NFL 2023 Changes

[TruColor]

On 9/3/2023 at 10:15 AM, tBBP said:

 

They did. Aside from the outside corners/terminals being squared off on these new numbers, the numbers themselves are also thinner (and the strokes juatasmidge thicker), making those opposing-corner/angled counters more noticeable.

Spot on. Side-by-side comparison:

 

[TruColor]

...and if you're wondering why the numerals have those perforations in them, this is the inspiration:

 

[fouhy12]

...that's the inspiration? Not a mesh jersey? That's so silly, and apparently true. 

[sky1324]

1 hour ago, fouhy12 said:

...that's the inspiration? Not a mesh jersey? That's so silly, and apparently true. 

[The_Admiral]

The Glendale stadium is 18 years old. Why are they now designing uniforms around it when in two years, they'll start demanding that taxpayers replace it? What a stupid idea.

[Ark]

Those things were just design inspiration for a decent set. A lot of users here make uniform concepts with many different design inspirations. Why do people here have to be angry about everything?

[ruttep]

32 minutes ago, Ark said:

Those things were just design inspiration for a decent set. A lot of users here make uniform concepts with many different design inspirations. Why do people here have to be angry about everything?

Maybe that's the case, but it comes across as corporate Nike-speak to justify why random aspects of the uniform are what they are.

[The_Admiral]

41 minutes ago, Ark said:

Those things were just design inspiration for a decent set. A lot of users here make uniform concepts with many different design inspirations. Why do people here have to be angry about everything?

I explained myself, didn't I?

[fouhy12]

It's also silly because the holes in the numbers have a perfectly reasonable explanation that makes way more sense, and instead they chose "part of our stadium has holes in it as a justification."

 

Uniform design is art, and meaning is important in that. Numbers designed to look like they're mesh as an homage to past uniform sets is way cooler and a more connected rationale than a sign in the stadium also having perforations.

 

Also, using the color of the stadium as a justification for adding a color to your palette? I'm pretty sure every stadium has grey in it somewhere, so all grey facemasks are in team colors now. Glad we could finally put an end to that debate.

 

Seriously, though. Just say you liked the silver and thought it paired well! That's a good reason!

[The_Admiral]

The time to design a uniform that celebrated elements of their stadium was when the stadium was new. Now, it's not even the only southwestern stadium with roll-out grass. However, I don't think sports uniform design was that foofy and CCSLC-ified in 2006, and even it were, the eternal punchline Arizona Cardinals would have been too stupid, cheap, and lazy to do it then anyway. Now they're paying tribute to the glory of performated aluminum wall panels at a time when the stadium is much closer to the end of its life than it is to the beginning, which, as you sit and count on your fingers and toes, is a massive problem unto itself.

[MDGP]

This is legitimately dumber than "the iconic jaws of husky stadium," though nothing will ever beat "contrasting stitching honors YOU, the hard-working, blue-collar CLEVELANDER (the brown is unchanged)."

[coborjobs2010]

Here are some tidbits regarding the Texans updates:

Quote

Here's some updates on the branding and uniforms from Doug Vosik (VP of marketing).

 

Big points were: 

 

"H-Town Made" wasn't the original idea for the brand. That came from the fans. 

 

Designs are done and Nike is working on making prototypes. They'll be done in November. There will be a few new surprises with the helmets in store.

 

Very diverse opinions from focus groups. There was no consensus based on any demographics, older and younger fans all had diverse opinions. Players had their own opinions.

 

A lot of fans wanted to lean into the bulls and horns imagery.

 

H-Town blue has been around since well before a certain football that used to occupy the Astrodome. There will be a tribute to the H-town blue color in the new uniforms. 

 

That said, it won't be Oilers unis or anything like the Cougars just did. Just a less overt tribute to the color. 

 

The four uniform combos will be quite different than each other, not just switching out pants and jerseys and helmets. One will be timeless, traditional. Another will be traditional but modernized. One will get wild with the bull theme. One will have the H-Town blue tribute. One was taken from player feedback and be very mean and tough looking.  

 

Numbers and fabrics will be refreshed to be more eye-catching and easier for the broadcasters to read. 

 

The NFL really sped up the process of the new uniforms. Instead of the longer 2-3 year process they streamlined it into a year of focus and then production. The league and Nike wanted to help build up the hype and relevance for the fanbase and team. 

 

Fans were very clear that the team didn't reflect the city or culture and the team responded to address those concerns and get the brand rectified. 

 

Uniforms are going to be unveiled in April 2024. 

 

[Brave-Bird 08]

In terms of "inspiration," it is obvious at this point that Nike has a suite, if you will, or new design elements that it builds and signs off on for possible production agnostic of whether or not it has been assigned to a specific team or project. 

 

Then, Nike informs the client about all the possible "innovations" like perforated numbers, or the colored stitching the Browns used a few years ago, or the gradient for the Falcons, etc. 

 

From our perspectives, we would think you design around the team, but it's unfortunately the other way around -- the team picks from a pot of features that Nike can create. 

 

It is then on Nike and the client's marketing folks to concoct some type of speak or justification for it. In the Cardinals case, there's conveniently some paneling with holes in it that became the "inspiration" for the design (sounds silly and is probably B.S.) 

 

In the Falcons' case, it was very convenient that the triangle stripe -- a common and stale design element -- just so happened to exist in the Falcons logo, so it was a no-brainer. But that stripe has existed in Nike uniforms for the Jaguars (in two different iterations), Buccaneers, and Jets already -- Nike seems only capable of these cheap triangular inserts when they need to make something look sleek. 

 

In an ideal world, all of the projects would start with the team identity and work out into elements, but that just isn't what has been happening in the NFL. The only time I believe it did was with Seattle, and there's a reason why their uniforms stand out as an outlier compared to the absolutely bizarre choices other teams made when they went to Nike willing to act as a canvas as opposed to mandating a specific look.

[Chicageaux]

1 hour ago, coborjobs2010 said:

Here are some tidbits regarding the Texans updates:

 

Penciling in dumpster fire for April 2024

[PrimalCookie]

1 hour ago, coborjobs2010 said:

The four uniform combos will be quite different than each other, not just switching out pants and jerseys and helmets. One will be timeless, traditional. Another will be traditional but modernized. One will get wild with the bull theme. One will have the H-Town blue tribute. One was taken from player feedback and be very mean and tough looking.  

...oh no. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh no.

[The_Admiral]

Quote

Another will be traditional but modernized. One will get wild with the bull theme. 

 

hell to the yes, I'm gonna will Horn Devices into being

[Jezus_Ghoti]

Hoooo boy these are going to SUCK

 

Quote

The four uniform combos will be quite different than each other, not just switching out pants and jerseys and helmets. One will be timeless, traditional. Another will be traditional but modernized. One will get wild with the bull theme. One will have the H-Town blue tribute. One was taken from player feedback and be very mean and tough looking.  

 

[Krudler]

On 8/30/2023 at 12:04 PM, bbush24 said:

 

Excuse me?

The Browns best look imo

[MCM0313]

On 9/4/2023 at 1:03 PM, MNtwins3 said:

I feel like we didn't comment on how horrendous their old road uniforms were nearly enough

I mean, the Cardinals’ previous road uniform may have been better than the home version. And the black alt may have been the best of them all. Given that the team is called the Cardinals, that illustrates just how bad that set was. 

[Sec19Row53]

1 hour ago, Jezus_Ghoti said:

Hoooo boy these are going to SUCK

 

The four uniform combos will be quite different than each other, not just switching out pants and jerseys and helmets. (1)One will be timeless, traditional. (2) Another will be traditional but modernized. (3) One will get wild with the bull theme. (4) One will have the H-Town blue tribute. (5) One was taken from player feedback and be very mean and tough looking.  

Agreed - and that sounds like 5 uniforms, with the player feedback one likely black.