PLL Throwback - Whipsnakes

[colinturner95]

Lacrosse doesn't get a whole lot of attention here or in the sports world at large, and it's really not hard to see why. It's a bit of a niche sport and just wasn't covered the same way. And then the PLL came on the scene. They've given the sport a lot more exposure, both on the field by not tying teams to cities in the early going, and having a tremendous social media presence and now, having a pretty solid deal with ESPN, they're set pretty well for the future. 

 

But you're here to see some concepts. Going alphabetical, no need to get weird with just 8 teams: 

 

 

Referees - I don't normally make a habit of designing what the officials wear, but I felt like shaking things up a little. For the officials, we went with two options. A yellow option with black stripes and an inverse black version with yellow stripes. With an emphasis on color jerseys, the two options give the most opportunity to stand out from the players on the field. Also, the hats serve in the same function as the orange stripes on an NHL official. While any lax ref can throw a flag, the head ref communicates it to the table, signified by the yellow hat. 

 

 

ARCHERS LC - Primary Uniforms - Another thing I wanted to go with on this series is emphasis on color. There's enough color variance in my opinion that makes this work. So for the Archers, I really didn't deviate from their existing look.  Kept the navy and white helmets, with a similar stripe style, this time using the arrow from their logo. On the jerseys, the logo breaks free of the shield on the chest. While the logo uses Copperplate as a font, I refuse to use it as a number font on a sports uniform, but kept the drop shadowed style. The shorts change the most, with the stripes moving from the side to the bottom of one of the legs. 

 

 

ARCHERS LC - Clash Uniform & Practice Pinnies - While there is a lot of color variance in the current PLL, inevitably there would be some matchups where Color vs Color would not work. With that in mind, every team will have a clash uniform, likely in most cases that will end up being white, but not every time. Also, while the PLL has gotten away from the collegiate style uniforms, the clash uniform will serve as a chance to do something different on the chest, which in the Archers' case ... ends up being a college style jersey.. 

 

The practice jerseys take the split color of the arrow in the logo and blow it up over the whole jersey, with each one being split down the middle. 

 

C&C welcome!

 

 

[CLEFAN94]

Ohhh this is off to a good start. And you’re right, lacrosse doesn’t get nearly enough love 

[eegl75]

finally! some laX concepts. the archers look great but i'm curious if you could use more of that steel blue and try to incorporate the arrow motif a bit more

[GoCubsGo]

I’m glad we got someone doing lacrosse on the forum! as Eeg said, I would like to see more blue in the jerseys. I like the arrow on the helmet. Though I would like to see a similar design on the shoulders. Besides that, those are some pretty sick unis!

[colinturner95]

 

Atlas LC - Primary Uniforms - Atlas has my second or third favorite identity in the PLL. The colors and logos I love but that didn't mean they were immune to change. For me, I felt like the team could remove white entirely and go with the cream color as their light color. And so that's what we did. The next big thing was making the topographic pattern more visible, but it fades from top down, making the pattern more visible at the bottom. The stripes on the sleeves mirror the color balance of the horn on the helmet. The shorts horn moves from the bottom of the shorts up the sides. 

 

 

Atlas LC - Clash Uniform & Practice Pinnies - For the longest time, so 3 years, I thought the dark color for Atlas was navy blue but it's more akin to "navy purple". Same design as their other two uniforms, this time using the dark purple color. The chest design changes to just the bull logo, with the number up in between the horns. The pinnies take the topographic pattern and make it very visible. 

 

C&C welcome!

2 hours ago, GoCubsGo said:

I’m glad we got someone doing lacrosse on the forum! as Eeg said, I would like to see more blue in the jerseys. I like the arrow on the helmet. Though I would like to see a similar design on the shoulders. Besides that, those are some pretty sick unis!

 

On 5/27/2022 at 8:58 PM, eegl75 said:

finally! some laX concepts. the archers look great but i'm curious if you could use more of that steel blue and try to incorporate the arrow motif a bit more

 

So I'm not using the steel blue because of what I have coming down the pipeline. I have a couple ideas on some other arrow inspired motifs but I'm not sold on them. They came off as a little too kitschy to me. 

[vtgco]

Not your fault, but the Archers logo isn't very good, so it kinda holds back your primary set a bit but everything there looks solid. The white alternate is super classy, though; I love that arched wordmark so much!

 

The helmet is solid, though I wonder if the helmet manufacturing could allow the arrow head to go front and center, since the diagonal slashes on each side of center totally feels like the fletches of a single arrow, rather than the shafts of two. Either way, I might prefer a chevron pattern on the sleeves and shorts.

 

I do second @eegl75 and @GoCubsGo about the royal blue (a half-and-half jersey like that training top would be quite nice) but I understand if you're saving it for another team.

 

 

Love the combo of the striping pattern and the topo map for the Atlas; gorgeous design. That "blurple" alternate with the bull-head + number is awesome. The shorts striping is a bit out there for my taste, so I'm curious if it could be toned down a tad, but TBF it already works wonderfully! 

I think I'd prefer going blurple/cream/cyan/cream/blurple for the striping on all backgrounds. Also, did you consider removing the other trim on the helmets to better emphasize the horns?

 

Anyways, I know very little about lacrosse, but so far you make these teams look really nice! I could be totally wrong, but I thought I saw somewhere on the boards that PLL was leaving Adidas soon, so curious if that'd influence any major changes to your designs.

[CLEFAN94]

Atlas looks awesome! Love what you did with the shorts stripe and the clash set is  *chef’s kiss*  

[colinturner95]

 

Cannons LC - Primary Uniforms - A founding institution of the MLL turned youngest member of the PLL. And possibly the most well known of the MLL teams that there were(?) idk, we can possibly debate that one. Anyways as for the uniforms. The current uniforms aren't bad but the smoke pattern to me just falls flat on the navy jersey.

• Helmets - The iconic silver helmet sticks around, even with the team just having unveiled a pretty slick white helmet, along with the existing navy helmet. 
• Jerseys - The smoke clears up, with the team logo on the chest, and the cannon blasts now serving as the sleeve decoration. 
• Shorts - The cannon blasts sit on one side of the shorts with the number facing it on the opposite leg. 

 

Cannons LC - Clash Uniform & Practice Pinnies - The clash uniforms stay pretty similar to the main uniforms with a few differences. The logo goes away on the chest, replaced by just the Cannons wordmark, with the cannon blasts on top and bottom of the wordmark. Coming off the blasts are a series of lines that serve as sort of "pinstripes" up the body of the jersey, and same on the sleeves. I left the shorts plain white so they can mix in with the rest of the uniforms. The smoke that I talked junk about on the current jerseys does stick around, just relegated to the practice jerseys. 

 

C&C welcome!

On 5/31/2022 at 2:25 PM, vtgco said:

I think I'd prefer going blurple/cream/cyan/cream/blurple for the striping on all backgrounds. Also, did you consider removing the other trim on the helmets to better emphasize the horns?

 

Anyways, I know very little about lacrosse, but so far you make these teams look really nice! I could be totally wrong, but I thought I saw somewhere on the boards that PLL was leaving Adidas soon, so curious if that'd influence any major changes to your designs.

 

I could mess with the jersey stripes but when I mess with the balance of the stripes on the cream helmet, the horn becomes almost impossible to see. And yes, Champion has become the on-field sponsor of the league, but at the moment it's not influencing anything here. 

[vtgco]

10 hours ago, colinturner95 said:

I could mess with the jersey stripes but when I mess with the balance of the stripes on the cream helmet, the horn becomes almost impossible to see. And yes, Champion has become the on-field sponsor of the league, but at the moment it's not influencing anything here. 

I get that you're just matching the horns and stripes, which is totally fair to keep as-is, but IMO the two feel distinct enough already that it wouldn't be a problem to change one but not the other.

Really my issue with that helmet (and really all the helmets so far, besides Boston) is the templated coloration below the horns that drown the out the other, more interesting elements.

 

The Cannons, on the other hand, are the first example where I like the helmet template + logo combo together and would rather the top stripes be removed.

Good call going with the wordmark-less logo for the home & away.

I really like that white alternate for the Cannons; the pinstripes really make a positive difference! I'd be curious to see the arched wordmark from the logo, and/or for the chevrons around the wordmark to be thicker and to match the sleeve stripes.

[colinturner95]

12 hours ago, vtgco said:

The Cannons, on the other hand, are the first example where I like the helmet template + logo combo together and would rather the top stripes be removed.

Good call going with the wordmark-less logo for the home & away.

I really like that white alternate for the Cannons; the pinstripes really make a positive difference! I'd be curious to see the arched wordmark from the logo, and/or for the chevrons around the wordmark to be thicker and to match the sleeve stripes.

 

 

Filled in the cannon blasts around the wordmark, which did help immensely with the overall balance of the jersey

[colinturner95]

 

Chaos LC - Primary Uniforms - They might not be as mainstream, but these have to rank in the craziest uniforms in sports history. The perfect uniforms to capture their name, the Chaos keep their wild identity intact. The Chaos are also my favorite team in the league, so it was pretty wild when during the playoffs last season, I was cheering them on when they defeated the Archers in Salt Lake, which has a large contingent of Archers fans (though I got to meet Grant Ament [player for the Archers]'s parents during the game so that was wild). 

• Helmet - The white helmet is retired for Chaos, leaving just the chrome red helmet as the main helmet in the rotation 
• Jerseys - Ah the jerseys. The split jersey stays on pretty much as is, though it does offer us our first look at the champions tag on the back collar of the uniforms. The white jersey uses the same pattern with shades of grey and white. 
• Shorts - The shorts now use a portion of the jersey pattern, subtly on one side of the shorts. 

 

Chaos LC - Clash Uniforms & Practice Pinnies: 

• Clash - Having used both main colors on one uniform, it really does provide an issue when an alternate uniform is brought up, but in this case, we just darken the greyscale. White is largely eliminated, using a light shade of grey when needed. The pattern on the jersey is reversed from the primary uniforms. The shadow on the cuts of the jersey pattern are now visible in red on the front and back of the uniform. Same also goes for the shorts, which now have the pattern on the opposite side
• Practice Pinnies - If anything about these uniforms can be simple, then it must be the practice tops, which use the same pattern as everything else, just in one color. 

C&C welcome!

[Bomba Tomba]

Is it just me or do the practice tank tops make a good base for a basketball crossover?

[colinturner95]

 

Chrome LC - Primary Uniforms  - Chrome is stuck between two identities. On one hand, you have the knight logo which lends well to the chrome nickname, but on the other hand you have a really fun 80's palette of colors that wins solely on the uniqueness factor. 

• Helmet - Chrome domes (anything else would have been foolish) with the knighthead on the sides. The wings move to the mohawks on the top of the helmet. 
• Jersey - I really emphasized the "vaporwave" aesthetic the bright pink and blue create, leaning into a gradient stripe on the chest of the jerseys. Similar to the Cannons, repeating lines coming off the stripe. High contrast black numbers on both uniforms. 
• Shorts - Pretty much the same thing on the shorts just cut in half, with the stripe beginning on the bottoms of the shorts. 

 

Chrome LC - Clash Uniform & Practice Pinnies: 

• Clash Uniforms - Black from head to shorts. A black chrome helmet, same style as the primary helmet. The stripes from the primary uniforms become the holders of the gradient on both the jersey and the shorts. 
• Practice Pinnies - A simple chrome pattern. 

C&C welcome!

On 6/9/2022 at 5:49 PM, Bomba Tomba said:

Is it just me or do the practice tank tops make a good base for a basketball crossover?

The practice jerseys are basically the same thing as a practice basketball jersey so sure? 

[colinturner95]

 

Redwoods LC - Primary Uniforms: The Redwoods had one of the best uniforms in the league in the inaugural season, and then the next season, they were gone. Not that their uniforms are terrible by any means, but they could be better. 

• Helmet - A combination of both the team's helmets, with the forest-scape from the first season and the bear logo from the current buckets. 
• Jersey - The vertical stripes turn back into the trees from year 1, with a lot of the current elements retained. 
• Shorts - The adidas stripes go away, with a forest-scape on a leg of the shorts. 

 

Redwoods LC - Clash Uniform & Practice Pinnies: 

• Clash Uniforms - Ever heard the expression "Don't Poke the Bear"? It would be wise to heed these words when the Woods take the field in these jerseys. The uniforms take on a lighter shade of green and a much larger forest scape, with the bear poking his head out from behind the trees.
• Practice Pinnies - The practice jerseys speak to the team's nickname, bearing a woodgrain pattern with on a white and brown base. 

C&C welcome!

[raysox]

glad someone is getting use out of that lacrosse template I made! My favorite so far is the Woods. Can't wait for the Whipsnakes!

[colinturner95]

 

Waterdogs LC - Primary Uniforms -  The youngest team in the PLL that wasn't a former MLL team, the Waterdogs. Might be up there for my favorite identity in the PLL. Therefore, I didn't feel like anything massive was needed but some minor tweaks here and there. 

• Helmet - dark and lightest purple for the buckets with the Waterdog on the sides, with the water pattern on the mohawks. 
• Jersey - also the dark and lightest purple for the primary uniforms. The stripes on the sleeves now mirror the detail in the Waterdogs watermark. 
• Shorts - no more pattern on the shorts, and the stripes match the jerseys. 

 

Waterdogs LC - Clash Uniform & Practice Pinnies: 

• Clash Uniform - the team's middle ground shade of purple gets a run for the money this time, with the water pattern moving to the sleeves. The jersey design uses the flowing motion of the wordmark to create a stripe on the chest, that the wordmark fits in. The shorts design works similarly to the primary uniforms, just using the flowing stripe. 
• Practice Pinnies - Got a little wild with these, but the pinnies use the flowing design and split the difference with a light/med and a dark/med color set, with the pattern on the bottom. 

C&C appreciated!

 

On 6/16/2022 at 12:46 PM, raysox said:

glad someone is getting use out of that lacrosse template I made! My favorite so far is the Woods. Can't wait for the Whipsnakes!

Absolutely! and if I can get my schedule back on track, it'll get some more use coming soon. 

[vtgco]

I'm not crazy about the Waterdogs brand, but dang do your little changes make it look so much better here! The more interesting striping and counter-color shorts are really nice.

That alternate is so classy; possibly my favorite of the series so far.

 

I appreciate the way you handle the additional shorts pattern for the Chaos; very nice change to an already solid look for them!

 

The home and away for the Redwoods are close, but a lot of little things keep them from working for me. Compared to the IRL inspiration, the trees feel too wide and too low on the jersey. The wood-grain pattern feels out of place on just the sleeves; IMO it should either be removed OR be over all the forest green. The emerald green of the jersey trees and the kelly green of the shorts trees make the uniform feel disjointed. Lastly, I'm not feeling the counter-colored shorts at home; I'm curious if counter-colored helmets and socks would be better.

That said, the third has none of these issues, so it's pretty gorgeous. I'd just go forest green socks for that one, and that's about it!

 

I really like the Chrome third; how would it look with un-outlined numbers?

[Bomba Tomba]

Those last ones are fetch!

 

(get it, because Dogs)

[colinturner95]

Our final entry of the 8 teams, probably the best team in the PLL's short history: the Whipsnakes

 

 

Whipsnakes LC - Primary Uniforms - The Whips do two things: win and look good while doing it. They have a pretty simple style working for them and there's no reason that needed to change. 

• Helmet - The snakeskin pattern sticks around on the teal helmet, which really doesn't change at all. 
• Jersey - Biggest thing that happens to the jersey is double stripes get added to the sleeves. Otherwise the pattern sticks around with the snake logo on the chest. 
• Pants - The Adidas stripes go away on the sides in favor of the double stripes on the bottoms of the shorts. 

 

Whipsnakes LC - Clash Uniforms & Practice Pinnies: 

• Clash Uniforms - The clash uniforms go all white, with the same design from top to bottom. The biggest change is the snake comes up from the bottom of the jersey and wraps around the number on the chest. Otherwise, simply the same design as the primary uniforms. 
• Practice Pinnies - Simple as ever, the pinnies use the white jersey design, this time just subtle with the full Whipsnakes wordmark on the chest. 

C&C welcome. Also this isn't the end: 

 

 

While the PLL isn't ready to mass expand, just designing 8 teams didn't feel very fun for me. So lets play the expansion game a little bit. I picked 8 teams from the MLL, based on teams that didn't really compete with the existing teams brands, which did mean some MLL OG's did miss the cut. I'm sure some of the eagle eyed lax fans on here will be able to figure out which teams are which but let's play the surprise game as the new teams get unveiled. 

 

On 6/22/2022 at 12:49 PM, vtgco said:

 

 

The home and away for the Redwoods are close, but a lot of little things keep them from working for me. Compared to the IRL inspiration, the trees feel too wide and too low on the jersey. The wood-grain pattern feels out of place on just the sleeves; IMO it should either be removed OR be over all the forest green. The emerald green of the jersey trees and the kelly green of the shorts trees make the uniform feel disjointed. Lastly, I'm not feeling the counter-colored shorts at home; I'm curious if counter-colored helmets and socks would be better.

 

I really like the Chrome third; how would it look with un-outlined numbers?

 

 

 

Fixed the tree pattern so it more closely resembles the IRL inspiration. Also after examining it closer, the Woods don't really deviate from monochrome. So with that in mind, I also dumped the forest green socks. 

 

[mamiller99]

This has been an awesome project, much like every other one you’ve done on these boards. Love the template too (Raysox is the template GOAT).

 

Quite impressed with both the Waterdogs and Whipsnakes, although an inclusion of the blue from the water pattern with the Waterdogs as a quaternary color would be welcome imo.

 

Looking forward to what looks like the

Spoiler

Ohio Machine