My Take on the NBA's Uniform System: Team Matchups *Requests are open*

[colinturner95]

16 hours ago, Friedrich Stuart Macbeth said:

Where's the purple? I can't consider it to be the Raptors unless you give me purple in their colour scheme.

 

16 hours ago, johne9109 said:

Yeah there's gotta be some purple

 

 

Not gonna get shot for saying that I prefer the Raptors in red, am I? (Not gonna lie, the purple does look nice though). 

 

Kept the shell of the design intact, but changed up the stripes to match a little bit of the inaugural uniform's charm and magic. Also thank you for commenting something because it made me notice the fact that I completely messed up on the shorts on the original post. 

[sky1324]

I don't hate this set (I like the chevrons, personally) but those shorts are not doing it for me. The massive claw doesn't mix with the rest of the uniform whatsoever. A mirror of the nice maple leaf pattern would be much better. I really like the updates you've made so far, each one is definitely better than your originals.

[colinturner95]

18 minutes ago, QCS said:

I don't hate this set (I like the chevrons, personally) but those shorts are not doing it for me. The massive claw doesn't mix with the rest of the uniform whatsoever. A mirror of the nice maple leaf pattern would be much better. I really like the updates you've made so far, each one is definitely better than your originals.

 

 

That makes sense. Took your suggestion and made the shorts match all the way around and got rid of the claw marks on the shorts... and moved them to the Statement uniform. I like them, didn't want to get rid of them and thought they'd work on an alternate. 

[johne9109]

Clawmarks do look best on the alternate on this set. Great job. Toronto was a team that should've never changed their original look, but you make a good look for them otherwise. Still miss that dino logo though. 

[CLEstones]

"Simplifying the NBA..."

 

Proceeds to have 3 or more different uniform styles, multiple non-standard colors, various fonts/wordmarks...

 

Just messing around...

[johne9109]

4 minutes ago, CLEstones said:

"Simplifying the NBA..."

 

Proceeds to have 3 or more different uniform styles, multiple non-standard colors, various fonts/wordmarks...

 

Just messing around...

Yeah but most are better than what the NBA is offering (also just messing....)

[colinturner95]

53 minutes ago, CLEstones said:

"Simplifying the NBA..."

 

Proceeds to have 3 or more different uniform styles, multiple non-standard colors, various fonts/wordmarks...

 

Just messing around...

 

I couldn't find a better word to sum up "fixing the NBA's broken system that allows teams to have zero brand continuity and look nothing like themselves"  

 

Though "Standardizing" might have been a good way to go

 

48 minutes ago, johne9109 said:

Yeah but most are better than what the NBA is offering (also just messing....)

 

Messing about which part?

[johne9109]

5 minutes ago, colinturner95 said:

 

 

Messing about which part?

That was directed at @CLEstones I didn't want him to think I was trying to get all defensive at him for what he said.

[CLEstones]

14 hours ago, johne9109 said:

That was directed at @CLEstones I didn't want him to think I was trying to get all defensive at him for what he said.

 

All good.

 

Side note.  Does anyone have this template in PSD?  Shoes and socks included?

[colinturner95]

4 hours ago, CLEstones said:

 

All good.

 

Side note.  Does anyone have this template in PSD?  Shoes and socks included?

It's currently an .ai file. If you're able to convert it, I can send it or I can mess around with trying to convert it. 

[CLEstones]

1 hour ago, colinturner95 said:

It's currently an .ai file. If you're able to convert it, I can send it or I can mess around with trying to convert it. 

 

I tried converting some other templates and got some weird errors.  IF you can, that would be great.  Thanks.

[colinturner95]

Moving onto the Central Division: 

 

Hand Drawn Assocation/Icon Alternate (Jersey Model: Zach LaVine | Players Still With Team: 3/6)

 

 

Association - Icon: Possibly two of the most iconic jerseys in NBA history, and there's nothing that needs changed with that. Much like Boston, the biggest changes are that the armhole striping runs its way around the arms completely again. Other than that, the uniforms stay pretty much the same. 

 

Statement: The Bulls have danced (that was absolutely intentional) around with black uniforms in their recent history, between various styles of short stripes, pinstripes or not. I personally think that the pinstripe-less uniforms were the better version so that's what I went with, ending up pretty similar to the 2017-2019 uniform with a few changes here and there, notably in the shorts that more closely follow the iconic shorts pattern in the Assoc/Icon uniforms. 

 

City: One of the few successes in the City Uniform program (in my humble opinion) was the Chicago Flag uniforms. I wouldn't want to see them replace the black and red, but still a nice change of pace. These uniforms are close to the 2017/2018 version, this time in baby blue. Honestly not a tremendous amount of difference between these are the Assoc/Icon uniforms. 

 

 

C&C welcome!

 

On 7/8/2021 at 12:00 PM, CLEstones said:

 

I tried converting some other templates and got some weird errors.  IF you can, that would be great.  Thanks.

I'll work on it. It'll probably be very simple but a good starting point. 

[_DietDrPepper_]

I think the Bulls main 3 uniforms look great, obviously, but the flag idea is so boring and overdone. I think a straight throwback to the script era would fit the Bulls brand much better.
 

As for Toronto, a definite upgrade, I think the alts are a bit gimmicky but for what they are they’re fine. I wonder what a red version of the purple uniform would look like instead of the (imo) dumb black and gold uniforms. 

[colinturner95]

I'm changing the name of this series to something closer to "my take on the NBA's uniform system", which I think closer captures my efforts here than the blanket "Simplifying"

 

Hand Drawn Assocation/Icon Alternate(s) (Jersey Model: Lebron James | Players Still With Team: 3/7)

 

 

For all intents and purposes, I went ahead and pretended that the post-championship rebranding never took place. It felt like a very unnecessary change and it was a backwards change. 

 

Association - Icon: I thought the return to the wine and gold colors was a step in the right direction and the uniforms were also a nice change from the LeBron 1.0 days (which weren't really bad uniforms in their own right). These uniforms borrow from the Lebron 2.0 uniforms as well as the  1974/1980 uniforms, which had a huge influence on the side panels, which also bear a strong resemblance to the 2005/2010 navy alternates.

 

Statement: The gold jersey was almost made the Association uniform, but these aren't the Lakers after all. So the gold uniform continues to make a statement, bearing "The Land" on the chest. The side panels flip around with the repeating pattern now the focus in the middle of the stripe. Beyond that, the bones are basically the same as the Association and Icon uniforms. 

 

Cavfanatic: The Cavaliers were doing Reverse Retro's before we even knew what the term meant! While this jersey wasn't put together by the members of the now-defunct website, the design made the name feel appropriate. We will forever have to acknowledge the fact that the Cavs won their lone championship in a black, sleeved jersey. That fact is acknowledged here, on black uniform that combines that sleeved jersey's chest logo and number elements with elements from the late 90's jerseys with the sweeping design on the chest and on the shorts.

 

 

C&C welcome!

 

22 hours ago, _DietDrPepper_ said:

I think the Bulls main 3 uniforms look great, obviously, but the flag idea is so boring and overdone. I think a straight throwback to the script era would fit the Bulls brand much better.

What you're saying does make a lot of sense, however, IMO, the Bulls City jersey(s), not including the Art Deco one from this season, have been some of the best since Nike took over. Plus I'm hesitant to do a Bulls throwback because it doesn't make a lot of sense when the uniforms for the Bulls have been the same since day one in essence, with the differences been primarily in wordmarks and number placements. 

[lgbaseball8]

I’m a fan of what you did here with the Cavs. I think the icon is a little gold-heavy, which maybe stems from the solid arm/collar piping. Being from Cleveland, I cringe a little when I see “The Land” on shirts or jerseys, because no one around here really uses that term. For the association, I would think about a “Cavs” wordmark instead. I really like the association and the cavfanatic look. Nice job overall.

[colinturner95]

17 hours ago, lgbaseball8 said:

I’m a fan of what you did here with the Cavs. I think the icon is a little gold-heavy, which maybe stems from the solid arm/collar piping. Being from Cleveland, I cringe a little when I see “The Land” on shirts or jerseys, because no one around here really uses that term. For the association, I would think about a “Cavs” wordmark instead. I really like the association and the cavfanatic look. Nice job overall.

 

 

It came down to either "The Land" or "Cavs" for the statement uniform and it would seem my first choice was the wrong one. The Icon is gold heavy, and unfortunately, there's not much I can do to fix that and keep things consistent. 

 

[CLEstones]

It's a nice look for the Cavs, just so hard to take anything over the 90's sword slash uniforms and colors.

[-Akronite-]

This is a great rebrand for the Cavs and they'd be much better off with this look than the generic crap they wear right now. I do agree that nobody really calls it "The Land" but I personally find it fun as a nickname and it harkens back to that 2016 squad. That said, the Cavs third jersey should say "Cavs" and "The Land" should be reserved for city/Cavfanatic alts, if anything.

 

PROS:

• Candy cane stripes are awesome. Love when the Nuggets do it, the Knicks, Marquette, it's always cool to me. The 05 navy alts are possibly my favorite all-time NBA uniform, so borrowing from that is the best choice IMO among the various Cavs looks.
• I like keeping the motif but playing with it on the gold alt. 
• Keeping black on a clash set while emphasizing the team's actual colors on the primaries is perfect. Works better than navy with the old school colors.
• Bringing the 2D swooping C is also smart, I've always preferred it (see avatar) to the 3D version with odd perspective and too many colors.
• The Cavfanatic is clever, love mixing eras on "city" uniforms.

CONS:

• I never loved that script and I think it dulls the set overall. It occupies this weird middle ground to me. It's simple and clean, but not classic looking like a block font. It's a modern, but it's got no pizzaz. Personally, I would prefer a return to the 03 script. If not that, I'd love bringing back/modernizing the original feather script or going with the 80s CAVS logo in wine/gold.
• Nike has leaned pretty hard on simple trim, usually using solid colors as opposed to many classic looks (Celtics, Bulls, Lakers, Knicks, etc.) that use striping. I'm not a big fan of monochrome trim, but it works well enough here in spite of my disposition.

[colinturner95]

The Central Division came together pretty easily so these might be pretty rapid fire: 

 

Hand Drawn Assocation/Icon Alternate(s) (Jersey Model: Andre Drummond | Players Still With Team: 3/8)

 

 

Association - Icon: Since returning to the Bad Boys inspired uniforms, Detroit has had a top 10 (in my opinion) look in the show, even with the Nike experiments they've been subjected to. With that in mind, not much needed to change so not much did change. The stripes on the white Association flip, so red faces forward again. The Icon blue stripes now mirror the white jersey's so its the red/white asymmetric stripe as opposed to the red-white-red stripe of jerseys' past. 

 

Statement: Making a big statement with these: a red jersey with no bull:censored:. Took the red-white-red stripes and made them blue-white-blue and kept this pretty simple. 

 

Motor City: Inspired by the warm-ups from the Bad Boys days, these jerseys reflect those designs, with chest stripes that wrap completely around, a modified primary logo set on the stripe, team wordmark above the stripe, akin to the player's first names from the warmups. Grey uniform, with chrome elements to tie into the "Motor City" idea, you know, cars, chrome bumpers and things like that. 

 

 

C&C welcome!

 

4 hours ago, -Akronite- said:

CONS:

• I never loved that script and I think it dulls the set overall. It occupies this weird middle ground to me. It's simple and clean, but not classic looking like a block font. It's a modern, but it's got no pizzaz. Personally, I would prefer a return to the 03 script. If not that, I'd love bringing back/modernizing the original feather script or going with the 80s CAVS logo in wine/gold.
• Nike has leaned pretty hard on simple trim, usually using solid colors as opposed to many classic looks (Celtics, Bulls, Lakers, Knicks, etc.) that use striping. I'm not a big fan of monochrome trim, but it works well enough here in spite of my disposition.

 

 

Just as an experiment, I tried the design with the Lebron 1.0 wordmarks. I really hate that I didn't try this sooner. As to the solid trim, the other option I had thought of was using the repeating pattern from the stripes in place of the solid color, but it felt too busy. 

 

 

 

[neo_prankster]

Really nice uniform designs so far.