The Arena Ultimate Associaion (AUA) - Updated w/Houston + Whole League Logos Sheet

[Wildcomet]

Greetings! I've decided to put forth a new logo series for my hypothetical league, the Arena Ultimate Association.

 

Here's the imagined scenario: It's mid-2021, and arena operators and owners anticipating people in mass returning to sporting events are in need of new product, given the fall of various minor league teams/leagues the past year or so. Rather than invest in things which have had struggles like indoor football, they decide to capitalize on of the world's fastest growing sports, Ultimate Disc. While traditionally played outdoors, AUA staff have adapted the game to fit into a hockey rink-sized field. The game will be recognizable and work to maintain the unique inclusiveness and spirit of the game, while offering twists to take advantage of the new venue. It'd be starting off in Early 2022 with 8 teams, and maybe expanding if this turns out to be a hit on the forum.  I'll share more details about the rules and teams later, but here's a look at the league logos and wordmarks. I hope you all enjoy!

 

 

I do have some basic rules ready to go that I'll share also. This will be the basic template for league infographics moving forward.

 

[Wildcomet]

We're back, and here is some more information about the league, including the locations for the first 8 teams!

 

 

Ultimate is fairly unique in the sports world for its embrace of inclusiveness for co-ed play. I thought the best way to extend that embrace to this pro league is to create a space for men and women to shine on this larger stage. Teams will field rosters of men and women, each getting a  to shine on their own, and then if a 3rd match is needed they will come together as a single team. Record keeping will work similar to volleyball; the game will be determined by the best of 3 matches (so if the same team wins 2 matches, they add 1 win to their league record).

 

 

I made a few significant changes to ultimate rules. Like the AUDL, the AUA  added officials to the games, but will maintain the AUDL's integrity rule to overrule and waive an officials foul call against your opponent. I'm also shortening the stall clock to 5 seconds, to keep the disc moving in a smaller environment, and will implement a power-play structure similar to hockey. 

 

 

Finally, what I guess most people are here for, the team locations! I decided to keep it regional, which helps a young league to keep travel costs down. There would be some interdivisional play during the season; in my head the league would schedule several Midwestern neutral site double headers to cut down on costs and showcase the game to fans in potential expansion cities. The midwest region will be targeted next for any potential expansion.

 

I hope to do one team per workday, starting either later today or tomorrow. 

[Blindsay]

[Wildcomet]

Here we go, it's time to share out the first team in the series. Today we go out east, to meet the Pittsburgh Hammers.

 

For those unfamiliar, a hammer is a technique for throwing the disc. It's an overhead throwing motion that can appear somewhat similar to how one throws a football. Of course, hammers are also used by blacksmiths, so the name also highlights Pittsburgh's history in the steel industry as well as connects it to the sport. The logo is designed to form the shape of a hammer, with the disc as the hammerhead, the thrower's arm as the handle and streaks behind the disc forming the pry-bar portion. I put a bit of a diamond-grate pattern in the middle of the disc to fill in the negative space and connect a little more to the steel industry. 

 

 

The next update will head out west, most likely to either Portland or San Francisco.

 

*12/21 Edit: Added uniforms!* This is my first attempt with the template I made from what was originally a soccer template. The jerseys have the chest and shoulders covered with a sublimated steel diamond pattern, which can also be found on the left outside of the shorts. The logo takes center stage on the right shorts leg, while team's slogan- #HAMMERDOWN- is written down the left leg. The streaks behind the disc in the logo form the stripes on the arms.

 

[shadyloaf]

As a former ultimate player, I love this. Will you be doing uniforms too?

[Wildcomet]

53 minutes ago, shadyloaf said:

As a former ultimate player, I love this. Will you be doing uniforms too?

 

Thanks, appreciate it! I wasn't planning to do uniforms; I just don't have a good template that would work for Ultimate. If I can find something good to work with then I may include them in the future.

[Wildcomet]

Good morning all!

 

Here's the next set ready to share. I debated which to share next, but went with Portland (I think San Francisco will be next). Say hello to the Portland Ringers!

 

The name is reference both to Portland's association with the logging industry and forests in the region (the rings of a tree), and the concept of teams bringing in a top player to win a championship. Given how similar a slice of a tree log would look to a frisbee, I wanted to connect the team to that sort of imagery, and then thinking about the rings of a tree and the importance of championship rings in sports, it just all came together for me. I hope you all enjoy!

 

 

Here's some uniforms for the Ringers! We utilized the bark and rings in multiple locations; the bark pattern from the logo was the basis for the collar and seems of the sleeves. We also used them on the jersey to create a divide between the upper and lower parts of the jersey allowing the jerseys to blend in with the shorts.

 

[shadyloaf]

You could use a soccer template. 

[Wildcomet]

9 hours ago, shadyloaf said:

You could use a soccer template. 

 

I'd had that thought. I just need to find one I like and adapt it to a .pdn file for my graphics software.

[Wildcomet]

Morning all!

 

I got the next team to share. We're staying out west but traveling South to San Francisco to meet the Gold City Gatekeepers! I liked Gold City rather than San Francisco partially because it's shorter and flowed a little better for me, and also because it highlights the reference to the Golden Gate bridge, which is the inspiration behind the name. I also included the crossed mining pickaxes in reference to the city's history with gold mining. I played with a similar color scheme to the 49ers, with some extra black added. 

 

 

Hope you all like; C & C is of course appreciated. I think after this will be an East Division team, but I'm not sure which one yet. On another note, I think I have something I can make a uniform template on, so those might become part of this project soon.

 

Edit: We have uniforms for the Gatekeepers! Designing this was tricky to keep it from looking too much like Pittsburgh or Philly since it has colors similar to both of them. I decided to give the home jerseys a predominantly gold look, and both jerseys use the gradient transition to the shorts color. The bridge from the logo is the basis for the side panels on the shorts, and both also feature logos on the sleeves and the wordmark on the chest.

 

[neo_prankster]

Do you have a diagram of the playing surface?

[Section30]

All of the logos so far have been great, I especially like Portland's tree-disc

[Wildcomet]

On 12/18/2020 at 10:00 PM, neo_prankster said:

Do you have a diagram of the playing surface?

 

Not a diagram exactly, but I did decide this weekend to mockup what an AUA field would look like in an arena. A diagram in many ways would be the same an indoor football field, so I thought this would better show how the dasherboards, etc come into play. I did my best with it, it's basically a photoshopped mashup of public domain pics of a hockey arena and an arena football field. The raised dasherboards will help contain the disc within the smaller space, and since they are in play it will add a new dimension to the game (literally) as players can riccochet the disc off the boards to teammates

 

[Wildcomet]

Hello! Thanks for the comments over the weekend! I have a good amount to share today. If you look directly above you can see a mockup of the AUA field setup in an arena, and back up to the Pittsburgh Hammers post I edited it to include uniforms! I'll have to catch up on uniform making (as I do I'll edit posts to keep them all together), but I do have a uniform design to go with today's new team. Say hello to Pittsburgh's in-state rival, the Philadelphia Stallions!

 

This team's identity was inspired by the Italian Stallion Rocky Balboa. Given the old school inspiration I tried to keep to a traditional style horse logo, a more classic font, etc, while still adding in some modern touches like the asymmetrical jersey design. I think it came together pretty well. The colors were based off the shorts Rocky wears in the first Rocky movie.

 

 

 

I'm not sure which team will be next, but I hope to have something to share again tomorrow. Hope you all enjoy.

[Wildcomet]

Hello again, I'm going to keep going and share some more content out, since I'm not sure when I'll be on here next after today with Christmas coming up.  Further up, I have added in uniforms for Gold City and Portland if anyone wants to go back to check those out. Down below, you can check out our newest team, the Boston Landsharks!

 

Landshark is a term sometimes used in Ultimate circles to describe a player who often (sometimes needlessly) dives and lays themselves out to catch or defend thrown discs. This made it a fitting term to combine with Boston's coastal location. The name gave me a chance to create a fairly unique color scheme, combining aquamarine with sand and grass colors representing the idea of an ocean creature on land. Putting the crescents above and below the shark gave me an inkling of both a disc behind it, and the jaws of a shark. 

 

 

The uniforms use the crescent from the logo as shoulder striping, and have sharks circling the player around the uniform. The wordmark is front and center on the player's chest, and the team slogan (#GETSOME) is written on the shorts leg opposite the shark.

 

 

As I said, with the holidays coming I'm not sure when I'll be back on this computer to put up new content, so I hope this is all enjoyed. Happy holidays!

[Blindsay]

The Eye in the Shark in the Landsharks’ logo needs a bit of a rebuff, makes it look bored. Good work anyways!

[Wildcomet]

On 12/23/2020 at 2:10 PM, Blindsay said:

The Eye in the Shark in the Landsharks’ logo needs a bit of a rebuff, makes it look bored. Good work anyways!

 

I appreciate the feedback. Eyes have always been something of a struggle for me in logos. I worked up a revision with some sharper angles in it and a bit more streamlined and I think I'm getting it in the right direction. Thoughts?

 

[Blindsay]

Better.

[Wildcomet]

We're back! Hope everyone's had a great holiday season so far.  I have one more team ready to share out, so without much adieu say hello to the Oakland Cutters!

 

The cutter name carries a double meaning, both as a type of ship which highlights Oakland's coastal location and as an Ultimate term for players who are looking to get open to catch the disc. I went with a color scheme that was reminiscient of the Carolina Panthers, but I think it works well to highlight Oakland's sports tradition (the "Black Hole" at Raiders games, etc) with the black and hints of grey paired with the bright blue representing the ocean. The primary logo is encapsulated in circle to help make the connection to being an Ultimate team, but it doesn't have to be and the secondary in this case would be the ship without the surrounding circles.

 

 

The uniform design I kept pretty clean, but still possessing some of the asymmetrical elements which have become something of a common element for teams in this league. I put the ship sans roundel wrapping around the left side of the jersey to convey the energy of players cutting across the field, along with an angled wordmark on the center chest. I used the pattern of the wave passing by the ship's hull from the logo as the right side panel of the shorts, which I thought balanced the look a bit. The striping patterns from the roundel became the pattern for the ends of the shorts and jersey sleeves. 

 

 

I'm not sure which team will be posted next; Seattle is still getting some work done on it's uniforms, and New York has a first run completed for the logo and uniforms but I kind of want to workshop the logo a bit. Depending on how long it takes to finish Seattle, I may post New York even if I'm not totally happy with it just to get feedback/ideas on how to improve it. Anyway, hope this is all enjoyed! C & C is always welcomed; if any good revisions to stuff I've posted can be made now that we're nearing the end of the initial 8-team run I could go back to those if needed. Thanks everyone!

[Wildcomet]

I made some revisions to my New York logo and I think I'm on the right track so I'm going to go ahead and unleash the New York Atlas onto the world!

 

Atlas is named after the Atlas statue in Rockefeller Square in New York City. The logo is based off the same statue, showing it from a waist-up perspective (as opposed to a full body person which just didnt look right to me as a logo). I replaced the globe in the actual statue with a disc, and based the colors off the colors of the city. Much like their namesake, as the league's primary market the Atlas will be in many ways carrying the weight of the league on their shoulders. 

 

 

The uniforms borrow aspects of the logo throughout. I cut out most of the globe and placed Atlas beneath the number on the front, as if he is lifting the number up. I also used a version of his arms and the base he uses to carry the disc as the front collar on both jerseys. The NY secondary logo is on both sleeves, as well as the Atlas Strong slogan split between each sleeve. The orange angular portion at the bottom of the logo (around Atlas' torso) became the basis for the stripes on the shorts. I decided to try something unique to this league and have the side/back of the shorts legs be colored differently from the rest of the shorts; I felt like it alluded somewhat to how ancient Greek/Roman warriors are sometimes depicted and helped to make the team stand out a bit more.

 

 

Next up will be Seattle, and that will be it for what was initially planned with this series. Please share your thoughts on if you would like to see additional franchises (if so, where?), or any other graphics that would make sense for the current teams (fields, etc). If anyone has thoughts for improving any current team brands I'm open to hearing them also. Thanks!