WHAT IF: The NASL never died?

[WideRight]

And here is our chart of progress.  Teams which have been revealed are in full color.  Teams which have designs in the bank but are waiting for the reveal are in grey, and teams where I have not yet designed a logo are just question marks.   The teams are alphabetical by division (East then West). 

 

[Skycast]

On 6/12/2020 at 2:33 PM, B-Rich said:

 

Had to look it up as I couldn't recognize him this young, but number 14 is Peter Chandler, long time athletic director for my daughter's high school here in Colorado.

[WideRight]

And one more just because:

 

FC ROCHESTER LANCERS

Sponsor: Doordash

Colors: Yellow & Deep Royal Blue

 

The smallest market in the NASL sticks around due to a firm fan base across western NY.  The Lancers never had a good logo, let's be honest, and their jersey's were awkward too.  The current Lancers use a shield with RFC monogram, and only a subtle nod to the lance in the white space in the logo. It is a classic look that does not try to retain the literal elements of the original 1970's design. 

 

 

The uniforms are near mirror images using yellow and blue in both home and away kits.  The offset stripe replaces the actual lance on the jersey as a symbol of RFC. 

 

[WideRight]

Up next, one Eastern, one Western.

 

Montreal Manic FC

Sponsor: Bank of Montreal

Colors:  Black, Royal

 

 

 

 

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Sponsor: Alaska Airlines

Colors:  Green & Gold

 

 

[BigRed618]

The shield next to the Sting logo looks familiar. I’m guessing you brought the Strikers back to South Florida and then made an all-new team for Minnesota.

[WideRight]

BigRed618-- You are correct, the Strikers are Ft. Lauderdale's, so the Twin Cities get back their original NASL team, the Kicks.  

 

FT. LAUDERDALE STRIKERS

Sponsor: Royal Caribbean Cruiselines

Colors: Red, Gold, Black

 

The greater Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area retain the Strikers.  I kept the logo from the new NASL version of the Strikers (because it is pretty awesome) with just a minor adjustment to the font.  

The uniforms also reflect the original squad from the 70's, with red & gold hoops over black shorts.  The Away uniform keeps the black elements while providing a cooler white combo for those humid hot midsummer games in South Florida. 

[WideRight]

Minnesota Kicks

Sponsor: Mayo Clinic

Colors: Purple, Sky, Orange

 

There was not a lot to like about the original Minnesota Kicks identity.  It was cartoony and child-focused, which  i just don't see a major league sport doing today (very single-A idea).  So, I retained very little, the sky & orange, but added purple for 2 reasons:  It refers back to the Vikings, the area's #1 sports franchise, and we did not have purple in the NASL yet, so we needed some.   The logo is very basic, just the state with striping and the team name.  I did not want to try to recreate the kid-kicking-ball element of the original. 

 

The uniform uses the twin-stripe (for Twin Cities) motif as well, but otherwise is a big departure from the original Kicks.  The clash kit emphasizes orange, with a bit of highlighting down the front of the jersey and a "black fly swarm" parttern on the sleeves. 

[BigRed618]

Lol I forgot about the Kicks. Love the addition of purple. Really anchors down the whole look in a way it wouldn’t be able to with just the sky blue and orange.

[-kj]

The S is far too smashed there.  Kick8?

[Section30]

The Strikers may have my favorite logo yet, that thing is gorgeous.

 

As for the Kicks, love that you brought back the name, and I get wanting to update the old look, but idk there's just something about the original childish logo that I absolutely love. The purple looks good with the powder blue and orange, but I personally would have embraced the bright orange and powder blue and not added it.

 

I also agree with the comment above about adjusting the s in Kicks

[WideRight]

I cannot take credit for the Strikers' logo.  That is the actual logo from the new NASL a few years back.  All I did was update the font on "Strikers".  I do agree with the issues on the font used for the MN Kicks.  That font (Justice) is a bit on the fat side, and some letters, with S being the main one, just don;t work as well as I would like. 

 

Two more reveals, one of which I expect has been much anticipated just because of the long history of the squad in NASL and indoor soccer too.

 

SAN DIEGO SOCKERS

Sponsor: Scripps

Colors: Gold, Deep Royal, Powder Blue

 

With the Sockers I wanted to keep 2 key elements of the early NASL designs, the gold globe and the kicking K.  The final version is a bit bland perhaps, but manages to retain the feel of the original team. 

 

For the uniform, I could not retain the diagonal "SOCKERS" text, so the reverse sash (Right to left from player perspective, L to R from ours) mimics the earlier diagonal name.  

For the clash kit I wanted to avoid a blue-gold swap, as it would be too close to Rochester, so I went with a salute to the Chargers and a powder blue kit with white.  Macron is perhaps an odd choice for a kit supplier, but I want to vary up the NASL, with no centralized contract with NIKE or Adidas.  

[WideRight]

PHILADELPHIA ATOMS

Sponsor: Comcast

Colors: Navy, Electric Pink

 

There was not much from the original Atoms identity which I liked.  I decided to keep the nickname, and incorporate an atom with 2 electrons into the logo, but the primary feature is the keystone shape for PA and the PHILA wordmark.  I also decided to add a weird soccer-specific element to the logo, but instead of a ball, like most teams, they went with a boot. On the uniforms the main item kept was the chest-height hoops. 

 

 

 

[edjb93]

Is it just me or is the contrast of the Atoms logo muted? Kinda like you made a red and navy version, but adjusted either contrast or alpha of the logo, thus the colors became muted.

[WarriorFight]

On 6/13/2020 at 6:08 AM, WideRight said:

I must admit that I misremembered what the early Rowdies uniforms looked like.  But as my goal is to update and create new designs, I think I will stick with the green & gold hoops.  With the logo reduced to a crest and the addition of a large sponsor logo on the front, I think the stripes works pretty well. 

 

On to the next team(s).  Let's head out west, where we have 2 teams whose logos just needed minor tweeking.

 

FC LA AZTECS

Sponsor: You Tube TV

Colors: Terracotta Orange & Black

 

While the name Aztecs may be a bit tricky (cultural appropriation?) I think the design of the logo minimizes any concerns.  The Aztecs go with Umbro as their kit producer, and they go with a relatively basic orange jersey & black shorts/socks combo.  The main item of interest is the feather pattern on the jersey.  Let's say it has something to do with Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent.  The away kit features the same feather pattern, but changes up the colors with white jerseys. 

 

Coming right up: Vancouver. 

 

 

 

The red YT logo on the orange kit looks not good man, and I felt that way about LAFC too. If you made, on both kits, the YT logo all-black, it would be way cleaner imo.

[WideRight]

Two more to add.

 

DC DIPLOMATS

Sponsor: Penn Fed Credit Union

Colors: Red & White

 

The DC look is based on the flag of the District, and uses a monogram logo.  The team renamed from Washington to DC as part of a rebranding.  

 

The home kit uses red and white hoops to reinforce the connection with the district flag.  The away (a bit of an homage to DC United) features a Sampdoria-styled chest stripe on black uniforms. 

[WideRight]

Colorado Caribous FC

Sponsor: Dish Network

Colors: Blue & White

 

Decided to go with a Tottenham or Liverbird style logo for the Caribous.  Their initial look was so bad, a simple look, and a blue & white color scheme (a la Everton) felt like a good choice. 

 

 

The home uniform makes use of the Slovenia mountain pattern in blue and white.  The road uniform is a callback to the horrific "fringe" jerseys worn in the NASL, but uses a fade and the Slovenia pattern instead of actual fringe. 

 

[BigRed618]

Nice job on the Caribous. Kinda wish they kept the brown as their main colors tho

[Sebastianm]

Another what if well done! I can’t wait to see what’s next!

[WideRight]

Memphis Rogues

Sponsor: HCA Healthcare

Colors: Crimson, Grey, Athletic Gold

 

With the Memphis identity, it seemed the key was the elephant as the mascot, so I integrated an elephant head into a basic shield design.  The "ROGUES" name also features prominently as it did with the original NASL team.  Honestly I am not sure a Memphis franchise would have lasted from the 1970's until today.  I suspect they would have ended up in Nashville, but for the sake of this design series, Memphis keeps the Rogues. 

 

For the home kit, I wanted red to be dominant, but also wanted a bit of distinction from the other red squads, so the wide shaded stripes were added to give some depth to the jersey.  

For the clash kits, I went with the same "phased stripe" motif on the jersey, but blended white to grey.  There are several white kits in the league, but this one, with the black shorts, should stand out as well. 

[WideRight]

CALIFORNIA SURF

Sponsor: Disney

Colors: Navy, Powder Blue, Sea Foam Green

 

LA"s second team, playing in the OC if we are going to be geographically acurate, the Surf retain their 3-color wave as the primary logo component, but we add to that a map of CA with the OC highlighted and the acronym "OC, CA" as well. 

 

 

I wish I could have retained the wave pattern on the jersey, but since I am using PES Kit Creator to do the uniforms, it was not an option I had.  So, we keep the 3-color stripe on a white jersey as the primary kit.  The stripes are only on the front of the jersey, so not a true hoop design. 

 

On the clash kit, we keep the team colors intact, and use a fade effect on the jersey to add some depth and uniqueness to the look.  

 

Only a handful of teams left to reveal.  Just Atlanta, Detroit and Tulsa left if I am tallying these up correctly.  So, 1 more day of designs to go.