Patriots Unveil New Uniforms

[Htown1141]

 

1 hour ago, RedSox44 said:

I will note that the new Patriots font, while closer to a generic block, is, in fact, not a generic block. It’s completely unique to them.

 You're right!

It's worse.

They're some sort of bastard son between the old set and a standard block. The first tip-off are the 1's, which look closer to the Jaguars 2013 font than a standard block. The second thing to note is the weight on the vertical and horizontal sections aren't equal, with the vertical sections being slightly thicker. I said this when ranking the uniforms, but the weight difference is negligible enough to feel like a mistake rather than an intentional design choice.

[jws008]

3 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

 

That’s dangerously close to a CCSLC bingo on my board.
 

Takes real talent to get all three of those in one sentence.

 

You're not giving him enough credit for Standard, too.

[oldschoolvikings]

25 minutes ago, Htown1141 said:

 

 You're right!

It's worse.

They're some sort of bastard son between the old set and a standard block. The first tip-off are the 1's, which look closer to the Jaguars 2013 font than a standard block. The second thing to note is the weight on the vertical and horizontal sections aren't equal, with the vertical sections being slightly thicker. I said this when ranking the uniforms, but the weight difference is negligible enough to feel like a mistake rather than an intentional design choice.

 

Yeah, with the old font that difference between the verticals and the horizontals was the defining characteristic. By trying to take it in a more conventional direction, but keeping just a hint of that old design feature, they're really treading a fine line. I tell my students this all the time, your audience/viewer will accept anything if it looks intentional. They might not like it, but then the discussion becomes "does this work, not not?"  On the other hand, if it looks accidental? Like if you've put a design feature so close to the line of subtlety that the viewer/audience is asking themselves whether or not you actually meant to do it?  You've lost them.

[Digby]

48 minutes ago, Htown1141 said:

 

 You're right!

It's worse.

They're some sort of bastard son between the old set and a standard block. The first tip-off are the 1's, which look closer to the Jaguars 2013 font than a standard block. The second thing to note is the weight on the vertical and horizontal sections aren't equal, with the vertical sections being slightly thicker. I said this when ranking the uniforms, but the weight difference is negligible enough to feel like a mistake rather than an intentional design choice.

 

I think the 1's seem to be the most unique forms in the set, and also the weirdest looking -- which makes a bad intro for me since they're unsurprisingly pushing a lot of Edelman jerseys right now.

[El Scorcho]

15 minutes ago, jws008 said:

You're not giving him enough credit for Standard, too.

 

I'm not some anti-tradition Nike stan. My favourite update this offseason is the Colts new numbers. I think the Bucs corrected one of the most horrendous uniform mistakes in sports and now have one of the best looks in the league.

 

I don't think any of the words i've used are excessive or unreasonable and i'm happy to explain further if people think i'm being flippant.

 

It's a standard block style font. As others have pointed out, it's slightly different to other blocks in use in the NFL, but only to uniform nerds like us. At a glance, it looks the same as half of the league.

 

Switching from a distinctive font to a standard style block is lazy. It's an attempt to piggyback off of a traditional football aesthetic instead of trying to define your own look. Yes, it's a font style the Patriots have used before, but they used it in an era where every team did. It's not special to them. They've replaced a font that screamed Patriots in a wildly successful era. They also have other interesting, distinctive fonts in their uniform history.

 

Switching from a distinctive font to a standard style block font is boring. The number is the most significant design element on a football uniform, and they've picked a font very similar to half of the league. I don't think the league is aesthetically richer for more teams adopting a block font. I don't want the block font expunged from the league, I just want it to be used where appropriate by teams where it makes sense.There are plenty of those teams without the Patriots adopting it as well.

 

Switching from a distinctive font to a standard block font makes your uniforms look more generic. The Patriots had their own distinctive block font that was instantly recognisable as distinct to the them. By swapping it out for a standard style block font, they've lessened how distinctive they look. That's absolutely not always a bad thing (the Bucs previous set looked really distinctive in a bad way), but in this case it is.

 

 

[joekono]

Since we're throwing out concepts and fixes....

My god, even the stripes match!

[BBTV]

"Boring" and "lazy" are boring and lazy critiques, and [The Rock] IT DOESN'T MATTER [/The Rock] what the rest of the post says.

 

Generic, and clip-art do have a place, however they're overused and often misused.  

 

Those words are usually cop outs or people that simply can't articulate their opinion.

 

[406Cane]

33 minutes ago, joekono said:

Since we're throwing out concepts and fixes....

My god, even the stripes match!

Associated with a bland time in Patriots history...but damn those are beautiful. 

[MDGP]

3 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

"Boring" and "lazy" are boring and lazy critiques, and [The Rock] IT DOESN'T MATTER [/The Rock] what the rest of the post says.

 

Generic, and clip-art do have a place, however they're overused and often misused.  

 

Those words are usually cop outs or people that simply can't articulate their opinion.

 

 

Madden Create-A-Team is a bad one too, especially since people are generally referring to the 2002-2007 era create-a team when they do. If anyone thinks that any modern logo looks like these:

 

 

Then they seriously need to get their eyes checked.

[Sec19Row53]

4 hours ago, El Scorcho said:

 

It does for lots of teams, because they've either maintained a block font throughout their history or had it in a classic era for the team. It made sense for the Bucs to return to a Superbowl era look. It didn't make sense for the Patriots to move away from their most famous look, even with all its flaws, to a generic standard block. 

 

The numbers are the most significant design feature on a football uniform. The league would be poorer if every team had the same font. There is plenty of block in the league without teams like the Patriots with far more history in other number fonts using it. 

Continuing to say it doesn't make it so.

 

Colors, and their usage, are way more important.

[El Scorcho]

3 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

"Boring" and "lazy" are boring and lazy critiques, and [The Rock] IT DOESN'T MATTER [/The Rock] what the rest of the post says.

 

Generic, and clip-art do have a place, however they're overused and often misused.  

 

Those words are usually cop outs or people that simply can't articulate their opinion.

 

 

I can certainly edit out of the offending buzz words without changing the meaning of anything in my post if that will placate people, but I've well and truly articulated my opinion. 

[El Scorcho]

2 hours ago, Sec19Row53 said:

Continuing to say it doesn't make it so.

 

Colors, and their usage, are way more important.

 

If we call numbers the second most important design element after colours, the point still stands. They're one of the most significant aspects of how an NFL team looks. 

[BBTV]

1 hour ago, El Scorcho said:

 

I can certainly edit out of the offending buzz words without changing the meaning of anything in my post if that will placate people, but I've well and truly articulated my opinion. 

 

I was making a generalization, not referring to you specifically.  For what it's worth, I don't disagree with any of your points.

[OnWis97]

23 hours ago, El Scorcho said:

 

If we call numbers the second most important design element after colours, the point still stands. They're one of the most significant aspects of how an NFL team looks. 

I just don't agree...especially to "regular" fans.  It was a custom font that didn't stand out that much.  Uniforms remembered for their number fonts are usually due to tackiness (like the Bucs alarm clock) or maybe some long-standing tradition (the Bears).  I don't think I'd put the Pats numbers in either category.  They were custom but not alarming.  They had them for 20 years but that followed a period of messing around with 90s trends, which followed a history of block font.  I don't view that font as critical to the identity. 

 

Actually, given the simplicity of the uniforms, I think it was a great time to ditch the gray/silver altogether.  My guess? They kept the silver helmet because that's (along with Elvis) the element they associated with the 20-year run.  To me, the "great" Patriots primary difference from the "mediocre" Patriots is the silver/gray being added to the RWB. 

[OnWis97]

On 4/23/2020 at 6:48 AM, Gothamite said:

Yeah, except they always make sense.  
 

They’re the little black dress or pinstripe suit of the sports world; they always look good despite changing fashions.  Teams can dabble with bell-bottoms, popped collars, or layered flannel shirts, but eventually you have to return to the classics.

Agreed.  I'm going to steal @oldschoolvikings take on gray facemasks (which I disagree with) and apply it to block numbers.

 

Block numbers are only good for football uniforms if:

1. The team has always had block numbers
2. The uniform is basically traditional in nature
3. The team plays football

I love standard block font.  To me it's just "bold."  It just looks right on a football uniform.  I am pretty sure this is an unpopular opinion but I hated those UCLA numbers with the Clarendon numbering.  They just weren't "bold."  If it were up to me, the Bears would be the only team without some variation of block font.

[andrewharrington]

On 4/23/2020 at 6:39 AM, RedSox44 said:

I will note that the new Patriots font, while closer to a generic block, is, in fact, not a generic block. It’s completely unique to them.

Sure, but if you’re relying solely on the 1’s “unique” flag and a slightly exaggerated vertical/horizontal contrast to make your type identifiable to the genpop (or to make them care at all), I think you’ll be disappointed.

 

On 4/23/2020 at 7:49 AM, Htown1141 said:

 

 You're right!

It's worse.

They're some sort of bastard son between the old set and a standard block. The first tip-off are the 1's, which look closer to the Jaguars 2013 font than a standard block. The second thing to note is the weight on the vertical and horizontal sections aren't equal, with the vertical sections being slightly thicker. I said this when ranking the uniforms, but the weight difference is negligible enough to feel like a mistake rather than an intentional design choice.

Nearly all type has thicker verticals than horizontals (of varying degrees, obviously). It’s not a mistake and doesn’t look like one. Thicker verticals are one of the best ways to make your type look more polished and less like a mistake.

[TBGKon]

On 4/20/2020 at 3:33 PM, Sport said:

 

Hi. They are. 

 

At the very least, they're a good place to start from for an update. The 2004 uniforms have never worked. They were slightly improved by Nike in 2012, but they're stale and bad and tired and the color rush is new and clean and fresh. 

Agreed, those Bengals CR white unis are a solid foundation.  Mix in a touch of orange in the sleeves and pant stripes.  I've also always thought the Bengals should be an orange home jersey team, would you agree or would you prefer black @Sport

[El Diablo]

I prefer the Bengals to wear black jerseys at home but the orange jersey over black pants was a pretty good look for them. At least when you consider the pajama set they had to work with.

[colortv]

 

 

 

 

 

[BBTV]

Yeah, and maybe the Cleveland Indians should use a stylized silhouette of Custer as their new logo.