My First Uniform

[Squeaks4]

Ok, yesterday I did my first concept with my ASU hockey mask. I improved on it earlier today but since I am home sick and I am the insomniac that I am I decided to have a go at a jersey.

I know I have a LONG way to go, but this is only my second day with Illustrator and I am just learning. I would absolutely LOVE for one of the professionals here to give me a few tips (i.e. how to vectorize an image off the net without losing all of the area in-between the outline & how to "fold" shoulder logos and stripes instead of them poking out like in mine) but I realize you guys are all busy and if you personally helped every beginner you would never get anywhere yourself. But I would like some C&C.

[ColeJ]

i'm faaar from a professional... infact, i work as a police dispatcher, which has absolutely nothing at all to do with computer graphics

but i'd love to give you some pointers, if you value my input.

not sure how to fold the shoulder logos on your concept, because i don't use your program... i just make sure to paste the blackoutline from my template on top of the logo, and anything on the inside of the uniform i leave, while anything on the outside, i paint over with white i use a simple program, though.

tips on the actual concept though, from a sports uniform perspective, rather than an illustrator perspective:

if you're going with a sand colored jersey, it will only look good if the socks match. you've got the socks in maroon, like the helmet and the pants, and it's making the socks stand out... almost giving it a "cooperall" look. top heavy. you should always try to get your socks to match both the coloring and the striping pattern of the sweater. right now, it doesn't match either quality.

if you're going to use the CoyoteS from the wordmark, and take out the PHOENIX part, you shouldn't leave the same border around the wordmark. you've got an empty space where it used to say phoenix. either leave the word phoenix there, or reshape the box so it doesn't leave a blank space.

you've got black in strange places... no black on the actual jersey design, no black on the shoulder logos, but black as an outline of the crescent, and black as an outline of the wordmark. just doesn't seem to work together. either remove the black from the concept completely, or try to work it in more evenly through the entire uniform.

the numbers you used are white, but there's no white anywhere else on the concept. everything else uses sand. from socks, to gloves, to logos... either add some more white to the concept (just like the black... doesn't take much, just a little to tie it all together), or change the numbers to sand colored.

it's a learning process, and everyone gets better with time. you're off to a pretty good start. you've just got a few inconsistencies. the more you work at it, the more polished your concepts become.

[eRay]

building off what Cole said, i would change the sleeve numbers to sand with black outlines. that might be enough to tie the black in, but u might need black lines where the red on the sleeve turns into sand. i think the primary logo you used on the front of the jersey doesnt really work as a logo that big.

as far as illustrator is concerned, u look like u have a good hold on it. i am not a professional at all either, i am a graphic design student in his junior year in college. as far as 'wrapping' logos goes, when i do this all i do is place the logo like u did, then draw out a shape with the pen tool that will cover the part of the logo that shouldnt be seen. i make the shape white filled with no outline, and just leave it layered over the logo. its a real simple way to do it, and maybe other people have better answers, but it seems to work for me.

[GUINNESS]

thats nice....i like the sand colour...good job

[Squeaks4]

Thanks for all of the comment guys. Like I said, I know I have a long way to go and in no way is this jersey a final version. I just wanted to see if I was on the right track. But I have a few comments on what both ColeDMD and ERay said so I will quote you.

if you're going with a sand colored jersey, it will only look good if the socks match. You?ve got the socks in maroon, like the helmet and the pants, and it's making the socks stand out... almost giving it a "cooperall" look. top heavy. you should always try to get your socks to match both the coloring and the striping pattern of the sweater. right now, it doesn't match either quality.

I didn?t even notice that before. I will diffidently change the socks around a little bit. Thanks for the tip.

if you're going to use the CoyoteS from the wordmark, and take out the PHOENIX part, you shouldn't leave the same border around the wordmark. you've got an empty space where it used to say phoenix. either leave the word phoenix there, or reshape the box so it doesn't leave a blank space.

When I first got the logo I used 'live trace' then 'live paint' to get a version that I could work with. However while doing this the logos quality went down A LOT. It left me with an ok looking "CoyoteS" logo, but the Phoenix part came out looking like crap. This is a big problem I have been having. Once I take logos from the web and put them into illustrator I can not do anything with them unless I use the trace and paint option, but this always brings the quality down along with leaving out a lot of the different sections that are actually inside the logo. I have looked around to see if I can correct this problem but have come up with nothing so far. After I did this I took out the Phoenix word mark completely and attempted to cut off the top part of the logo. Even though I am sure this is one of the simplest thing you can do, I could not figure out how to do it. I need a lot of help in these two problems!

you've got black in strange places... no black on the actual jersey design, no black on the shoulder logos, but black as an outline of the crescent, and black as an outline of the wordmark. just doesn't seem to work together. either remove the black from the concept completely, or try to work it in more evenly through the entire uniform.

This comes back to the problem I am having taking a picture and putting into a format I can work with in Illustrator. While changing the moon logo into a version I could work with the inner black lines were deleted leaving me with what I have up there. If anyone can help me with this PLESE do.

the numbers you used are white, but there's no white anywhere else on the concept. everything else uses sand. from socks, to gloves, to logos... either add some more white to the concept (just like the black... doesn't take much, just a little to tie it all together), or change the numbers to sand colored.

I didn't even notice I skipped over the numbers. I will go back and add the sand color and also put a little more black into the overall jersey.

as far as illustrator is concerned, u look like u have a good hold on it. i am not a professional at all either, i am a graphic design student in his junior year in college. as far as 'wrapping' logos goes, when i do this all i do is place the logo like u did, then draw out a shape with the pen tool that will cover the part of the logo that shouldnt be seen. i make the shape white filled with no outline, and just leave it layered over the logo. its a real simple way to do it, and maybe other people have better answers, but it seems to work for me.

Thanks for the tip. I am a little confused on how to do exactly what your saying but I could give it a shot. However I am having problems making my own shapes, lines, curves and such in Illustrator. I have never been able to even figure out how to make a straight line curve. Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Again, thanks for all of the comments, tips and critiques guys. I am really far away from being great at this, but I do think I am off to an ok start. I will go back and keep messing with it and update this whenever I get an updated version of this jersey done.

(I apologize for the size of this post. I just need a lot of help and this seems to be the best place to find it)

[rmered]

http://boards.sportslogos.net/index.php?showtopic=31557

is a thread I started, and people added to on the basic stuff like Clipping Masks.

Clipping Masks are what make your shoulder logo only appear where you want to see it. And not extend outside the border of the template.

[Squeaks4]

http://boards.sportslogos.net/index.php?showtopic=31557

is a thread I started, and people added to on the basic stuff like Clipping Masks.

Clipping Masks are what make your shoulder logo only appear where you want to see it. And not extend outside the border of the template.

Wow man, thanks for making that thread. I have no idea how I missed this when I was attempting to find the answers myself. Again, thanks alot.

[Squeaks4]

Ok so I used the new techniques everyone helped me with (thanks to ColeDMD, eRay, BigBen5, the49erfan15, rmered & pcgd) and I revised my jersy.

I would love to get some more C&C but I understand if you are done with me.

[VitaminD]

Really nice. Is this a road jersey? It'd be tough for the 'Yotes to wear sand at home, with the other team in white.

My only suggestion would be to use the same number font that they currently use for the other jerseys. Their redesign was so thorough (and well done) that adding the current number/name font to this concept would tie it in perfectly and really make it look like it belongs.

[eRay]

that looks alot better IMO, but i dont know if i could call it an improvement. their newer jerseys are so simple and classic that anything more modern could be a step in the wrong direction. they look great as a concept though. i like the piece under the numbers, but it might be a little close to the numbers.

[Squeaks4]

Thanks for the compliments guys. This was my first jersy ever and I was just using it as a learning tool more then anything. I know this is not an upgrade on the set they have right now and I did not intend it to be a replacement for their home or away jerseys. I am probably going to move onto something else now, but I will more then likely be back to mess around with the Coyotes a little more. Thanks again to everyone for their C&C and all of their help as I am learning this stuff.

[The_Admiral]

Red Wings.

[Squeaks4]

Red Wings.

...I don't follow

[ColeJ]

Ok so I used the new techniques everyone helped me with (thanks to ColeDMD, eRay, BigBen5, the49erfan15, rmered & pcgd) and I revised my jersy.

I would love to get some more C&C but I understand if you are done with me.

that is just such a gigantic improvement to your first version.

looks so much more professional.

[cambaker]

I totally concur. The improvements are huge. I wish I had something to add to what's already been said, but I think this is now one of the better hockey concepts I've seen. It'd be great to see a full set (home, away, an alternate) if of course you have the time. If not, no worries... you did good.

[The_Admiral]

Red Wings.

...I don't follow

That doesn't remind you of a Red Wings jersey at all?

[Squeaks4]

Thanks for all the complements. To hear the word professional in a post regarding my concept is a HUGE complement to me.

It'd be great to see a full set (home, away, an alternate) if of course you have the time. If not, no worries... you did good.

I am actually working on that right now. I am using the jersy above as the home set and I plan on doing an away set and a alternative set. I am really busy with homework also, so I dont know when I will get it done.

That doesn't remind you of a Red Wings jersey at all?

I made sure I wasnt crazy before I posted and searched to see the Wings jersey, and I have come to my original conclusion...No, not at all.

[MrAsterisk]

Awesome!

I would like to point out that one shoulder patch is rough-edged while the other is rectangular, and also suggest that the tan accents under the numbers on the arms be flat on top (like a wide, downward-pointing isosceles triangle) to give the numbers a place to "rest" and also to give a nice, easy, downward flow to the viewer.

P.S.: To TCR, I would like to suggest Charles Barkley's nickname "Proky Pig on a Tramploine" as either an addition to or replacement for your current "crazy-pig"-themed signiature.

[The_Admiral]

I made sure I wasnt crazy before I posted and searched to see the Wings jersey, and I have come to my original conclusion...No, not at all.

White body, red sleeves, one thick stripe at the bottom. Whatever. I see it

[Squeaks4]

I made sure I wasnt crazy before I posted and searched to see the Wings jersey, and I have come to my original conclusion...No, not at all.

White body, red sleeves, one thick stripe at the bottom. Whatever. I see it

I see what your saying, but there are also a lot of stuff that's on the Jersey that isn't on the Red Wings. Also, my jersey isn't white, its sand. I know that sounds nit picky, but it really gives it a whole new look.