The football birds of Maryland get their turn now...

[tBBP]

Wow...so on to part 15 of this thing here...the 13th NFL squad I've worked a concept for. I done held onto it long enough...and so now it's time to show it off, now that I've got it transferred over to my new template.

Interested in the previous 12 teams I've reworked? Click through the links below.

Cleveland Browns

Tennessee Titans

Philadelphia Eagles

St. Louis Rams

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks SHOCKERS!

New York Jets

Washington Redskins

Carolina Panthers

Pittsburgh Steelers

Cleveland Browns update

Dallas Cowboys

Buffalo Bills

And so now, on to the Ravens...

I really just let myself go on this one. This one isn't too outlandish, but it also DEFINITELY isn't exactly "traditional", or "tame", either. I didn't try to rein myself in and really stuck to the vision I had of this when I first started it so many months ago...and now here it is.

First things first...the current Ravens set is okay, but, it ain't really nothing to go goo-goo-ga-ga over, either. Now, anyone who knows anything about a raven (or the inherent mystique of it, made famous by Baltimore son Edgar Allen Poe) can instantly connotate that word, that bird, dark, mysterious, even evil maybe?and, quite possibly, intimidating, much like the humans who play on the squad named for the ornithological species (the intimidating part, anyway). And so, that's the look I was going for here?dark, sleek, but at the same time, imposing and intimidating and...fresh.

Let's start with the helmet and work down...the helmet is pretty much the same, with two very noticeable differences. First of all, the two purple stripes on there are outlined and offset by a thin gold and white line on my concept, to make those things "pop" a little (most folks won't even notice those stripes on the actual Raven domes). The other thing concerns that helmet logo: I pulled that "B" out of there. It just looks really out of place inside that bird's head, in my opinion. Oh?and I decided to try purple facemasks, here. Still not too sold on that.

The jersey...THIS is where I let myself go here. The Ravens ain't really too steeped in tradition, so why bother trying to go that route? Two things gave me the inspiration for this: the U. of MD Terrapins football squad, and the Ravens logos themselves. The Terp influence can be found in my striping. The logo influence? Well...check out the shoulder yoke. (Yes...I've done it again!) The idea I had in doing this was "bird wings", but the idea really came from studying the birdhead logo and the old spread-winged logo, and I wanted to somehow incorporate that element here. Home shirts are black-topped purple, roads are purple-topped white (you'll see what I mean.

The pants and socks...kept one style for both home and away: black with wide purple stripe outlined with white and gold. Socks are solid purple.

The third/alt...here's where I let imagination come into play. It's the same style as the other two, but with a WHITE-TOPPED BLACK jersey, with black pants to match (since they already have a black-on-black-on-black alt, why not at least go black-on-black here, but with a twist?). Socks are also white (for balance), with the same stripe style found in the collars.

So okay...I've explained it, now it's time to see what you all think. I actally like it...it's definitely a new direction for the Ravens, BUT...let's let the masses decide.

So here you go folks...my re-done concept for the Baltimore Ravens!

lemme hear (or read, rather) what y'all got to say!

[HarperK]

No Yokes!!!

Good job quality wise, but I'm not feeling the design. The pants are just a fad style, and the helmet stripe is a lil too much for imo.

[Old School Fool]

That all black set is :censored:ing awesome!

[neo_prankster]

This concept would've been better with this logo:

...That is, had it NOT been for that dumb lawsuit.

[AsM29]

What do you mean when you say lawsuit? Was it over the logo?

[BB61]

It looks a bit like the Georgia Force's template a bit, but I like it. The colors fit in well, although I'm iffy on the pants stripe. Pretty good, though, as always.

[neo_prankster]

What do you mean when you say lawsuit? Was it over the logo?

It was over the logo.

Apparently, some bank security guard claimed that he drew the logo while the Ravens were still the old Cleveland Browns back in '95. He eventually submitted the design to the team after they arrived in Baltimore, but they never rewarded him with jack-squat. No team gear, No season tickets, No nothing.

Don't believe me? Here's the proof:

[fkaKrock5cent]

It looks a bit like the Georgia Force's template a bit

yea same here, but i still like it

but the ravens logo, with out the b, not feelin it man. (but it was nicely done)

[illwauk]

Am I the only one who thinks the Maryland flag sheld should go on the helmet and the raven-profile should be on the jersey? I know that's how they do it now, but the shield makes for a much better helmet logo (of course, Al Davis would have a fit since both teams use black, both team names start with "R-A" and now they'd both have shields on their helmet).

Overall I like these, but I think the following tweaks need to be made...

-Change the purple numerals on the roads to black. It seems inconsistent to have the main numbers on the homes not be the same color as the top of the jersey, yet they are on the roads.

-Not feelin the thirds at all. You should just do an inverse of your homes and add a purple pair of pants.

[oz615]

If you lose the different colored shoulder yolks,then you'll have a great concept.

[Mac the Knife]

What do you mean when you say lawsuit? Was it over the logo?

It was over the logo.

Apparently, some bank security guard claimed that he drew the logo while the Ravens were still the old Cleveland Browns back in '95. He eventually submitted the design to the team after they arrived in Baltimore, but they never rewarded him with jack-squat. No team gear, No season tickets, No nothing.

Don't believe me? Here's the proof:

Only thing was... he won the initial suit. The Ravens wound up getting away with it on a technicality via appeal. They ripped the guy off, pure and simple.

[leggman01]

bucco - i like the creativity of the set - i think the home and away would look better if the pants were the same color as the bottom 1/2 of the jersey (like the alt) - i think the alt would look better if the black were purple

great work, though

[beansdooma]

Wouldn't it make more sense to have the white-striped pants on the away?

Great set regardless.

[IceCap]

Looks great. I would ditch the helmet logo in favour of the forward facing raven though.

[BBTV]

Wow... just... wow.

This is some of your finest work, and that's saying a lot. That being said, I still think there is room for improvement.

1. Slap the wordmark back on the jerseys. Maybe it's just because it's always been there, but the jerseys look like they're missing something without it.

2. The pants design is rather tame in relation to the amazing yoke. Maybe incorporate the "wings" into the pants? It's worth a shot.

[bowld]

being a die hard ravens fan..here is my input...

like the design..i would get rid of the bird on the helmet though and replace it with the shield logo

i love the shield and wish they would have put that on the helmets..

try it with the shield and u may have a winner

[BaltimoreFan]

Wow, I like these alot. When I first read your description of the set, I thought it would look awful. But I was totally wrong. I thought it had a chance to look like the Bills, but its the exact opposite. I wouldn't mind seeing them use it.

I hate to go off topic, but how do they know that the old logo was made by that guy prior to them using it. I mean what's stopping me from drawing a crappy version of a new logo, putting a date on the bottom, and sueing the team? I'm guessing they have record that the guy proposed the logo to the team, but I've always wondered about that.

[BlueSky]

I hate to go off topic, but how do they know that the old logo was made by that guy prior to them using it. I mean what's stopping me from drawing a crappy version of a new logo, putting a date on the bottom, and sueing the team? I'm guessing they have record that the guy proposed the logo to the team, but I've always wondered about that.

Good question. The answer is in this article, which says in part:

"The Baltimore Ravens might have defeated the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, but they still haven't beaten their toughest opponent.

He's Frederick Bouchat, a 35-year-old security guard from Maryland, who has been arguing for years the Ravens' original logo -- which included a "B" and the word "Ravens" on a shield with wings on each side -- was similar to a drawing he submitted to John Moag, chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority, five years ago."

Now to the set. Terrific work as usual and a striking use of color. My only suggestion would be to change the helmet logo to this one, which IMHO is the best Ravens logo ever:

[neo_prankster]

I hate to go off topic, but how do they know that the old logo was made by that guy prior to them using it. I mean what's stopping me from drawing a crappy version of a new logo, putting a date on the bottom, and sueing the team? I'm guessing they have record that the guy proposed the logo to the team, but I've always wondered about that.

Good question. The answer is in this article, which says in part:

"The Baltimore Ravens might have defeated the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, but they still haven't beaten their toughest opponent.

He's Frederick Bouchat, a 35-year-old security guard from Maryland, who has been arguing for years the Ravens' original logo -- which included a "B" and the word "Ravens" on a shield with wings on each side -- was similar to a drawing he submitted to John Moag, chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority, five years ago."

Now to the set. Terrific work as usual and a striking use of color. My only suggestion would be to change the helmet logo to this one, which IMHO is the best Ravens logo ever:

Hmmm.....That logo would look good on the helmet, but which logo would you say to put on the jerseys? The front-facing head, the forward-facing head or the coat of arms?

[tBBP]

About the helmet logo:

I like that spread-winged bird the best out the lot, too, BUT...it sorta violates my own lil' personal rule about helmet logos, that being that it should depict some sense of motion, or action. I ALMOST ripped off the Philly Eagles' idea and impose some Raven wings on there, but I ain't go that way.

Someone mentioned the similarities between this and the Georgia Force...I didn't even realize that until I just looked at their website (being that I don't have cable, I don't get to watch any Arena League games). Eerie.