not with that current font. It’s more of a color mismatch than the Padres’ font.

 

There was enough potential (and historical success) in that initial branding to justify a Padres/Blue Jays/Astros/Brewers-style modernization.

 

When updating this set, I opted to switch up the purple and turquoise shades. Now there’s more contrast between them! Also, I deleted black, due to the increased contrast/brand simplification (they can still sell black merchandise).

 

 

The font has also undergone a tweak, with Edsbacka Flare Serif replacing Matrix Bold. It keeps the spirit, without sharing a font with the Ravens. Drop shadows are off the road wordmark, while the “fangs” more resemble the 2007-15/16-present fonts.

 

 

 

The logos now include the 2007/8-15 “db snakehead” as a secondary logo. It fits beautifully with the geometric design of the “A-snake head.” The primary with a wordmark is the tertiary design.

 

 

Home and road uniforms no longer have pinstripes (the Rockies had purple pinstripes first). Instead, they use an updated version of the 1998-2002 purple/1998-2006 black jerseys’ sleeve trim. Said trim also appears on the pants and sock stripes. The “A” logo is on the home uniform, as it’s the one piece of brand equity in the 20+ seasons of Diamondbacks baseball. Contrast-colored NoB’s and front numbers also appear.

 

 

The alternates include a turquoise jersey with the “A-snake head” and a purple shirt showcasing the “Arizona” wordmark. The turquoise jersey has an alternate cap with a turquoise crown and purple bill.

 

 

The second set of alternates includes a sleeveless pinstripes fauxback and a Latino Heritage jersey. Said jersey uses a” Crótalos” wordmark and the alternate cap.

 

 

The jacket is my typical Diamondbacks design.

 

 

The Padres/Blue Jays/Astros/Brewers model works well on the Diamondbacks, simplifying their set and giving them a distinctive appearance. Heck, compare them to my ideal Rockies design (featuring a new "Colorado" wordmark I made for @MJD7) :

 

 

The two flavors of purple work well opposite each other, without any worries of confusion!

 

C+C is appreciated, as always!

[The_Admiral]

"Arizona Diamondbacks" is among the crappier names in sports, not "Minnesota Wild" but certainly in the bottom quartile, but you made the most of it here. I really love the full commitment to the sedona/turquoise palette. You could get away with the red hats with the standard home and away if you really wanted to, might help separate them from the Marlins.

EDIT: I made this post before I turned over to the next page and saw the purple/turquoise concept. I dig that one too. Much better without the drop shadows.

[The_Admiral]

Additional thought: I wonder if they could have gotten away with "Crotalos" as a nickname. Three problems: it's not readily apparent what it means in English, it could be alienating to anglophone Arizonans whose relationship with Hispanic culture is ahhh-how-you-say strained, and it might be weird to have two Spanish names in the NL West. Three-and-a-half: people might call them the Croutons. But it intrigues me!

[coco1997]

I honestly dig this look for the D-Backs even more than your Project 32 design. The new purple reminds me of an idea @CaliforniaGlowin had a few years back (which@seasaltvanilla then mocked up) to combine the D-Backs’ original purple and modern day Sedona red to give them a distinctive new magenta-like color. The refined scripts and numbers all look great, as well. Fantastic work!

 

I'd love to see you do something like this for the Marlins. Black and teal with some orange as a trim color? Just an idea.

 

[SFGiants58]

On 2/28/2020 at 8:30 PM, the admiral said:

"Arizona Diamondbacks" is among the crappier names in sports, not "Minnesota Wild" but certainly in the bottom quartile, but you made the most of it here. I really love the full commitment to the sedona/turquoise palette. You could get away with the red hats with the standard home and away if you really wanted to, might help separate them from the Marlins.

EDIT: I made this post before I turned over to the next page and saw the purple/turquoise concept. I dig that one too. Much better without the drop shadows.

 

Thanks! I was hesitant to do red hats as the main set, if only because I think the black hats better represent the color balance of the set. Also, removing the drop shadows is a sure-fire way to improve any design, especially when the drop shadows are black/a color nowhere else on the uniform.

 

On 2/28/2020 at 8:35 PM, the admiral said:

Additional thought: I wonder if they could have gotten away with "Crotalos" as a nickname. Three problems: it's not readily apparent what it means in English, it could be alienating to anglophone Arizonans whose relationship with Hispanic culture is ahhh-how-you-say strained, and it might be weird to have two Spanish names in the NL West. Three-and-a-half: people might call them the Croutons. But it intrigues me!

 

I too was intrigued by that idea! The issue of the translation not being obvious is a bit of an obstacle for me, moreso than alienating the "Wonderful Whites of Western State Arizona"  or sharing a language with the Padres. "Serpientes" is a bit longer, but it's a bit more obvious. 

 

On 2/29/2020 at 6:03 AM, coco1997 said:

I honestly dig this look for the D-Backs even more than your Project 32 design. The new purple reminds me of an idea @CaliforniaGlowin had a few years back (which@seasaltvanilla then mocked up) to combine the D-Backs’ original purple and modern day Sedona red to give them a distinctive new magenta-like color. The refined scripts and numbers all look great, as well. Fantastic work!

 

I'd love to see you do something like this for the Marlins. Black and teal with some orange as a trim color? Just an idea.

 

 

Thanks! I can see the resemblance to that rough idea. I'm trying to figure out something with the Marlins, trying to incorporate fish features within an Art Deco/MiMo "M." I'm thinking about achieving what @Marlins93 proposed:

 

On 6/2/2019 at 8:51 PM, Marlins93 said:

I am really envious of the Diamondbacks insignia. It's neither too complex nor too simple. It perfectly encapsulates both the team's animal mascot and Southwestern aesthetic within a single letter, I wish the Marlins had been able to come up with something as perfect as this from the very beginning.

 

I wish I could do something like that.

 

Anyway, onto the next team!

 

PITTSBURGH PIRATES - Script (and Number) Doctoring 

 

When the Pirates brought back their 1990-2000 cursive script, I was initially receptive of the change (my only comments on it in the thread was me calling MattMill a whiny pissant). The "Pittsburgh" wordmark was always too condensed for my taste, with a far too aggressive arch. However, the team kind of screwed up by not updating the whispy number font, adding another pointless outline cap, and using an outline-only road alternate (images in the first link). They also still use the ugly '97 pirate, while also refusing to employ a yellow-gold jersey (the early 2010s BP jersey being the closest). I thought that was the limit of the problems, but then I thoroughly looked at the cursive script.

 

 

Let this diagram sum up my problems with it:

 

 

It's almost as awful as the digital rendering of the Twins' cursive script. Luckily, I've had enough training to fix it up:

 

 

It's cleaner now, while still maintaining the "charm" of the original. 

 

With the logos, I've incorporated a lot of traits of my Defunct Saga/Project 32 Pirates concepts. The primary logo is a tweaked version of my Tampa Bay Pirates primary, while also using an outlined "P" as a secondary. The tertiary is a roundel with Ocean Beach Major, the Roberto Clemente Bridge, the skull & crossbats, and the keystone P. 

 

 

On the uniforms, I've done some serious tweaking. Instead of using the Giants' template, the Pirates now embrace tincture with slightly thicker stripes that go black/yellow-gold/black. It's akin to the Brewers' road uniforms/the Padres' collar stripes. The team now uses the old digital rendering of the home wordmark instead of the jersey version, as the digital version has bolder letters and is better suited for a jersey application. The number font is a modified version of Ocean Beach Major, much like I used on the Tampa Bay Pirates. The primary is on the sleeves, while the tri-stripes are on the socks.

 

 

The alternates include both a yellow-gold and a black jersey. I used the "P" on the chest of the yellow-gold jersey (only the Pirates and A's should have one), along with placket stripes and a yellow-gold crowned cap (an updated version of the 1970-76 cap). It also uses the tertiary logo. The black jersey features one-color lettering with no outlines and the "Pirates" wordmark.

 

 

The second set of alternates includes a replica of the 1960 home uniforms for Roberto Clemente Day (with the 1973 memorial patch). The pillbox hat also appears as an alternate for the home uniform.

 

 

The jacket uses a one-color, no-outline version of the "Pittsburgh" script.

 

 

The Pirates' branding gets a further refinement, one that helps them make a good set even better!

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 I can't think of a Gibb family song that goes with their redesign, so I figured I'd offer up a live performance of my favorite song off of 1989's One.

 

I guess you could sadly call PNC Park, at least under Nutting ownership, a "House of Shame."

 

Up next, trying to bring some consistency into the Minnesota Twins' set!

 

[floydnimrod]

I LOVE the simplicity/no outlines on the alternates. By not making them stand out, they stand out*.

 

*This statement brought to you by Oxymoron Monday

[Carolingian Steamroller]

I wonder how the thicker stripes play on the collar. 

 

One factor to consider is how much space there is between the upper edge of the fabric and the first button. The Angels more or less max out that space with 1-2-1 ratio soutache on their red alternate.

 

[The_Admiral]

It took me a second to realize there was silver in there and not solid white. Those Angels alternates are terrible.

[bcon_731]

36 minutes ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

I wonder how the thicker stripes play on the collar. 

 

One factor to consider is how much space there is between the upper edge of the fabric and the first button. The Angels more or less max out that space with 1-2-1 ratio soutache on their red alternate.

 

Why havent they done a navy alt? I feel like its been awhile. Also, is there a reason why they dont put Anaheim or LA of Anaheim somehow on their sets.

[Carolingian Steamroller]

19 minutes ago, bcon_731 said:

Why havent they done a navy alt? I feel like its been awhile. Also, is there a reason why they dont put Anaheim or LA of Anaheim somehow on their sets.

 

Probably because they've leaned into being a red dominant team (at least during the regular season) and Los Angeles is a really long name to do in that font. The letters wind up shrinking in size to fit which throws the balance off. 

 

 

See also the Giants "SAN FRANCISCO."

[bcon_731]

@Carolingian Steamroller This wouldnt look too bad on a navy set, right? At this point theyve been doing the same thing for a while, the most adventurous thing I can think of was that sleeveless uni. 

 

 

http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/2262/California_Angels/1970/Alternate_Logo

[Carolingian Steamroller]

8 minutes ago, bcon_731 said:

@Carolingian Steamroller This wouldnt look too bad on a navy set, right? At this point theyve been doing the same thing for a while, the most adventurous thing I can think of was that sleeveless uni. 

 

 

http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/2262/California_Angels/1970/Alternate_Logo

 

Maybe but the California take was pre-LA Angels branding. It'd be more likely that they'd use the "A" logo on its own in my opinion but this is a topic for another thread unless our host is about to drop his own take. 

[SFGiants58]

1 hour ago, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

Maybe but the California take was pre-LA Angels branding. It'd be more likely that they'd use the "A" logo on its own in my opinion but this is a topic for another thread unless our host is about to drop his own take. 

 

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the Project 32 Angels - both versions:

 

 

The collar I imagine for the Pirates concept would look a lot like the Padres' collar:

 

 

Big, but not intruding too much.

[Carolingian Steamroller]

2 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

The collar I imagine for the Pirates concept would look a lot like the Padres' collar:

 

 

Big, but not intruding too much.

 

Right. I bring it up because the Padres are using two stripes and the Pirats concept is offering three. 

[SFGiants58]

Just now, Carolingian Steamroller said:

 

Right. I bring it up because the Padres are using two stripes and the Pirats concept is offering three. 

I thought it was three stripes. Ah well, I’d assume the same thickness as the Padres’ ones. The Angels have a bit of buffer between the collar trim and the shirt collar.

[Carolingian Steamroller]

3 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

I thought it was three stripes. Ah well, I’d assume the same thickness as the Padres’ ones. The Angels have a bit of buffer between the collar trim and the shirt collar.

 

Cool. I'd like to see somebody push that envelope a little more.

[MJD7]

The Diamondbacks look great! I actually prefer the all-Sedona red alt, something about the black brim & undersleeves just doesn’t look right to me. The gray road uni is definitely superior to the sand in this case, in my opinion.

 

As for the Part II, you really knocked this one out of the park. The shades you’ve chosen are absolutely beautiful, they work perfectly together. It really does look like a Blue Jays/Astros/Brewers/Padres type modernization, as you implied. I would be happy to see this more magenta-tinted Arizona set and a more bluish-purple Rockies set coexist in the league, as it solves my main issue with Arizona going back to purple. My only suggestion would be to use the home jersey’s “A” colorization for the turquoise alt, but replacing the turquoise with cream. Any time the main part of the “A” is the darkest color, as opposed to the first outline, something about the distribution always just looks off to me. 

 

The Pirates look great. I would’ve never noticed the flaws in the cursive script, but you’ve definitely fixed them in your version. I still prefer yellow/black/yellow for the striping distribution, but that’s a minor quibble.

 

I can’t wait to see the Twins!