Oh Canada...AIR CANADA, that is!

[tBBP]

I told y'all it'd only be a matter of time before you got yourself a new fix of the critically acclaimed Airline Football League Concept Series! And it's been a LONG TIME coming, too. I've had several ideas sitting on the shelf that I couldn't finish thanks to schoolwork. But--some of them are finished and here we are yet again.

Here's a list of airlines that have already had concepts made:

American Airlines

United Airlines

Northwest Airlines

US Airways

Delta Air Lines

Southwest Airlines

Midwest Airlines

Continental Airlines

AirTran Airways

America West Airlines

Song

And so, by popular request, the Airline Football League jumps the northern border of the U.S. and heads into the "Great White North"--Canada, ladies and gentlemen! And in particular, the nation's flagship carrier, Air Canada.

Of course, anyone who knows the history behind Air Canada also knows it didn't always used to be Air Canada. This airline was born in (or actually, I should say "made it's maiden voyage") in 1937--a quick hop from Vancouver to Seattle. This airline actually had a sizeable operation out in western Canada, but some mandate forced the airline (known then as Trans-Canada Airlines) to move it's headquarters, and eventually, its maintenance base, to Montreal. Naturally, that caused some issues for the folks out west, but Vancouver, to this day, still maintains a hub operation. In the year 1964, a guy by the name of Jean Christien submitted a private request to have the name of the nation's flagship changed to Air Canada. (It should be noted that in the carrier's formative years, it was NOT Canada's only airline. To this day it still isn't.) January 1, 1965, the name change went into effect, and from then on out the airline has been known as Air Canada--and it also acquired a few lesser airlines since then. It is now the world's 12th largest carrier. (Neat coincidence...this is my 12th AFL concept and Air Canada is the 12th largest carrier in the world...)

Anyway, on to the meat of this intro...

One thing that I'm really kinda lost on is why this carrier predominately uses green on its aircraft. Sometime in the 90's, the airline went from this scheme--which had been used since the airline's birth--to a new look. Had they stuck with that scheme, this concept probably would have been a lot easier. Instead, the airline revamped its livery again in 2004, and that's when this look took to the sky. Yeah--not easy to work with, right? The dark green is pretty much gone now--the airline still uses a lightened shade of green, but now the entire fuselage is a very light mint green, with minimal red (which is where I'm a bit stuck, being that red IS the nation's color, after all). Well...let's get on with the process of concocting a football uniform based off that new livery, shall we?

As always, I started with the helmet. For those who aren't familiar with this process, my goal in doing these concepts is to to the best job I can of matching the look of the uniform with that of the plane--or, if that's not possible, at least concocting a design that instantly evokes thoughts and "vibes" of its respective airline. (Take a look at this pic and this concept to see what I mean by that.) It all starts with the helmet--and in this instance, I REALLY went out on a limb to design a distinctive "Air Canada" shell. Look again--rreeeaaallll close--at the tail of the plane. I did not even attempt to replicate that dot-matrix pattern--I'd have killed myself doing that. Instead, study what's underneath all that. See it? Yep (GULP)--that's a GRADIENT under all that. Now, I know most folks ain't too hot on the idea of gradients, but yes, I did the San Diego State treatment with this dome, with the two greens. I also replicated that leaf logo too (and that took some work--having to splice that maple leaf up and do all the gradients to match the look of the tail, too). The facemask is the darker green. I wanted to do red, but it just didn't look right, so green it is. I think it actually came out pretty well.

Okay, let's move on down to the uni itself. Since there's no white to speak of in the livery or the airline's color scheme, the pants are that light mint green. The darker lighter green is the home; white shirt is away. The numbers are sans-outlines. (And on that note, both primaries are sans outlines or stripes, just to keep it clean and "slim"--the plane ain't got no stripes, either.) The numbers on the home are the only thing that is white (For obvious reason), and also, on the homes, I have included the "Air Canada" wordmark. I did that with the thought of the Montreal Alouettes in my mind (since both are based in Montreal). The wordmark is red, and so is the surname on the back view (the name, of course, belonginng to Montie Brewer, the head honcho of Air Canada). With so much green being used, I wanted to work enough red into this concept to make it noticeable but at the same time keep it to more of a trim--just like the livery. TV numbers are on the sleeves (just like the Alouettes), and the side panels of this--you rady for this?--replicate the same gradient pattern as the helmet. I did that for two reasons: one, because the Alouettes also have a different-color side panel on their jerseys (albeit solid-color), and two, so the helmet wouldn't be the only part of the uni with that gradient. For as simplistic as the primaries turned out to be, I think it adds a little bit of decorative flair--and doesn't Canada have some of the most beautiful scenery in the world? So there you go. I also added a teeny bit or red to the socks, too--just to get it in there. So that's the primary home/roads.

For my throwback third/alt (those of you who closely follow this series know I almost always do one of these), I followed the old livery (look again). Not really much to work with, right? The alt is just as simple as that livery. Red dome with white logo, white top/pants, black numerals (because the Air Canada script on the plane is also black), solid red stripe on the pants, and red socks.

Okay...so there's your intro. I think the whole set looks real nice, clean, but at the same time, exudes a bit of dramatic flair. But I'm curious to hear from you all (especially YOU, Canada!)...and so now I present the visual...

Air Canada, everyone!

Let the C&C commence!!!

[Gazzzaf]

Excellent work. I commend you on using a gradient and I think you've pulled it off very well. Its subtle but adds to the effectiveness of the jersey. The logo on the pants looks great as well. The template you are using is new I'm assuming and I really like it, very modern and appropriate for modern designs.

My one gripe is the red name and wordmark on the home. I think you need to make it white for visibility and outlining the number in red for balance. Just my $A 0.05 (we don't have lower coinage than 5c which kinda kills the phrase).

[JH42XCC]

In the year 1964, a guy by the name of Jean Christien submitted a private request to have the name of the nation's flagship changed to Air Canada.

Actually, that guy's last name is Chrétien, not Christien.

Anyway, nice concept!

[roadatlanta4]

Great job on the concept I love this series as I have been following it closely! as well as your NFL series

One question I have though....Is it just my screen or my eyes because you say they use a lot of green and not much white? The only green I see is the tail and the rest of the plane is white.

[Pharos04]

wow, another great job bucco. You continue to amaze with each of these. I love the homes. They look incredible. Only question i have is this: I know that the main symbol for Air Canada is the leaf in the circle but since the only one you use on the main homes and aways are what you have dubbed the secondary shouldn't that become the primary and use the circle-leaf as the alternate? Other than that amazing job once again. Will this become the first step into diving into the international carries such as Alitalia, Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, etc? Hope so

[mania]

Overall, it really looks great, I'd just like to see... perhaps a jersey in red?

[BlueSky]

Outstanding work as always. Your concepts are consistently among the best on this board.

My one suggestion would have been to use the old Trans-Canada livery as the inspiration for throwback uni's. There's a lot of potential for coolness there:

[lopernv]

In the year 1964, a guy by the name of Jean Christien submitted a private request to have the name of the nation's flagship changed to Air Canada.

Actually, that guy's last name is Chrétien, not Christien.

Anyway, nice concept!

Yeah, too bad Jean Chrétien was Prime Minster in the 90's.

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bucco_b, I like it, and you pulled off the gradient very well. Awesome job.

[tBBP]

Outstanding work as always. Your concepts are consistently among the best on this board.

My one suggestion would have been to use the old Trans-Canada livery as the inspiration for throwback uni's. There's a lot of potential for coolness there:

I may have to try that. I don't know how that didn't pop into my head before...but I'm definitely going to have to try to make one out of that.

wow, another great job bucco. You continue to amaze with each of these. I love the homes. They look incredible. Only question i have is this: I know that the main symbol for Air Canada is the leaf in the circle but since the only one you use on the main homes and aways are what you have dubbed the secondary shouldn't that become the primary and use the circle-leaf as the alternate? Other than that amazing job once again. Will this become the first step into diving into the international carries such as Alitalia, Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, etc? Hope so

As far as primary/secondary logos go, I go by what the company uses (some only have one logo; some have several). As far as the double leaf logo being on the helmet, the reason for that (as was explained in the intro) is because I usually always try to match the helmets to the aircraft tails. And to answer your question, yes, this is my first step into "diving into the international carriers". I'm putting the finishing touches on some now; one or two may debut in a day or two. (This one took me almost two weeks to figure out!)

And oh by the way, that little itty bitty yellow/blue patch you see on the uniform is the league logo I created. It's posted along with my older concepts if you want to get a closer look at it.

Actually, that guy's last name is Chrétien, not Christien

Misspelling in my intro...and the funny thing is that it's spelled the right way on the concept! Good catch though...

Be back soon with upddates...

[tBBP]

Okay...update time.

the tireless worker in me pushed me to knock this out in a day's time--the update, that is. The main thing you'll notice on this one is a new throwback/alt, inspired by that pic skyaa1 posted up above. This one and I should have thought about this the first time around) harkens back to the Trans Canada Air lines days. Study the plane's striping pattern closely; it's replicated on the pants and, to a lesser degree, on the sleeves and socks. Pants are silver, to match the plane, of course, and the tail logo is on the helmet. (The little patch on the front of the jersey is the retro logo you see in the team logos quadrant of this layout.) The name and numbers are rendered in the same style as the lettering on the plane--or at least as close to it as I could get.

And now, shadowing and spelling errors corrected...here is your Air Canada update!

[BlueSky]

Looks great. Terrific work on that. I thought, "Why did he use a white helmet on the new throwback?" but in looking at the pic I posted I noticed the fuselage crown is white.

BTW, re the game today...Reg-gie! Reg-gie!

[fonz]

Good work. But when I think of Canada, I don't think green.

[tBBP]

Good work. But when I think of Canada, I don't think green.

I don't either...that's one of the things I covered in the intro--exactly what made Air Canada use the green more so than the red. I like the look regardless--color choice notwithstanding.