Attempting to salvage the XFL 2023

[WideRight]

So, after watching 2 weeks of XFL games, and cringing at almost every single uniform on the field, I thought I would take a shot at fixing what could be fixed.  To do this I try to...

 

1.  Retain as many logos from 2023 as I can, though some may get modified.

2.  Merge what I consider to be good elements of the 2023 look with good elements of 2020 XFL when possible.

3.  Not totally reinvent anybody, but make adjustments that improve the look. 

 

So, starting with the DC Defenders.

 

Good from 2023:  The revised shield logo now with the Pentagon shape.  The sleeve striping with DC Flag.  The thick bordered/outlined numbers.  The marble white helmet. 

Not so good:  The primary logo from 2023.  Having 2 different red pants but no white pants.  

 

Added:  New pant stripe.  Otherwise this is the look most like 2023 IRL because it is one of the few decent looks that XFL'23 has. 

 

[HOOVER]

Nice post.  I very much appreciate your approach, logic, and presentation.  This 1-sheet format is really nice, kudos.  Looking forward to seeing more!

Feedback on this Defenders redesign:

 

- definite upgrade to the helmet with the Pentagon logo

- jersey remains mostly the same, which I agree it should.  I'm not sold on the collar being converted to a 3-stripe design.  It works, but the current jersey works well as-is.  I'd definitely be interested in seeing it in real-life.  

- jersey font to a standard block is actually a downgrade for me, and I'm a giant full block guy; I think in the case of the Defenders, they would do really well with a military-style font, whether it's a stencil font or something like the Air Force font.  

- Pant upgrade is great.  Lots they could've done here but this one works.   Even a few stars on the side panels would've worked, or bringing in the secondary logo the way they did on the sleeve stripe.  Either way, adding a White pant is an absolute necessity given they wear White helmets; a White pant with the White Camo printed side panel with a thin Red stripe and/or Red stars down the side would've also been good.

One way you could make this even better is to find or create the new UA jersey template.  I actually dig the chest cut-ins where they place the XFL & UA logos.  

[TrueYankee26]

The DC alternate logo is cool looking

[WideRight]

2 hours ago, Volt said:

Nice post.  I very much appreciate your approach, logic, and presentation.  This 1-sheet format is really nice, kudos.  Looking forward to seeing more!

Feedback on this Defenders redesign:

 

- definite upgrade to the helmet with the Pentagon logo

- jersey remains mostly the same, which I agree it should.  I'm not sold on the collar being converted to a 3-stripe design.  It works, but the current jersey works well as-is.  I'd definitely be interested in seeing it in real-life.  

- jersey font to a standard block is actually a downgrade for me, and I'm a giant full block guy; I think in the case of the defenders, they would do really with a military style font, whether it's a stencil or something like the Air Force font.  

- Pant upgrade is great.  Lots they could've done here but this one works.   Even a few stars on the side panels would've worked, or bringing in the secondary logo the way they did on the sleeve stripe.  Either way, adding a White pant is an absolute necessity given they wear White helmets; a White pant with the White Camo printed side panel with a thin Red stripe and/or Red stars down the side would've also been good.

One way you could make this even better is to find or create the new UA jersey template.  I actually dig the chest cut-ins where they place the XFL & UA logos.  

Thanks for the input.  Some very good ideas here. 

 

I see what you are saying about the number font,  and while a military style font would make sense, one of my goals is to use the elements from the actual uniforms that I find to be solid, and I actually really like DC's two-tone numbers (essentially extra thin borders), so I kept it the same.  Besides, we know St. Louis is using a stencil, so I did not want to overdo it.    

 

I thought about the UA template, but I have the other one ready to go and with my USFL project, I don't want to spend too much time  on this side project if I can avoid it.

[BengalErnst]

The whites are my favorite in the league, and I think I still like yours better 

[WideRight]

2nd Team up, the St. Louis Battlehawks.  

 

The BattleHawks, between 2023 and 2020, have a lot of elements that can work.  This one is less "2023" than DC, but still retains many elements, though there is also a lot of 2020 here, and some new stuff. 

 

Kept from 2023:  The stenciled numbers, the 2ndary bird head logo, the use of an "Arch" helmet stripe.

Brought back from 2020: The less-linear original logo and its placement on the helmet; the color scheme with more navy in the uniform; the blue helmet

New:  New shoulder and pant stripes. 

 

 

 

 

[TrueYankee26]

1 minute ago, WideRight said:

2nd Team up, the St. Louis Battlehawks.  

 

Kept from 2023:  The stenciled numbers, the 2ndary bird head logo, the use of an "Arch" helmet stripe.

Brought back from 2020: The less-linear original logo and its placement on the helmet; the color scheme with more navy in the uniform; the blue helmet

New:  New shoulder and pant stripes. 

 

 

 

Not showing up for me

[WideRight]

Just now, TrueYankee26 said:

Not showing up for me

Refresh it, I just uploaded the image. 

 

[TrueYankee26]

2 minutes ago, WideRight said:

Refresh it, I just uploaded the image. 

 

Thanks

 

I prefer the 2020 logo as well, and I like the 2000s Seahawks vibe of the unis

[gosioux76]

14 hours ago, WideRight said:

2nd Team up, the St. Louis Battlehawks.  

 

The BattleHawks, between 2023 and 2020, have a lot of elements that can work.  This one is less "2023" than DC, but still retains many elements, though there is also a lot of 2020 here, and some new stuff. 

 

Kept from 2023:  The stenciled numbers, the 2ndary bird head logo, the use of an "Arch" helmet stripe.

Brought back from 2020: The less-linear original logo and its placement on the helmet; the color scheme with more navy in the uniform; the blue helmet

New:  New shoulder and pant stripes. 

 

 

 

 

This is great, and a huge improvement. 

 

Minor suggestions:

• SLEEVES: The secondary logo gets lost here; the blue-on-blue isn't helping. I'd either use a gray version or just drop it. 
• SHOULDER STRIPES: Forcing all three colors into the sleeve stripes feels a bit forced. You've got enough navy elsewhere that you can afford to lose it on the shoulder stripes. I'd also consider white sleeve caps on the home jersey; that could also solve the secondary logo issue. You can use the blue alternate logo on white sleeve caps, the gray one on blue sleeve caps. 
• COLLARS: The color mix works, but they just seem a bit too thick for some reason. 

[jbird669]

Didn't know the XFL unis needed saving but I like what you've done!

[WideRight]

Before I talk about my next XFL "fix", I just want to say that I love that @vtgco is also taking a shot at the XFL.  Love what he did with Seattle and I expect that he and I will develop very different takes on the league.   And my apologies to @jbird669, but I think the XFL has some of the worst uniforms in a long time.  AAF, new USFL, are far superior to the looks most of the XFL teams have.  Maybe we have very different tastes (I am one of those annoying old timers who thinks the 80's-90's was the peak of design before the Oregonification of uniforms). 

 

So, after the two easy teams (DC and STL are the least problematic of all the XFL teams) we move into some of the teams that have major issue.

 

ORLANDO GUARDIANS

 

First things first, the identity makes absolutely no sense at all.  No connection to Orlando, no reason to have a forest & electric lime color scheme with a cougar (I think) logo.  And then, on top of the weird choices on these basic elements, the uniform is just poorly designed, with meaningless horizontal slash stripes on the helmet that are not used anywhere else, silver on silver (or is it white on silver) numbers on the sleeves, the overused of lime green, the lazy pant stripes.  it is just bad on so many levels.

 

So I tried fixing it without fixing the color scheme and quickly realized I hated the entire thing, so I did what I think Orlando should do, revert back to the NY Guardians colors of black, silver/grey, and red.  I threw in a bit of the LA Wildcats orange just to remind folks it is Florida, and there you go.  And, since one of the most popular Orlando teams ever, the Arena league Predators, wore black and red, I think there is a connection there too. 

 

What I kept from 2023:  New (meh) logo and basic jersey design.

What I brought in from 2020: NY Guardians colors, with a hint of LA Wildcats.  NY Guardians 2ndary logo.

What is totally new: Not entirely new, since LA had claw mark stripes, but these are not as intrusive as those were, I hope. 

 

It is still not a look I love, but it is a look I can live with.  Now the question is if I ditch the green/lime/silver altogether, or perhaps transfer it to Las Vegas since a green viper is sort of a thing. 

 

[Wildcomet]

1 hour ago, WideRight said:

So I tried fixing it without fixing the color scheme and quickly realized I hated the entire thing, so I did what I think Orlando should do, revert back to the NY Guardians colors of black, silver/grey, and red.  I threw in a bit of the LA Wildcats orange just to remind folks it is Florida, and there you go.  And, since one of the most popular Orlando teams ever, the Arena league Predators, wore black and red, I think there is a connection there too. 

 

I definitely think this is an upgrade! Honestly I fell into the middle ground on my overall opinion of the XFL 3.0 logos/uniforms but Orlando was the one that truly bugged me, and my first reaction to the name and logo was "if you're reusing an old name and giving them a cougar logo, why not call them the Wildcats??". Saying that, I think giving them some of the LA Wildcats colors and uniform features makes a lot of sense, and I also agree that it looking a little closer to how the Predators looked at times with the red/black and the claw marks helps it feel a bit more "Orlando" to me.

 

All in all this is a big upgrade in my opinion, and while the name is still weird the rest of the brand works well here. If I were to suggest a possible change, it'd be to try tapering the ends of the red shoulder stripes down to a point to look like the red claw marks, and underneath each on the sides maybe add a smaller orange claw mark. The the two shoulders together give you the same 4 claw mark pattern and connect the jersey more with the pants and helmet. I get the goal to keep elements from RL that work though. Nice job!

[WideRight]

@Wildcomet  A good point about the slashes.  It means moving away from another element of the 2023 IRL version, but I think it is an upgrade to do so.  Here is my version with 2 slash marks on each shoulder. 

 

[TrueYankee26]

More awesome work. FYI

 

It is a gargoyle not a cougar

Gargoyles were used as spouts to protect buildings from water running into the sides of the buildings and eroding them

[WideRight]

It was a gargoyle, in NY, but now it is clearly trying to be a cougar, so in the new version of both logos it is a cougar.    I would argue that a gargoyle for NYC makes sense, along with the name Guardians, but the new version is clearly a cougar, and that makes no sense for "Guardians" as a name.  That is why it is such a bad choice for Orlando, because it made some sense in NY, but  no sense in Orlando, where the only "Guardians" are crazed evangelical Karens yelling at school board officials about made up stories of litter boxes in middle schools and freaking out about drag shows. 

[WideRight]

Team #4:  Having swapped the colors from the NY Guardians to use with the Orlando Guardians, I felt somewhat obligated to give the Orlando Vipers' colors to the relocated Tampa Bay > Las Vegas or just Vegas Vipers.   So,  forest green (not as dark as the current one), a deeper green used sparingly, an electric lime, and a grey, but I added a green hue to the grey so that the entire look is shades of green. 

 

What is kept from 2023:  The primary logo and the use of a snakeskin pattern on sleeves, pant stripes, and numbers. 

What is kept from 2020: The secondary logo.

What is new: The color scheme, obviously, but also the use of snakeskin as a helmet stripe, a different shape for the pant stripe, and less use of the lime green compared to the IRL uniforms. 

 

[BengalErnst]

You can tell how much you hate the XFL haha.. you tried so hard at sticking towards close to what they did in real life to completely abandon it every time haha 

[TrueYankee26]

On 3/2/2023 at 1:29 PM, WideRight said:

It was a gargoyle, in NY, but now it is clearly trying to be a cougar, so in the new version of both logos it is a cougar.    I would argue that a gargoyle for NYC makes sense, along with the name Guardians, but the new version is clearly a cougar, and that makes no sense for "Guardians" as a name.  That is why it is such a bad choice for Orlando, because it made some sense in NY, but  no sense in Orlando, where the only "Guardians" are crazed evangelical Karens yelling at school board officials about made up stories of litter boxes in middle schools and freaking out about drag shows. 

Lol at the last sentence

[WideRight]

My version of the Seattle Dragons (the Sea added is not needed). 

Retained from 2023 look:  1) new dragon logo,  2) secondary logo   3) Orange Helmet, jersey and pants

Retained from 2020 look:  1) Greater use of green

New:  Removed fractile pattern (hard to imitate and also not great) and replaced it with an ombre effect, navy to green in most cases, occasionally navy to orange (orange jersey) or all three colors (white pants).  Using an ombre effect on the facemask as well, green at the edges, navy in teh middle of the facemask. 

 

It does come off a bit U. of Miami, but that is not shocking for a team with orange and green as its dominant colors.