Milwaukee Brewers concept

[VitaminD]

First, yay to me for POST #1000!

OK, enough of that.

Some background on this: When I saw Unwind's recent D-Backs concept, I thought it was a little stripped down for a team from the desert, and without the jades and purples and coppers they have now. It was a gorgeous set, done only in BLACK AND TAN. Lil' G made a comment how these colors would look good for the Pirates or Brewers.

Two lightbulbs went off. I like the old "ball & glove" the Brew Crew had for its creativity, but it had nothing to do with the team's nickname. I admit that the new logo is fairly bland, but it at least incorporates barley and a makes a reference to beermaking.

So... inspired by Unwind and G, I came up with a Brewers set done entirely in black and tan, for one of my barroom favorites. (No, it isn't Vegas gold. I swear.)

Anyway, the salient features:

COLOR: No blue of any shade, no yellow/gold. Just black and tan. (Mmm... black and tan. *drools*)

SCRIPT: From the late '80s/early '90s, between the arched block letters and before the "Germanic" wordmark. And yes, that is a barley stalk beneath the underline. I also have a version without the underline tail but leaves the stalk.

ROAD UNI: "Milwaukee" has made a triumphant return to the front of the jersey.

CAP: Modified "Block M/Wisconsin" logo from the '70s and '80s, recolored and with a stalk of barley added. Also used on the BP jersey, with slight changes in the color arrangement.

ALTS: Blecch, no. Sorry, there's just too many of them circulating now, and they're being used to death. Just home whites and road grays, although the BPs could be converted into something, I 'spose.

STRIPES: No neck piping, equal black and tan stripes on sleeves and pant legs.

STIRRUPS: Where'd all the stripes go? I'm bringin' 'em back, baby!

C&C please...

[IceCap]

very nice. i like it. cant find mutch (if anything) that i don't like.

[Riverwest]

Ok Thats Pretty Cool, As Comming From A Brewers Fan All The Way , I like the Dark Blue With The Gold, I'm Diggin the Logo and Unies, but I'm still a dark Blue Fan, Thats just what I think but it's still pretty cool. Keep the good work up.\

And I would kill for Milwaukee to have a Jersey that would Say Milwaukee in the Teams Lettering for once in a long time.

[VitaminD]

I like the navy/metallic gold, I really preferred the royal blue/gold, but I chose to leave it all behind and go in another direction. This is an example where the team nickname should have been considered more thoroughly before deciding on colors. I realize the Brewers were in a little bit of a pinch, since they were the Pilots the year before and didn't know they were coming back to Wisconsin until they had broken spring training camp. So the blue/gold combo was about their only option, and what they wear now is more of an evolution of their original colors.

But if you're going to name your team after the art of making beer, black and tan... or amber... or Irish red... are natural fits. See if you can detach your vision of the Brew Crew wearing blue/gold and consider a more natural option.

[BBTV]

Maybe it is because my eyes are conditioned to see navy when I see "Brewers", but the switch to black doesn't really stand out to me. My eyes are still seeing navy. That being said, I think you had a good rational for changing the color to black and tan, I guess I could get used to it. At the game today (I am going for free, I'd never give Monty and co. my money) I'll be trying to picture them in black.

I think that the tail and stalk is too much. Maybe incorporate the stalk into the tail? Either inside of it (kind of like how the White Sox used to spell out the name in the tail) or make the stalk the actual tail (and connect it to the "s" and "e".)

I like the tan numbers on the front. If these were blue and yellow (or gold) I'd still think that was a nice touch. I also like the cap logo.

I think you could do some work on the back numbers / letters, but it's tough to say without having a good idea about what the rest of the numbers look like (4 doesn't really depict a font too well.)

Overall, nice effort.

[VitaminD]

EDIT: Made some changes to the concept after looking it over.

The biggest changes are on the home jersey. I had been on the fence as to if I wanted the tail beneath the lettering or not. I had made an alternative idea that didn't have a tail, and I added that in place of the wordmark with a tail. To make it work, I did change the wordmark to tan with black outline. As a result, the front number is now black with tan outline. On the road, I also ditched the tail but kept the wordmark black.

And for the record, the letter/number font on the backs is Franklin Gothic. I changed it to Carlos Lee to better showcase the numbers.

Thanks for the help.

[uniguy22]

Okay, that's really cool. I love the script. How did you make it?

[patsox]

Very nice. Is this in Paint?

[VitaminD]

Thanks for the C&C, all. It's still a work in progress, and I really appreciate all the other sets of eyes looking at this, especially eyes that are able to be more objective and critical of my efforts.

Okay, that's really cool. I love the script. How did you make it?

It's based on the script the Brewers wore in the late '80s/early '90s (early Sheffield/late Molitor and Yount Era). Basically freehanded it trying to get it as close to that script as possible. I originally had the tails underlining both "BREWERS" and "MILWAUKEE", but since I wanted to incorporate the barley stalk (along with the new colors) to emphasize the nickname, the tails got dumped to look less cluttered. The barley stalks are freehanded, and the wordmark was then attached and outlined like the rest.

Very nice. Is this in Paint?

It is. I have a copy of PS7 kicking around the house, but I haven't had time to even open it, let alone fiddle around with it. So yeah, I am still working ghetto-style with MSPaint. Lots of Curved Line and Polygon Fill made this one happen; I did the outlines of the script that I wanted, filled it in, then added the contrasting outline later as curves. Mastering the curve line tool has made this a faster and smoother-looking process.

Now, if only Bud was lurking on these boards, then we'd have something!

[redsfan39]

THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!

O man Vitamin you've done it here. The colors especially say beer to me (Black and Tan is the way to go). I especially like the sleeve patch (even though there is no beer barrel man ) and that wheat/barley on the wordmark. The most important part of all though is the fact there is no Ball-In-Glove logo! This whole concept says to me Brewers. If they changed to this I would be a happy man.

So Vitamin. I congratulate you on your 1000th post and a concept fitting for it. True to your Irish heritage i tip my glass to you. Have one on me old pal:

[chipper4]

VitaminD:

These are really really good. The only thing I don't like is the black. To me, there is far too much black being used in sports today. I would keep their current color scheme but definitely use your concept. I would buy that hat in a heartbeat!!

Eagles Nation Rules!!!!!

[VitaminD]

To me, there is far too much black being used in sports today.  I would keep their current color scheme but definitely use your concept.

I agree that there is too much black being used without discretion. Teams like the Royals and Reds in baseball, and the Lions and Eagles in the NFL, have never used black, then added it in some attempt to sell products, then allowed the color to overwhelm their uniforms to the point that it became the main color of a jersey or cap. But as a trim color, I like black, as long as it is kept to an appropriate minimum.

But certain teams should use black. Like the Baltimore Ravens, who are named for a black bird. My concept revolves around the colors black and tan, the well-known bar drink (Guinness Draught + Bass Ale), named for the British soldiers sent to Ireland in the 1920s to suppress the Irish independence uprising. Without the colors black and tan, the concept loses most of its thrust. With a name like "Brewers" that is so fitting for Milwaukee, black and tan are logical colors, since they are associated with beer. The cap has to be black because tan caps would look odd - like a bunch of bald people running around.

The only reason the Brewers even use blue/gold (or navy/metallic gold, if you will) is because they made a detour to Milwaukee on the way north from spring training in 1970. They were no longer the Seattle Pilots, but since that's what all their gear said, they kept the colors and made some quick fixes. It's not like they chose blue/gold in some homage to beer brewing.

I kept the black to a minimum, but since the idea revolves around paying tribute to a beer/Irish stout favorite, the colors are central to the concept.

[teenchy]

I think that the tail and stalk is too much. Maybe incorporate the stalk into the tail? Either inside of it (kind of like how the White Sox used to spell out the name in the tail) or make the stalk the actual tail (and connect it to the "s" and "e".)

I agree with the observation re the stalk/tail; it also looks like the colors of the "M" in your cap are the reverse of those in the larger cap logo (white/gold outline cf. gold/white outline in the larger logo). That could be the resolution on my monitor though.

I might suggest going with just two stripes, white and gold, on the stirrups. Think 1959-60 Washington Senators stirrups (biased, I know) or Georgia Tech home football jersey. I think that'd be more consistent with your overall use of striping.

Other than that I think these are great! Really nice and better IMO than what the club currently uses.

[BallWonk]

Keep in mind that I rate the Brewers as about the fifth best uniforms in baseball, maybe in baseball history. So I'm naturally biased against change. Administer as many grains of salt as you need before I go on.

The black and tan thing just rubs me the wrong way. You're going with this whole color scheme based on the dark beers of northern Britain and Ireland and throwing out the current slightly Germanic script. Clever, to use actual beer as the basis for your colors. But you're using the wrong beer. Milwaukee is the center of German and Bohemian style brewing in the U.S. More appropriate beer-based colors would be cream and tan or amber and tan. Look at a glass of Pilsner or wheat ale, not Guinness, to see what beer traditionally looks like in Milwaukee. If nothing else, brown and gold would work, going with the color of beer bottles and the color of the lager inside.

Oh, and while I like the idea of the wheat on the script tails, you haven't quite made it work. Needs a little more playing around with, but it's a great idea even if the execution isn't there just yet.

[Epiphanic]

Well done! Simple. Elegant. An outstanding job. The only thing that isn't tickling my fancy is the the underline/wheatstalk sprouting from the 's' or the 'e' on the jerseys. Maybe just make a wheatstalk as a separate underline. That's my only suggestion. Great job once again.

[VitaminD]

The black and tan thing just rubs me the wrong way. You're going with this whole color scheme based on the dark beers of northern Britain and Ireland and throwing out the current slightly Germanic script. Clever, to use actual beer as the basis for your colors. But you're using the wrong beer. Milwaukee is the center of German and Bohemian style brewing in the U.S. More appropriate beer-based colors would be cream and tan or amber and tan. Look at a glass of Pilsner or wheat ale, not Guinness, to see what beer traditionally looks like in Milwaukee. If nothing else, brown and gold would work, going with the color of beer bottles and the color of the lager inside.

Oh, and while I like the idea of the wheat on the script tails, you haven't quite made it work. Needs a little more playing around with, but it's a great idea even if the execution isn't there just yet.

Good points about the country of origin of the beer, BW. Ironically, while true black & tans are made with Irish beers, Irish people don't drink them over there. It conjures up a lot of bad images from the days of islandwide repression. That said, I like drinking 'em.

I don't see Germanic when I see any of the Brewers' current fonts. I'd agree with the ones they had before the present set, but these are script fonts that more resemble "Cheers" than anything German, and the lettering/numbering are more Times New Roman office memo than anything German. As for German beer v. Irish beers, it could definitely be pulled off; the color change to a Pilsner wouldn't be that big of a change...

Brown and gold is an interesting take. But I don't want it to be confused for something out of the Padres' closet. But that could be pulled off with only minor revisions; whether it would look good or be marketable remains to be seen.

As for the barleystalk, I tried incorporating it into the tail, but I couldn't make it work. The stalk of the barley has to be so thin so as to still look like barley that it would look like a mess of stripes, and I think the idea of the barley would be lost. I tried this, too. I'm not done with the barley stalk (barley makes beer, folks... ), but I considered those things and couldn't get them to look the way I wanted.

I'll keep at it. Thanks to all for your help!

[VitaminD]

BUMP... if anyone is interested, I'm looking for one more go-round.

[PackerBadger]

I'd color the home lettering and numbering like the roads -- black team name, gold numbers front and back. Also, to split the difference, you could change the tan to gold, but not a Vegas gold -- more a metallic gold similar to the color of, say, a Milwaukee-produced adult beverage.