The Use of COLOR in Sports

[spartacat_12]

Jamikel is just upset because Memphis is #1 and the Tar Heels are #4.

[ShinyHubCaps]

I'm also willing to accept teams whose colors aren't exactly like, but approximate to the colors of the animals they represent. So if your team's the tigers, and your colors are navy and orange or purple and gold, that's okay with me. If, however, your mascot is a tiger, and your colors are blue and silver, you just look dumb. I don't care if you are the #1 team in the nation, you look like a bunch of idiots.

Wait....

Blue/silver bad, but purple/gold good?

I might need to get my sarcasm detector checked, but if you were serious:

Blue and purple could passably work in place of black (dark hue)

Gold could work for yellow/orange of a tiger's fur

Silver could not work for either the fur (orange) or stripe (black)

It's a Memphis thing, but you can replace it with any other nonsensical colors to get the picture.

[B-Rich]

...Two years ago, people of all ages thought Crocs were acceptable footwear.

Just for point of clarification I ONLY wear my Crocs (1) at the beach and (2) when I'm taking out that thing in my avatar picture...

.. but my daughters are a different story...

[powersurge]

That's how I feel at times, too. My major thing is this: when is someone going to have the guts to try something new and/or unheard of??? Now, back in the early part of the '90s, it was more of a "fad" thing--speaking of the use of purple and teal (and aquamarine, emerald, and all other similar hues)--oh, and ericcson cellphone blue--but now, it seems for some reason, "safe/trendy" is the way to go. Remember the Michigan Panthers? What was it...gold, maroon, and sky blue or something like that? THAT's uniqueness for you right there. Hell...even the Devil Rays had the beginnings of something going with their dark green and somewhat bright blue (along with a branding package that I felt was among the best in MLB--too bad the team itself wasn't). I don't know...maybe my Florida tastes ain't quite congruent with what I'm seeing out there right now. Maybe it's just me...

I think I raised this point earlier in the thread and I think you're right too. The market is always moving forward and we're constantly surprised by new fads. Nearly 20 years ago, teal was introduced as a bonafide, acceptable color for professional sports franchises. Fifteen years later, NFL teams were wearing monochrome uniforms. Ten years ago, high school kids were wearing carpenter pants with hammer holders (and if you still are, you need to stop). Two years ago, people of all ages thought Crocs were acceptable footwear. The point? Styles and what's acceptable change so often that we're basically due to see breakthroughs every now and again. The Casper Ghosts wear glow-in-the-dark uniforms. NCAA basketball teams wear subliminated textures on their uniforms. We're moving everything forward, and I think (know) that colors will be part of that movement.

HA!

I still wear those as 'working around the house' pants. But I know what you mean.

I totally agree with you on the whole breakthroughs thing. Let me add that if designs didn't change and trends didn't come and go designers wouldn't have jobs. What the hell do you need a designer for if all of the designs stayed the same? As much as we despise and loathe companies like Nike and Reebok for their sometimes comical interpretations of progressive uniform design, they are stirring the pot on the design stove that all of us eat from. Keeps things from being stale and burning out, so to speak. The only thing constant in this world is change. Not all of it will be good, but the fact that designers are still pushing the envelope not matter how ridiculous it may be is a GOOD thing. It gaurantees work for more designers to push the envelope even further into the great ether way up in la la land. It also gaurantess work for designers to fix the mess that those other guys make by bringing the trends back down to earth.

[powersurge]

ditto.

[Gothamite]

Personally, I prefer the branding traditions you have in world football - teams (be it club or country) are identified first and foremost by their colors. The uniforms change every two years, but the colors are constant.

That's a great balance between maintaining a visual tradition and allowing room for innovation.

Arsenal is always red with white sleeves and shorts. Chelsea is blue shirt and shorts, white socks. Liverpool is all red. Inter Milan is blue and black stripes. Celtic is white and green hoops. How the teams express that varies greatly.

[tBBP]

Personally, I prefer the branding traditions you have in world football - teams (be it club or country) are identified first and foremost by their colors. The uniforms change every two years, but the colors are constant.

That's a great balance between maintaining a visual tradition and allowing room for innovation.

Arsenal is always red with white sleeves and shorts. Chelsea is blue shirt and shorts, white socks. Liverpool is all red. Inter Milan is blue and black stripes. Celtic is white and green hoops. How the teams express that varies greatly.

That might be about the best way sum things up as far as representation of a team, in regards to colors of design and the designs themselves.

[powersurge]

Personally, I prefer the branding traditions you have in world football - teams (be it club or country) are identified first and foremost by their colors. The uniforms change every two years, but the colors are constant.

That's a great balance between maintaining a visual tradition and allowing room for innovation.

Arsenal is always red with white sleeves and shorts. Chelsea is blue shirt and shorts, white socks. Liverpool is all red. Inter Milan is blue and black stripes. Celtic is white and green hoops. How the teams express that varies greatly.

Good point.

Thats basically what happens in American college athletics. Teams like UNC, Michigan, USC, UCLA, etc. all have very familiar and iconic color schemes. Except for a select few schools, each of their major sports teams have changed their uniform designs every couple of years but kept the same colors.

[Gothamite]

That's an excellent point as well - I wish the pros would follow the collegiate example.