Washington Nationals Concept

[VitaminD]

I'm really clueless as to what to do with the "g" in Washington

Why not loop it over the underline slash? Seems like the natural thing to do.

That said, that's about the only gripe I have with this set. I'm not crazy about the numbering font, but I love all of the script work on the fronts of the jersey. Most of all, I really like how this concept has evolved, and how you've given everyone's C&C an honest go-round. I don't like to give praise to people for doing what they should already be doing, but the fact that you showed you really listen to the people viewing your work makes me much, much more likely to put some time and effort into my critiques, as I know you take them to heart and give them their due consideration. If only everyone could be mature enough to do that...

Nicely done.

[BallWonk]

I'm really clueless as to what to do with the "g" in Washington

Try using a G with a loop at the bottom instead of a hook. Then you can pass the underline through the loop. Or treat the loop the same way you treat the current G's descender, but it will be more easily readable with the loop. To see what I'm talking about, look at the lower-case G in "Google":

Aside from the question of legibility, which I think demands a loop-bottomed G in this case, I think your curly-W-inspired font also calls for the loopier style of G. The artist who put that huge loop in the middle of the W would not settle for a long, skinny hook on his lower-case G.

Alternately, a loopy-bottomed G can be formed like the traditional cursive G, which I think would also be more natural to see in a font inspired by the curly-W:

That kind of loop, whether it just sits on top of the underline or lets the underline pass through it, would also be more readable and a more natural part of your script.

On the whole, I still don't prefer this concept over the current Nationals uniforms, but I do like this concept more than at least 20 actual big-league teams. And I would be perfectly happy if the Nats did start wearing your concept. You have really done some excellent work here -- if you do another photo mockup, I hope you'll use some different player names and numbers to show off your absolutely brilliant custom numbers. Oddly enough, it's not the fantastic script but the curly-W/block hybrid numbers that really sell me on this concept.

[ltravisjr]

I agree, this is a fine fine concept - very professional and plausible to see in the field. As far as that "g", I have only one possible suggestion. Extend the tail of it up to the base, forming a bottom loop. Then, simply break the tail on either side of the loop to leave a small but noticeable gap for the g. I don't mean just lay the g over the tail, but actually break the tail on either side so the inside of the loop is gray, and so there is a little gray on either side of the loop as well. That will make it look like design intent rather than just an unfortunate situation.

LT

I may not have explained myself the most clealy, so here is a dirty mock-up of what I was trying to explain:

LT

[speedy]

I agree, this is a fine fine concept - very professional and plausible to see in the field. As far as that "g", I have only one possible suggestion. Extend the tail of it up to the base, forming a bottom loop. Then, simply break the tail on either side of the loop to leave a small but noticeable gap for the g. I don't mean just lay the g over the tail, but actually break the tail on either side so the inside of the loop is gray, and so there is a little gray on either side of the loop as well. That will make it look like design intent rather than just an unfortunate situation.

LT

I may not have explained myself the most clealy, so here is a dirty mock-up of what I was trying to explain:

LT

Thank you, very, very much, both you and BallWonk. I'll get working on that as soon as possible. Also, to you BallWonk, I will throw different players on each jersey, I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place. Look for an update very soon.

[speedy]

Well after about 2 months, I think I made the change that will finally finish this concept, what do ya'll think?

[apeman33]

Well after about 2 months, I think I made the change that will finally finish this concept, what do ya'll think?

I've just hopped onto this bandwagon (I don't look in the "concepts" threads as often as I'd like to). There is only one thing remaining about this set that's really buggin' me: The placement of the number on the alts.

Perhaps it's because of years of seeing Cincinnati Reds uniforms, but it's always been my belief that when a team does a letter or a crest on the left breast and it chooses to put a number on the right side, the number should be at the same level as the emblem.

When the Rockies brought out the "CR" alts a few years ago and put the number down low, on the stomach, it killed me. Then the Rangers brought out the "T" alts and put the number down low...ugh. It throws the eye off, I feel, because you're looking left to right and then also from bottom to top, which isn't a natural flow.

Try putting the number on the same level as the "DC" logo, such as the Reds and White Sox do on their homes (this may also call for slightly lowering the "DC"), and then I think you'll have three soild unis. I've enjoyed the evolution of this set so far.

[Turkleton]

Just bored and messing around, threw this on a real jersey...

Have my babies.

Ive just gone through this entire thread and the way this has progressed.....top quality. I think its perfect but I echo apeman's comments about the Alt's number placement. Otherwise, this is sex on a shirt, I love it

[BallWonk]

I've just hopped onto this bandwagon (I don't look in the "concepts" threads as often as I'd like to). There is only one thing remaining about this set that's really buggin' me: The placement of the number on the alts.

Perhaps it's because of years of seeing Cincinnati Reds uniforms, but it's always been my belief that when a team does a letter or a crest on the left breast and it chooses to put a number on the right side, the number should be at the same level as the emblem.

When the Rockies brought out the "CR" alts a few years ago and put the number down low, on the stomach, it killed me. Then the Rangers brought out the "T" alts and put the number down low...ugh. It throws the eye off, I feel, because you're looking left to right and then also from bottom to top, which isn't a natural flow.

Try putting the number on the same level as the "DC" logo, such as the Reds and White Sox do on their homes (this may also call for slightly lowering the "DC"), and then I think you'll have three soild unis. I've enjoyed the evolution of this set so far.

I disagree -- the low numbers are just as ugly as the high numbers. There is only one non-ugly solution for numbers with this kind of jersey: Don't put numbers on the front at all. See Yankees, New York and Tigers, Detroit, for reference. If you're going to put the numbers on anyway, the least ugly solution is to put them right below the logo.

But in this case, I think the ideal solution is to ditch the alt entirely. The home and away jerseys are so insanely good that the alt just seems wrong on principle. Should Yankees wear an alt shirt? No, they shouldn't, and this concept is better than New York's uniforms.

Back to the point: the new G in the road script is yet another of your patented tiny-but-significant steps forward. This is a truly fantastic concept. I could get behind it in a big way as a Nats fan, even though at every step your big-picture choices have been the opposite of what I would have preferred. I'd rather see blue than red as a primary color. I'd rather move away from the pretzel-W than toward it. I'd rather have lettering than script. I'd rather have much different piping and stripes. And yet the final result of your work leaves me unable to argue with any particular. Really, really fantastic. This would instantly be among the five best uniforms in MLB. Your execution is that good.

[Artmanc3po]

Email this concept directly to DC brass. Great new uni for the new stadium next year. This captures something old school that the current set lacks, and makes the curly W fit what they're doing. I like the W, and the current set makes it look out of place.

[fuzzy510]

It's a clean and nice-looking uniform, but as a Nationals fan, the whole thing feels very boring and borrowed. Part of me feels like I'm watching the Phillies, and the cursive script makes me think immediately of that certain AL team about 45 minutes north of here. The current set is unique in a positive (read: non-Devil Rays) way, and gives the team its own identity.

[BallWonk]

It's a clean and nice-looking uniform, but as a Nationals fan, the whole thing feels very boring and borrowed. Part of me feels like I'm watching the Phillies, and the cursive script makes me think immediately of that certain AL team about 45 minutes north of here. The current set is unique in a positive (read: non-Devil Rays) way, and gives the team its own identity.

That's the thing about this concept: I agree with you on every point, but I still think these would be great uniforms for the Nationals. Would I choose these uniforms over the current set? Probably not. But the current uniforms desperately need a pretzel-ectomy, and team management has made quite clear that the curly W is here to stay. So as long as we're stuck with the pretzel-W, I guess on the whole I'd rather have uniforms that worked with it a bit better. (The shame of it is I have photographic proof that the team considered a gold-bevelled W that matches the current jersey script; at least one hat with that logo exists, and it's a thing of beauty.)

These don't make me think of the Orioles at all; they make me think of the Senators. Which maybe isn't such a great thing, actually. But I do see your Phillies resemblance; it's my biggest qualm with this concept. Still, this concept is much more attractive than the Phillies, and the Nats already have Phillies-resemblance problems when the Phillies come to town in their off-white road uniforms with red script and red caps. So this is hardly a step backwards. Sure, the roads now look more like the Phillies, but it's not like fans in Philadelphia need help distinguishing between the teams on the field. If your general approach is to boo everybody all the time, it doesn't matter whether you can tell the teams apart.

[apeman33]

I've just hopped onto this bandwagon (I don't look in the "concepts" threads as often as I'd like to). There is only one thing remaining about this set that's really buggin' me: The placement of the number on the alts.

Perhaps it's because of years of seeing Cincinnati Reds uniforms, but it's always been my belief that when a team does a letter or a crest on the left breast and it chooses to put a number on the right side, the number should be at the same level as the emblem.

When the Rockies brought out the "CR" alts a few years ago and put the number down low, on the stomach, it killed me. Then the Rangers brought out the "T" alts and put the number down low...ugh. It throws the eye off, I feel, because you're looking left to right and then also from bottom to top, which isn't a natural flow.

Try putting the number on the same level as the "DC" logo, such as the Reds and White Sox do on their homes (this may also call for slightly lowering the "DC"), and then I think you'll have three soild unis. I've enjoyed the evolution of this set so far.

I disagree -- the low numbers are just as ugly as the high numbers. There is only one non-ugly solution for numbers with this kind of jersey: Don't put numbers on the front at all. See Yankees, New York and Tigers, Detroit, for reference. If you're going to put the numbers on anyway, the least ugly solution is to put them right below the logo.

But in this case, I think the ideal solution is to ditch the alt entirely. The home and away jerseys are so insanely good that the alt just seems wrong on principle. Should Yankees wear an alt shirt? No, they shouldn't, and this concept is better than New York's uniforms.

Back to the point: the new G in the road script is yet another of your patented tiny-but-significant steps forward. This is a truly fantastic concept. I could get behind it in a big way as a Nats fan, even though at every step your big-picture choices have been the opposite of what I would have preferred. I'd rather see blue than red as a primary color. I'd rather move away from the pretzel-W than toward it. I'd rather have lettering than script. I'd rather have much different piping and stripes. And yet the final result of your work leaves me unable to argue with any particular. Really, really fantastic. This would instantly be among the five best uniforms in MLB. Your execution is that good.

I'm just saying that if there's going to be numbers on the alt, they should be level with the logo. On this particular alternate, is the front number even needed? Maybe not. But if it's going to be there, put it in a position that makes it more pleasing to the eye.

That said, you may be right in that an alt is not even needed.

[mania]

I really like the evolution of the set, although I preferred the jerseys with the neck piping.

The only thing is the arm patch, it, to me, just doesn't really have that much personality and if there isn't anything better to put on the arm, maybe nothing at all should be used.

[speedy]

Well after a year, I've revisited this concept...

I cleaned up the "DC" logo, I felt the first version looked sloppy and hastily done. Also I cleaned up the wordmarks, smoothed out some edges, you get the picture.

As for the uniforms, not much of a change other than the updated logos. I did however change the placing of the numbers on the alternate.

Home Uniform

Away Uniform

Alternate Uniform

Thoughts?

[Fjm]

1. Upgrade in many ways, which have already been stated.

2. The gold doesn't stand out enough for me, and it should since it separates this uniform from other red & blue teams like Stl, Phil, and LAA. Maybe a brighter yellow-gold color rather than the old gold, or a thicker trim?

3. The scripts, especially 'Washington', are a tad too tight, without enough white space to read them clearly from afar. They look good enough on the jersey pictures you displayed, but on the player templates they look smushed.

4. If only players still wore their stirrups like that.

[BDiamond]

Their current road set (color wise) is one of the best in baseball. I'm not a huge fan of red as is and to me this is overkill. Plus something about the DC logo just doesn't look right to me. It looks too scribbled together.

[logodawg]

The new "DC" is a vast improvement over the previous version, great job!

The only problem I have is that there just seems to be a red overload in the jersey set.

[Blackjack76]

The lower-case script "T" doesn't look like a "T"...this really drives down the whole package, in my opinion. I believe you would see a marked improvement if the T was crossed correctly.

[logodawg]

The lower-case script "T" doesn't look like a "T"...this really drives down the whole package, in my opinion. I believe you would see a marked improvement if the T was crossed correctly.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. The "T" as it is one of the unique elements that makes this concept so great. You take that out and it all become just another run-of-the-mill script.

[fkaKrock5cent]

Looks great. you got rid of the beveling and made the DC logo match the curly W. Way to go!