March Madness x Jumpman | Duke Blue Devils

[bucknut42]

We sleep in April.

 

With March Madness just around the corner and conference tournaments in full swing, I decided to revive a series I started 6 years ago. On the heels of Adidas creating March Madness jerseys for some of their top schools, I started doing the same but by Nike. If you're interested in some of the original designs you can find that thread here.

 

This time around, Jordan is the brand for all of these jerseys (except one, which we'll get to later) and each jersey is a new design never worn by the team. We're getting this series started with Houston, so let's get into it.

 

For the Cougars, their jersey takes on a space theme, which I know is common with Houston teams. Their script Cougar mark gets a shooting star underline, and the side stripe is a rocket taking off into the sky and also mimics the striping on their throwback uniforms. There's also some space elements on the short under the rocket blast. The name and number on the back represent an astronaut's uniform, and that rounds out our first Jumpman March Madness jersey!

 

 

Not exactly sure how many teams I'll end up doing, but I have a few logged away and ready to go over the next few weeks. Let me know what you think of our first squad!

[iamdaviinci]

Really excited to see this series return! I still recall the original one from six years ago, and it was fun revisiting it again just now.

 

In my personal opinion, this is just an all-around excellent uniform design. It fits in seamlessly alongside their other looks, but includes subtle twists to connect with the city in which they're located and extend their brand. I think there are a lot of ways for a uniform like this to go wrong - see UCF's "Space City" and "Citronauts" uniforms for both basketball and football - but you've managed to strike a perfect balance. And on top of that, the presentation is top-notch.

 

I'll be (im)patiently waiting to see what's next!

 

 

[bucknut42]

We have a bracket, which means I can now start focusing on the top Nike teams and giving them the special Jumpman treatment. I was originally going to keep this project limited to top-4 seeds that are Nike schools, but I decided to just do whichever school I feel like. Next up is the one school that will not be a jumpman uniform, the Duke Blue Devils. 

 

For Duke, I created a wordmark and number set that mimics their D logo with sharp angles and rounded edges. The stripes down the side are inspired by Cameron Indoor Stadium. The arch shape comes from the doors into the building, and there's a brick texture in the stripe that reflects the brick architecture of their arena. The jersey color is simply a unique dark blue to give them a two-tone look.

 

 

 

[MDTrey4]

I've always found it weird that Duke didn't have a full wordmark made from that unique D they use. This absolutely nailed it

[FinsUp1214]

HUGE kudos to you for crafting a wordmark and number font off the “D”! You did an excellent job of designing and constructing them; everything fits and comes together so well. The uniform itself looks excellent too, and despite it being an alternative design, still has that “DUKE” look to it. Your homages to Cameron are so well placed and executed, as well.

 

Excellent, excellent work! Between this and your awesome Houston set, I’m a fan of this series and looking forwards to more.