WideRight Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Hey all, After a long dry spell when designing just wasn't sounding fun to me, I am back with a new series. This time, inspired by the return of Big 10 football, I take on the conference. As a grad of both Indiana (Undergrad) and Wisconsin (Grad) the Big Ten has always held a special place in my heart. So, what can I say about this series? I am going to try to use classic and/or contemporary logos (not reinvent the wheel). I am going to also try, when appropriate to incorporate the shape of the relevant state, something I think more schools should do. I will include a logo and wordmark, and home & road jerseys which also align with Big 10 traditions, but with perhaps some twists. I will also create a single alternate uniform (no Nike Oregon mishmosh here) that I imagine the team using when they face an opponent with a similar color scheme (Nebraska-Wisconsin) The alternate must have a different helmet color, and may add colors which are not part of the (usually limited color palette) of the school. As much as possible I will try to have the alternate tie in to the history, traditions, or regional identity (flora, fauna, geology, history) of the school & its state. Each alternate helmet will have a different logo than the main team helmet (Will that include a logo for Penn State???) So, it will not be the wildest concepts for these schools. I love the tradition of the Big Ten too much to go nuts with it, but I hope to create classic looks that could work today and alternates that blend tradition with something new. And, my first attempt is... MICHIGAN STATE The classic green & white, the Spartan, the "S", and the newer wordmark and number font all make an appearance for MSU. For the alternate I add bronze and black to tie in to the Spartan name and the Bronze Age. You can click on the image to see the full-size version. Hope you like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramsjetsthunder Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 May reduce the wordmark size a bit, seems a bit cluttered on the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaytavo305 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 I think the green should be darker but other than that looks nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbird669 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 That Bronze Alt looks like a ND Shamrock Series uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 Before I move to the 2nd team, I agree that the MSU alt does look a bit like ND, and that the green turned out lighter than I pictured it as I was designing. The green actually comes directly from the official logos of MSU, so I am not sure what is happening there. I may try darkening (and desaturating it) a bit to see if that produces something closer to what I expected to see. Now, for the 2nd of 14 Big 10 schools, we head out west. NEBRASKA Here is the thing. I find Nebraska's helmets to be absolutely underwhelming. It isn't even the N used in their main logo, just a plain N left over from what? the 1950's? Not great. So, the emphasis was to improve that. The rest of the traditional 2 stripe Nebraska uni works pretty well, except when they play Wisconsin of course. So, what did I do? Replaced the nondescript N with a new logo that includes the main Nebraska "N" logo and a map of Nebraska (one of my keys to the series is to add more state shapes). Made greater use of the Huskers script logo. Retained a traditional 2-stripe uniform. Changed up the number font to add more diversity within the Big 10. Created a "blackshirt" alternate look which is all black, with consistent white-red-white striping. Used the N + Huskers logo as an alternate. I think it works pretty well, and the all black look will distinguish it from the other White & Red teams in the Big 10. So here it is. What do you like, dislike, wish it had? Again, click on the image to get access to a larger version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 PS: I see now that it is posted that the Huskers script came out a bit scratchy and pixelated. I will try to remedy that and replace this image with an updated one where it is clearer, but you get the gist, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 PENN STATE UNIVERSITY This was a tough one because PSU has only blue & white, and their helmet is logo-less, which is a tradition I do not want to buck. So, I altered their Nittany Lion logo to fit within a keystone, which I always associate with PA, the Keystone State. The uniforms remain basic, but I added a feature to the pants using a secondary image of the silhouette shape of PA along with the Penn State wordmark. For the alternates I decided that a school like Penn State, if forced to add a new color, would not go BFBS, but might go GFGS, so I added a "slate or shale" grey to represent the mountain ranges that run through the state. The look remains very traditional in many ways, but gives PSU an option for an alternate look. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramsjetsthunder Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Sorry man, that N helmet has to stay. Non-negotiable LOL. Love that you're using the script Huskers logo though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 2 hours ago, ramsjetsthunder said: Sorry man, that N helmet has to stay. Non-negotiable LOL. Love that you're using the script Huskers logo though I was not entirely sure it had the same untouchable status as some others. Had the same thought as I debated putting a logo on the OSU and PSU helmets or creating a Michigan alternate helmet. i realize it is not realistic that Nebraska would lose that N, but you have to admit that it is not exactly a pinnacle of graphic design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 OK, one more for today, and since I have been alternating East v. West with each team release, here is the next Western team I have completed. MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS I went back and forth on the primary helmet color, but decided that there is so much red in the Big Ten that going with the gold/yellow was the best option, and having the helmet match the pants is just a good look generally. I added a state outline to the M logo (since there are so many M schools around the country), and opted for the Ski-U-Mah slogan instead of the school name. For the Alt, I wanted to keep the gold theme, but now change from the athletic gold to an actual metallic gold. The silhouette gopher with the M seemed a better option than a full color gopher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chcarlson23 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I like the Ski-U-Mah logo on the front of the jerseys, but the Minnesota outline on the helmet is not great. There’s really no need, because the Gopher’s “M” is pretty unique compared to other “M” logos. The outline of Goldy with the M is not a great logo. Honestly the full colored Gopher would look better, and you would be able to tell what it is. And where’s the white jersey? "And those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalms 9:10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATolly66 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 The Nebraska Helmet, it's hard to make out the red "N" with the state that is also red. I think doing an red outline of the Nebraska State shape, would work much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 Some good thoughts on both Minny and Braska. I will revisit both. But first, time for another East team. OHIO STATE BUCKEYES Honestly there is not much I would do with the standard home and away look for the Buckeyes. I added a wordmark, tried to match the striping from helmet to jersey to pants, but other than that you can't expect to change too much. The alternate uniform is where i bent some rules. Added a Brutus logo to the helmet, and made some choices on the rest to create an all black uni that replaces a lot of what normally would be white with the OSU silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 Nebraska with altered N + State logo. Note the variation from the first one above. Switched to an outline so the N is more prominent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 And an updated Minnesota. I swapped out the M and M + State logo between the helmet and pants. I also added more maroon to the alternate uniform (shoulders and pant stripe). I decided to keep the silhouette gopher with the M rather than the full color gopher. I just like the simplicity of it. (And there is no white MN jersey. With Gold as one of your colors I think you can go "LA Lakers" and just not have a white jersey. How often would both teams have gold?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_DietDrPepper_ Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I'm confused about the obsession with the state outlines? I understand they're named after the state but there are multiple universities in those states. It also just gets old and dilutes classic brands. None of these teams need them. Follow the NFA, and My Baseball League here: https://ahsports.boardhost.com/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 44 minutes ago, _DietDrPepper_ said: I'm confused about the obsession with the state outlines? I understand they're named after the state but there are multiple universities in those states. It also just gets old and dilutes classic brands. None of these teams need them. As the flagship school in each state it seems logical to me to try to incorporate the state into the design of the team. And, to be honest, many of the "classic brands" are pretty minimalistic and not particularly interesting. They may be classic, but that does not make them good designs. I realize I just started a whole tangent war on this thread that will some how end up with a discussion of the NY Yankees vs. the flaming horse Detroit Pistons. I realize that is a danger here, but the whole point is that this is a concepts page, and a big part of my concept is incorporating state shapes into the branding of the top schools for each state. Some (Indiana, Illinois) already do it on their field designs, but not usually on uniforms. I want to try to find ways to do so with uniforms, when I think it makes sense and works for the school. Penn State, Ohio State, Minnesota, Nebraska, etc. are all states with 1 school which is the clear frontrunner/flagship. I don't think I will likely do the same with Michigan but for these it makes sense that the state's shape could be used as a powerful identifier, rather than, for example, the letter "M" which could be Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota or any other M word (Marshall, Miami of Ohio) etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I love the Shadow gopher that you have with Minnesota. The side panel on Penn State's uniforms look a little out of place for a normal pant design, mainly because of the width. I'm not a fan of changing the Buckeye's helmet stickers but the O still has the leaf in it so it's not big a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted November 13, 2020 Author Share Posted November 13, 2020 Well, I have fallen behind on West teams, so I am going to post another East team. This time it is my attempt to remedy some of the issues I see with my alma mater. INDIANA HOOSIERS While I will always root for IU, I don't agree with their "we don't need a mascot" stance and I am not really a big fan of their branding in several ways. The current helmet stripes, placement of the "IU" logo and 12,257 alternate uniforms are just not working for me. So... 1) I created a basic IU+Indiana logo with some beveling (I don't hate beveling when used judiciously). 2) I created a uniform that is somewhat basic, but which pays tribute to the basketball candystripe tradition on the neckline, sleeve caps and pants. 3) I brought in the curved INDIANA wordmark from the basketball jerseys. 4) I tried to find a way to actually produce a "crimson and cream" alternate, by using a champagne color (metallic) similar to the old Michigan Panthers instead of a flat yellowish-white cream color. The uniforms actually remind me of the Hickory HS uniforms from the movie Hoosiers, so that works for me. 5) I brought in the traditional script Indiana wordmark for the alternate helmets. I think they should use that script more, in any format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo_prankster Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 The alternate for Indiana is stunning!!! Have you thought about doing fictional colleges? The Fictional Story of Austus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.