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Revisiting the California Soccer League! (SERIES FINALE)


TheGiantsFan

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One League Two city I would consider is OC’s county seat Santa Ana, which has historically been a semi-major town in Orange County and Greater Los Angeles. It also plays into Latino history in the state, as Santa Ana was one of the school districts challenged in the Mendez V. Westminister case.

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Calcio North Beach is beautiful, as is everything you've done thusfar with this wonderful and unique niche series. I have an unusual proposition for that club- perhaps they should wear pink? Italian immigration to California drew heavily from both Sicily and Piemonte, and Palermo and Juventus have long histories with pink shirts. It would give them something unique whilst also representing the heritage without directly using either the azzurri or the tricolore.

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Calcio looks great! I like the idea of the pink too!

 

as for Carmel, you could also do something like “Rancho Carmel FC” given the lots of ranches in Carmel Valley. You could of course do something golf-inspired! Or a quail to pay homage to Quail Lodge. Or something to do with Big Sur or the Bixby Bridge! 
 

Another idea for yuba city could be to incorporate the nearby Sutter Buttes—-literally a mountain in the middle of the Central Valley, quite unique! Agriculturally, the area is also known for nuts, cherries, blueberries 

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On 2/4/2021 at 8:23 AM, MDTrey4 said:

Can't believe you turned this around so quickly and are already putting out fire with CSL2. My one critique would be the difference between the home and clash for Irvine. I'm not sure there's enough contrast between the two. If the home team decides to wear red (or orange for that matter), there would be no real clash. Best way to combat that is probably mono-beige for the clash.

 

Can't wait to see what else is in store for all these smaller towns.

 

You actually have a valid point right there, so here's the new beige-on-beige clash kit for Irvine:

 

Spoiler

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On 2/4/2021 at 11:11 AM, mcrosby said:

Finally hopping in here to say that this is a monumental undertaking and you're absolutely killing it. Fantastic work. 

 

Thank you very much, especially coming from you! I've always looked up to your work through the years, and I always like to go through your Behance galleries for design inspiration :)

 

On 2/4/2021 at 1:51 PM, ItsSlothy said:

One League Two city I would consider is OC’s county seat Santa Ana, which has historically been a semi-major town in Orange County and Greater Los Angeles. It also plays into Latino history in the state, as Santa Ana was one of the school districts challenged in the Mendez V. Westminister case.

 

I actually considered a Santa Ana team when figuring out where to put CSL2 teams, and it would be a natural rival to Irvine. I ended up giving the last OC team to Buena Park, but I am more than willing to move that team back to Santa Ana! :)

 

On 2/4/2021 at 2:12 PM, alexandre said:

Calcio North Beach is beautiful, as is everything you've done thusfar with this wonderful and unique niche series. I have an unusual proposition for that club- perhaps they should wear pink? Italian immigration to California drew heavily from both Sicily and Piemonte, and Palermo and Juventus have long histories with pink shirts. It would give them something unique whilst also representing the heritage without directly using either the azzurri or the tricolore.

 

On 2/4/2021 at 3:23 PM, woody86 said:

Calcio looks great! I like the idea of the pink too!

 

as for Carmel, you could also do something like “Rancho Carmel FC” given the lots of ranches in Carmel Valley. You could of course do something golf-inspired! Or a quail to pay homage to Quail Lodge. Or something to do with Big Sur or the Bixby Bridge! 
 

Another idea for yuba city could be to incorporate the nearby Sutter Buttes—-literally a mountain in the middle of the Central Valley, quite unique! Agriculturally, the area is also known for nuts, cherries, blueberries 

 

Due to popular demand, I ended up giving Calcio North Beach a pink clash kit! Thank you both so much for that suggestion~

 

Spoiler

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Your suggestion for Carmel reminded me of this Pebble Beach Snapchat Geofilter that I made in 2019, so I might combine golf and Big Sur imagery for that team. I've seen the buttes from I-5, but I've never actually been to Yuba City, so I do appreciate those suggestions! As for quails, I have that planned for a team in southern California, so stay tuned for that! 

 

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Capital Division

Sacramento Athletic Club*

Sacramento, CA

Founded: 2004

Affiliated With: Capital City SC

 

*They officially do not abbreviate "Athletic Club" to "AC"

 

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While Capital City SC focuses on Sacramento's status as the California state capital, Sacramento Athletic Club (shortened to "SAC") plays into a more local identity, with the focal point of the crest being the iconic Tower Bridge that leads directly towards the Capitol Building from the west. The gold is taken from the Tower Bridge, and the shades of purple are taken from the Sacramento Kings. The octagonal crest also takes inspiration from the [rather lackluster] Nashville SC crest.

 

The home kit is a simple purple-and-gold kit inspired by the span of the Tower Bridge across the Sacramento River. The clash kit takes the light blue and red from the retro-style Kings City Edition jerseys and puts a sublimated diagonal grid pattern (downtown Sacramento has a rigid grid that is slightly diagonal) on top of it. The kits are supplied by Adidas, and the sponsor is Sutter Health.

 

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On a side note, it looks like my Fremont clash kit predicted the Philadelphia Union's new away kit a few days early 😂

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The double play on SAC is great. And using the tower bridge coming out of the crest looks amazing. AND the bridge across the home jersey is perfect. Still kinda in shock that you're 50+ into this and still putting out heat.

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On 2/4/2021 at 10:09 PM, woody86 said:

Great job on Sac!! 

 

Thank you very much! :)

 

On 2/5/2021 at 8:30 AM, MDTrey4 said:

The double play on SAC is great. And using the tower bridge coming out of the crest looks amazing. AND the bridge across the home jersey is perfect. Still kinda in shock that you're 50+ into this and still putting out heat.

 

I'm glad you liked it! I was a bit stumped on Sac's team name at first, but then I came upon the "S.A.C." name as an epiphany while walking the dog 😂

 

As far as doing so many concepts is concerned, it really helps me keep my creative juices flowing as I continue to struggle looking for an entry-level design job in this economy 😬. I'm not really doing much right now, so might as well refine my design skills with these soccer teams!

 

On 2/5/2021 at 10:29 AM, alexandre said:

The pink is gorgeous, great work!!

 

Thank you! I really appreciate your suggestion, and it really does make Calcio look better :)

 

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Valley Division

Oildale Drillers

Oildale, California

Founded: 2002

Affiliated With: Racing Bakersfield

 

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Kern County is often jokingly referred to as the "Texas of California", and the heavy presence of the oil industry there really adds to that claim. Oildale's crest is a variation of the Racing Bakersfield crest, with an oil drop replacing the checkerboard oval. As one would expect from an oil-based team, Oildale's colors are black/white/gray; I also took design inspiration from the Tulsa Roughnecks FC (which has since been replaced with FC Tulsa and its gorgeous new logo) and the 2002-07 Edmonton Oilers.

 

The home kit is the gray "Black Gold" kits with a fading "oil drop" gradient. The clash kits take the red from its parent club and incorporate oil derricks on the sides. The kits are supplied by Adidas and the sponsor is Bolthouse Farms, known for its carrot-based products.

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As someone who's spent his entire life in the city I'd recommend Torrance be given some kind of a subtle military theme.  The city's known for one of the largest Armed Forces Day parades in the country and World War II hero Louis Zamperini (basis of the book and movie Unbroken).

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Congrats on finishing the CSL, Oakland was a great way to finish up the league. I love the simplicity of their crest and you can't go wrong with the green and gold color scheme! Oildale's clash has to be my favorite of the second league so far -- that oil rig side pattern steals the show. Great work!

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17 hours ago, LMU said:

As someone who's spent his entire life in the city I'd recommend Torrance be given some kind of a subtle military theme.  The city's known for one of the largest Armed Forces Day parades in the country and World War II hero Louis Zamperini (basis of the book and movie Unbroken).

 

Lucky for you, that's my next team! Although it's not strictly a Torrance team anymore, I did incorporate your suggestions into its design :)

 

8 hours ago, alexandre said:

The oil rig as the side pattern on the change kit is really neat, and it doesn't look forced. I assume you're a professional because your work is always perfect.

 

I'm glad you like it! :)

 

I wish I were a professional sports designer, though that's always been a dream of mine! I'm still working on making that reality, though 😭

 

1 hour ago, Megildur said:

Congrats on finishing the CSL, Oakland was a great way to finish up the league. I love the simplicity of their crest and you can't go wrong with the green and gold color scheme! Oildale's clash has to be my favorite of the second league so far -- that oil rig side pattern steals the show. Great work!

 

Thank you very much! I'm glad you like Oakland and Oildale, and there will definitely be plenty of second-league teams down the road! :)

 

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Basin Division

Catalina Wanderers

Los Angeles, California

Founded: 1988

 

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This team actually did begin play on Catalina Island, but logistical reasons prompted the team to move from Avalon onto the mainland; the team now plays at the other side of the Catalina Express in the LA seaside community of San Pedro (pronounced "San PEE-dro" to my disappointment). This team has the unique position of representing not just representing Catalina Island but also the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. The crest mainly features a stylized version of the Catalina Casino on Avalon, with the structure giving the team's white and red/orange part of the color scheme. The rest of the color scheme is taken from the now-defunct Ft. Lauderdale Strikers.

 

The home kit is a white kit with the red stripes from the crest (inspired by the bottom arches of the Catalina Casino); the patriotic stripes are also a reference to the South Bay's aerospace industry and Torrance's Armed Forces Day parade, the longest-running municipal military parade (shoutout to @LMU for this suggestion!). The clash kit elevates the role of the tertiary yellow color with a wavy ocean design that honors the two communities the team has called home: the yellow gap represents the waters that separate Catalina Island from the mainland. The kits are supplied by Puma, and the sponsor is Torrance-based King's Hawaiian (known for their sweet dinner rolls sold at Costco).

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Updates are a little slower now since I'm creating these teams entirely from scratch, but here's the next one!

 

Southwest Division

Magic Mountain SC

Santa Clarita, CA

Founded: 1996

 

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Santa Clarita's representative in the CSL2 is named after Six Flags Magic Mountain, who leased land outside the theme park to the team for state-of-the-art soccer facilities. This was quite a challenging one to make because "magic" is such an abstract concept; I ended up pursuing a magic hat concept with ideas inspired by Orlando Magic City Edition jerseys and the detailed flairs of the Vegas Golden Knights jersey logos.

 

The home kit takes the magic hat from the crest and incorporates it into the center stripe pattern; an arc of stars burst from the top of the hat. The clash kit highlights the tertiary magenta color (which doesn't appear on the crest) with a quadrant pattern that represents the four communities (Canyon Country, Newhall, Saugus, and Valencia) that combined to incorporate Santa Clarita in 1987; the magic spiral pattern from the crest makes an appearance in these kits as well. The kits are supplied by Under Armour, and the sponsor is Santa Clarita Diet on Netflix Six Flags Magic Mountain.

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On 2/11/2021 at 8:57 PM, MDTrey4 said:

I didn't get the magic hat right off the bat but after hearing the explanation it pops. Loving the clash top too. It might be better with white shorts though.

 

I wanted to keep the magic hat really subtle in an otherwise traditional-style soccer crest, and I'm glad you enjoy it! And I went ahead and fixed Magic Mountain with white shorts for you!

 

(The shirt/short combos are somewhat of a challenge sometimes, so I always appreciate your feedback on those!)

 

Spoiler

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After a short break from this series for the long weekend, here's the next one!

 

Northwest Division

Kabayan Daly City

Daly City, CA

Founded: 1998

 

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There are 4 million Filipino-Americans in the United States (including myself), and Daly City is well known for having one of the largest concentration of Filipinos in the country (as of 2019, 32% of Daly City's population is Filipino). I figured it was only appropriate to give Daly City the American representative in the fictional Kabayan (meaning "countryman" or "compatriot" in Tagalog) group of teams, similar to Red Bull's network of soccer teams. The crest consists of the colors and the sun from the Flag of the Philippines, and I accidentally ended up making this crest look similar to the 2016 Florida Panthers rebrand

 

The halved home kit consists of a vertical Philippine flag with a white chevron breaking up the stripes, and the clash kit is an inverted white version of the home kit. The kits are supplied by Adidas, and the sponsor is The Filipino Channel, which is headquartered in Daly City.

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As a Filipino, I approve this. If the Philippine Football Federation will ever consider a kit redesign, then this should be the national team's kit set, although the white is most likely to be picked from this, since the Azkals usually wear white as the primary.

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15 hours ago, edjb93 said:

As a Filipino, I approve this. If the Philippine Football Federation will ever consider a kit redesign, then this should be the national team's kit set, although the white is most likely to be picked from this, since the Azkals usually wear white as the primary.

 

Hello fellow Pinoy!

 

I'm glad you like it! I did look at the Philippine national team kits for inspiration, and you're definitely right about the white primary kits. But yeah, I definitely think that the Philippine team needs a refresh and hopefully some World Cup representation one day! 🙏

 

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Southwest Division

AFC Santa Monica

Santa Monica, CA

Founded: 1987

 

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Before I go into more detail about Santa Monica's team, I would like to give a MASSIVE shoutout to @Brian in Boston! He PM'ed me very detailed suggestions about what design directions to take from a Santa Monica local's perspective, and this team's identity wouldn't have been as localized as it is without him :)

 

AFC Santa Monica actually began in the CSL after its first set of expansions, but had to move to the CSL2 after some financial difficulties in the mid-90s. Since then, Santa Monica has thrived in the CSL2 and has exported talent to the CSL and to other leagues abroad. The crest is a combination of the 1934 Art Deco "Santa Monica" statue at Pacific Palisades Park and the iconic Santa Monica Pier sign, with fonts that are taken directly from the sign. A blue "sun" adorns the top of the crest, and that can also be interpreted as the pier's Ferris wheel. The colors are taken directly from the Santa Monica city seal.

 

The home kit is a navy blue kit with vibrant colors that is inspired by nighttime scenes of the pier, with a Ferris wheel pattern in the middle. The clash kit references the role of the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica history and is based on the metal exterior (complete with rivets!) of the Spirit of Santa Monica Douglas DC-3 parked outside the Santa Monica Airport. The kits are supplied by Adidas (the pier sign naturally lent itself to 3 Adidas stripes) and the sponsor is Snapchat.

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On 2/4/2021 at 9:50 PM, TheGiantsFan said:

Your suggestion for Carmel reminded me of this Pebble Beach Snapchat Geofilter that I made in 2019, so I might combine golf and Big Sur imagery for that team. I've seen the buttes from I-5, but I've never actually been to Yuba City, so I do appreciate those suggestions! As for quails, I have that planned for a team in southern California, so stay tuned for that! 

 

Hey man, I've been a huge fan of your filters after I first discovered them on Reddit. Cool to see you here now too, I had no idea you had an account here haha.

Parsons is my dude.

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On 2/18/2021 at 1:56 PM, loneranger158 said:

Hey man, I've been a huge fan of your filters after I first discovered them on Reddit. Cool to see you here now too, I had no idea you had an account here haha.

 

Hey there! I do remember your Geofilters, you're the one that made a ton of university filters in San Antonio!

 

I've actually been on the forums for quite a long time now, and my design interest was in my hand-drawn concepts before I started making a ton of filters. After 234 filters, I felt like I was kinda worn out from making filters for a few reasons: fewer people were using Geofilters (even before COVID), and that it even Snapchat was making fewer and fewer new Geofilters. Most importantly, it became a really difficult platform for me to experiment with new designs on; my crazier designs were likelier to get rejected, so I resorted to making "safe" designs that look the same with outlines and drop shadows just so that they get accepted.

 

Luckily, soccer teams and their jerseys are a blank slate to do anything, so I feel creatively free again! 😂

 

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Here's another one for today!

 

Capital Division

Benicia Arsenal

Benicia, CA

Founded: 1996

 

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Although I'm mostly sticking to a "no real-life teams" philosophy in my CSL series, I had to make a very rare exception for this one (as well as at least one other CSL2 team). The Benicia Arsenal FC (more on that name shortly) is a real-life youth soccer team in Benicia, and its name was just too cool not to include in CSL2.

 

Although the name implies a connection with the more-famous English team, Benicia Arsenal is anything but another Arsenal copycat. The team is named after the actual Benicia Arsenal, which supplied ordnance for the US Army from 1861 to 1964. The castle-like clock tower of the Arsenal makes up the overall shape of the shield. The black/yellow color scheme, diagonal sash, and the cannon are taken directly from the real-life team.

 

The home kit is a simple black-and-yellow kit with the diagonal sash from the crest. The clash kit is inspired by the historic brick buildings in Benicia and neighboring Vallejo (who shares this team with its eastern neighbor): the colors are taken from the Benicia State Capitol (home to the California state government from 1853 to 1854), and the steel structures of the Mare Island Shipyard in Vallejo are found in the upper front torso. The kits are supplied by Under Armour, and the team is sponsored by Valero, who operates a large refinery in eastern Benicia.

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