Would you like your football FedEx'd?

[tBBP]

Yepb...ol' boy has been back in the kitchen kookin' up mo' krazy koncepts!!!

Alright...so here I am, my latest concoction. After what I deem a personal success with my previous series, the Airline Football League, I decided to create a new one and further expand my borders by drafting more corporate identities onto football uniforms. It started as a wild idea that morphed into what I'm calling the XCFL, for (follow me here)...eXpress Carrier Football League. (So some of you should be able to guess what other "teams" might pop up in this!)

So, having said all that...

First out the gate: FedEx.

BUT FIRST...a quick little history, from FedEx's website (yes, I'm getting lazy here--but I got a job now, which means less time to compile write-ups):

In 1965, Yale University undergraduate Frederick W. Smith wrote a term paper about the passenger route systems used by most airfreight shippers, which he viewed as economically inadequate. Smith wrote of the need for shippers to have a system designed specifically for airfreight that could accommodate time-sensitive shipments such as medicines, computer parts and electronics.

In August of 1971 following a stint in the military, Smith bought controlling interest in Arkansas Aviation Sales, located in Little Rock, Ark. While operating his new firm, Smith identified the tremendous difficulty in getting packages and other airfreight delivered within one to two days. This dilemma motivated him to do the necessary research for resolving the inefficient distribution system. Thus, the idea for Federal Express was born: a company that revolutionized global business practices and now defines speed and reliability.

Federal Express was so-named due to the patriotic meaning associated with the word "Federal," which suggested an interest in nationwide economic activity. At that time, Smith hoped to obtain a contract with the Federal Reserve Bank and, although the proposal was denied, he believed the name was a particularly good one for attracting public attention and maintaining name recognition.

The company incorporated in June 1971 and officially began operations on April 17, 1973, with the launch of 14 small aircraft from Memphis International Airport. On that night, Federal Express delivered 186 packages to 25 U.S. cities from Rochester, NY, to Miami, Fla.

Company headquarters were moved to Memphis, Tenn., a city selected for its geographical center to the original target market cities for small packages. In addition, the Memphis weather was excellent and rarely caused closures at Memphis International Airport. The airport was also willing to make the necessary improvements for the operation and had additional hangar space readily available.

So...on to my concept design.

Anyone who knows anything about FedEx knows that this company also operated in divisions. The main one is FedEx, of course--the air service. Being that FedEx started as an airline (and how did I NOT know what during my AFL series?), and being that that is FedEx's bread and butter, it is also the base home and road setup, color-wise (purple and orange.) There really isn't much complexity to these things, but have you seen a FedEx plane or truck lately? Exactly...plain, simple, and straightforward. The home jersey is purple with white numbers (no trim) the roads are the opposite. There's actually not much orange in the set. but there's enough to notice.

Now...it's the DERIVATIVES of that set that merit mentioning. I developed a set for each division: FedEx Ground is purple and lime, and, just because it's part of the FedEx family now (in a move that I'm still trying to get adjusted to), I even developed a set for FedEx Kinko's!

(*NOTE: at the time I put this set together, I had no idea FedEx FREIGHT was also operating under the FedEx umbrella...so use your imagination and kinda eyeball red in place of the orange...or green.)

Okay, so here it is...let me know whatchy'all think!

[slapshot]

It's clean, but it doesn't really do anything for me. Everything seems a little too plain predictable (obviously, since you mentioned the straightforwardness or the company's uniforms).

But I think you went overboard with the alternates. Is the alternate helmet and jersey really necessary? Just because it has green in the wordmark?

[IceCap]

I would have cut it down to three uniforms; purple and orange for the home uniform (Express), white with purple and green for the road uniform (Ground), and red and purple for the alt (Freight). Seeing as this series will relate specifically to parcel delivery, I would have left FedEx Kinko's out.

What you have is good, but it could have been streamlined into a more "complete" set.

[tBBP]

Agreed (both of you). This thing was done in like late December, and truth be told, I probably would have done good to go back and tweak this thing a little bit--but, due to time constraints (the jobs), and a bout of laziness (as a result of said jobs), I figured I'd go ahead and throw this on up here for y'all to see.

There's more to come, trust me...so stay tuned!

[BlueSky]

A nice "mystery touch" would have been a plain forward arrow on the sleeves (note the arrow incorporated between the "E" and "x").

[tBBP]

A nice "mystery touch" would have been a plain forward arrow on the sleeves (note the arrow incorporated between the "E" and "x").

You know what? I actually picked up on that a good long while ago when i first even put that together. And I just so completely forgot about that, too.

Heh well...we'll see how y'all like the next one...debuting soon...

[FiddySicks]

Hey I remember Fred Smith. My uncle used to be a pilot for FedEx and was good friends with him. I remember back in the day when me and my parents went out to visit my family in Memphis during the summer he'd show up for barbeques. He was a strange fu*kin cat.

Love the concept BTW