The HBCU Project

[tBBP]

With those combos, I also devised an alternate set for the Rattlers?one being an alternate home/away, the other being an alternate jersey look. Here they are:

With this set, I also have devised a special heritage set, harkening back to the championship pedigree of the Rattlers?in particular, the late ?70s, when the program rose to national prominence on more than just the HBCU level. (The story is included in the post.) Not too long ago, FAMU held a reunion rally to honor their national championship teams from that era (although you?d think they could come up with something better for their former championship players to wear!). Check it out below:

And now?to wrap all of this up, I present all these sets in action:

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Okay?now that all that?s out there, I?ma tell you like Tallahassee native T-Pain do??talk to me?I?ll talk back.?

[Epiphanic]

Fantastic work as always Brandon. The secondary/helmet logo looks sharp and the new word mark looks very good. The font is similar to the University of Florida though. I'm not sure if you want to differentiate it a little more because of that. The bigger issue that I have (and it's really a small one in the grand scheme of things) is the "&" in the wordmark. It looks like an "E." Just a couple of minor flaws in another fantastic addition to this series.

[LEWJ]

Beautiful job.

You are a football concept genious.

[chestnutz]

As always, presentation is top notch, but to be completely honest, the concepts themselves are kind of starting to bore me. No offense, but these 3 concepts have been just adding a couple stripes or leaving them plain. If someone created that exact concept in paint, next to nobody would say they liked it. But here, people praise the concepts like they're Caesar, and why, because you give an explanation of the school's history from wikipedia? I'm not trying to offend at all, just saying the actual CONCEPTS themselves aren't as great as everyone's making them out to be. Before opening the thread I could already guess that the uniforms were going to be relatively plain. Are you going to traditionalize every single team in the series?

That said, I do love the collar diamond pattern you have on the unis, and the wordmark is fantastic.

[illwauk]

Now let's be real about one thing here: none of these HBCU institutions are what one would consider a "football factory", like a U of Texas or a USC or an Oklahoma, Penn State, Ohio State, the U of Miami, and the like.

It wasn't always like that. In the 60's and early 70's Grambling had as many players in the NFL (and AFL) as LSU and Jackson State had MORE alums in the pros as Ole Miss. Ironically, integration (and the subsequent acceptance of black players at SEC schools) was the worst thing to ever happen to HBCU football.

LOVE the FAMU concept, BTW... the diamond pattern on the neck and cuff really ties everything together... even if it does remind me of that "other" Tallahassee school.

[eRay]

As always, presentation is top notch, but to be completely honest, the concepts themselves are kind of starting to bore me. No offense, but these 3 concepts have been just adding a couple stripes or leaving them plain. If someone created that exact concept in paint, next to nobody would say they liked it. But here, people praise the concepts like they're Caesar, and why, because you give an explanation of the school's history from wikipedia? I'm not trying to offend at all, just saying the actual CONCEPTS themselves aren't as great as everyone's making them out to be. Before opening the thread I could already guess that the uniforms were going to be relatively plain. Are you going to traditionalize every single team in the series?

That said, I do love the collar diamond pattern you have on the unis, and the wordmark is fantastic.

I'd have to disagree. I agree that these are traditional and "plain" compared to a concept that is ultra modern, with piping everywhere and different swoops and swooshes all over the side panels and shoulders. And do not take this the wrong way, those looks and designs have a place in football too, but I know a lot of people that would agree that this is the way a football team should look. Simple striping patterns that can be changed around in many different ways to make a team stand out from the rest, and a jersey that isn't so busy that it distracts from the play on the field. I am not a traditionalist or in favor of modern football uni designs, I am kind of in between. If it works, it works. The point is, these are not plain at all by my standards. They are more traditional, yes, but I see that working well in these concepts. The latest one is beautiful, and I thought was pretty unique and adventurous. Look at the colors, look at the collar and sleeve trim, look at the number font, look at that BA logo and wordmark, oh, and an orange jersey to boot. I think he took many risks, and each of them worked for this team. You may find these concepts boring, but I like to think the subtleties in the design and the risks that were taken with the overall look make them very exciting. I know you said what you said with the best intentions, and I definitely hear where you are coming from, as I have thought the same thing about some concepts brandon has done, but this series has certainly not started out boring or plain IMO. I like where he is going with these looks, and that is why I am trying to defend what he is doing. I recognize this type of traditional design isn't for everybody, but IMO he is doing a great job.

[tBBP]

Thanks, all--for the feedback so far.

As one poster said, recently, I've gone more of a "traditional" route with many of my designs. And not to sound redundant, but that was...er..by design. Reason being? Back in the beginnings of this project, I mentioned that I'm doing all these with a much bigger goal in mind, and in doing so, I'm keeping in mind the level of difficulty in actually producing these designs in real life, if it were to ever go that far, added to the fact that many HBCU football teams, quite frankly, look rather bush-league in present day, and if any of them were to ever gain a higher national profile (besides the ones already know nationwide), no doubt their appearance would play a nice-size part in that. However, having said that, a certain few of these designs of mine are currently, and more will be, more modernized--it all depends on what image and direction I see in my mind. But I can see, and I've thought so myself, how my latest work can be seen as "plain-ish". It goes along wtih my new K.I.S.S.-themed mode of thinking.

And in regards to the similarities between the typography in FAMU's logo and UF's script marks--now that you point that out, I can definitely see the similarities...and quite frankly, I don't know how I never saw that before. I really don't think it'd hurt FAMU that much, but I do see your point on that one.

I can't say for sure where I'mma go next with this here...but eventually, something will come up. So stay tuned...

[oz615]

So far,so good.I can't wait to see what you got in store for Tennessee State.

[tBBP]

Back again with my latest addition to the HBCU Project Concept Series here...

...for this one, we gon flip back across to the SWAC and take a lil' trip to Baton Rouge, LA. Sure, the Lousiana State University may be located there...but so is one of the nation's leading HBCUs...that being Southern University. (Or, if you want to blow it all out...officially it's Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College. Yeah--a mouthful.

Anyway...some background on the institution, for those not in the know:

In April 1880, the Louisiana General Assembly chartered Southern University, which was originally located in New Orleans. The institution began life on 7 March 1881 with twelve students. Southern gained land-grant status in 1890, and an Agricultural and Mechanical department soon followed. Due to exponential growth yet lack of land for expansion, the institution relocated to what was then known as Scotlandville, along Scott's Bluff facing the Mississippi River, in 1914. It is included as a destination of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

In 1921, the Louisiana Constitutional Convention authorized the reorganization and expansion of Southern University; however, the year following, Legislative Act 100 required that the institution be reorganized under the control of the State Board of Education. For the next 16 years, the student enrollment grew from 47 students to 500 students and many of the school's early buildings were built during this time. The new Southern's first president, Dr. Joseph Samuel Clark, who led the institution through its early growth, retired in 1938, at which time the position was given to his son, Dr. Felton Grandison Clark. Under his watch, the institution continued to grow. About 33 of 114 current buildings were erected in his 30 years at the helm. The student enrollment grew from 500 to nearly 10,000 students. Due to the reluctance of LSU Law School to admit African Americans into its law program, a special Louisiana Convention allowed a law program, Southern University Law Center, to be added to Southern University in 1947. The university was one of the first historically black colleges to receive a visit from a First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, in 1943. Also during Clark's tenure, Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO--1956) and Southern University at Shreveport/Bossier City (SUSLA--1964) were founded. They were later incorporated into the Southern University System in 1974.

In 1969, the university saw a changing of the guard, when Clark retired and Dr. Leon G. Netterville took over the reins of leadership. On November 16, 1972, two students involved with "Students United", a student protest group on the campus, Denver Smith and Leonard Brown, were shot and killed outside the Old Auditorium (now the Southern University Museum of Art). The murder, apparently committed by a patrolman, remains unsolved.

The institution continued to grow and in 1974 a special session in the Louisiana Legislature established the Southern University System. The Southern University System consists of Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, (SUBR); Southern University, New Orleans (SUNO); Southern University Law Center; Southern University Agricultural Center; and Southern University, Shreveport (SUSLA--which happens to be a 2-year commuter campus). The Southern University Museum of Art at Shreveport is another destination of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

So there's that.

Those who know about Southern University probably know of it due to one big-time major event in the HBCU world--bump that--in the whole college football period--the annual Bayou Classic football game between the Southern Jaguars and the Tigers of Grambling State University. If you've never been to one (they're played in the Superdome)...you don't know what you're missing (and this is just the least of it. It's the Battle of the Bands Halftime Show that's the big feature attraction of this event. Google it if you'd like to know more.

So on to the football now...as is, though Southern has had much success in its football program, it isn't one of the more storied football programs in the HBCU world. That's not to say the program ain't had some decent players pass through there...both former NFL greats Mel Blount and Harold Carmichael count themselves as alumni, as does some guy who went by the name of Aeneas Williams, who had a pretty good NFL career himself. Oh yeah: you New England Patriots and New York Jets fans may remember the name Otis Smith--he's an alumnus, as well. (And only because I figure it's worth mentioning, both Randy Jackson-yeah, that Randy Jackson--and a guy by the name of Lavell Crump are also alumni. The former you can find on American Idol; the latter you may know better as rap artist/producer David Banner.)

As for the look of the program...well...they've...had...several over the years. This is their current look. Overall, not bad...but could be a little more distinctive.

So here's what I did...

...well before I get to that, let's look at the logo package. I can't quite recall who came up with this identity--I want to say it was the Joe Bosack company that did this here. Overall, it's pretty alright, although there is a little quirkiness going on with it here. I made no changes to any of that. I did, however, thanks to an inside tip from our resident Fontoligist Slapshot, style some unique numbers for the school based off their wordmark (y'all know how I am about that by now).

Take a peek:

And now on to the uniforms.

I decided to have some fun with this one. Really, this began as a test-drive for a design for another team (pro, by the way), but I found it worked really well for Southern mainly due to the colors. This one is modern the whole way through and through. I went with the "SU" mark for the helmet logo (currently the school uses the "SU" with the crawling jag for the helmet logo, which looks a little wierd on the left side of the helmet), went with a blue and white base, and yellow details. You'll also see that I tried a little experiment with these jerseys here...decided to see how it'd look if I worked in a "jaguar-spot pattern" somehow (the current use of it was stumbled upon by accident). Also, you may also notice the Toronto Raptor-esque thing going on with the pants. This is something I started using in my Airline Football Leage Concept Series and have grown to really like (so it may show up again somewhere). Anyway...there's no alternates or special sets with this package, mostly because I can't recall Southern ever having an alt--but the other reason is that both Southern and Grambling tend to roll out one-time use uniforms for the Bayou Classic--which really doesn't help brand identity for either school.

Anyway--here's the set:

And...here's the set (plus the inevitable monochrome matchups the school would pair up if this were real life), rendered in action:

Overall...I like it--it's the jaguar-spot pattern thing I'm a bit on the fence with. But overall, I believe this may be one of the tighter branding packages I've come up with. But I'll let you all decide that via some good C&C...so holla back at me here!

[Sguse1]

I like the southern set. I think the leopard print works better on the home than the away but nonetheless its unique and looks better in the action shots than the template. Overall great work.

[Epiphanic]

You never cease to amaze. I love the jaguar-spot pattern. In my opinion, you should only be on the fence on whether you should have that patter go all the way down the panels (both jerseys and pants). That might be a little too much awesome, though. As I was reading your description I was thinking if you were gonna have the jaguar pattern all over the jersey albeit in a shadow-y way. Your take is safer and probably better. Honestly, I can't think of anything to improve upon.

[TrueYankee26]

BEAUTIFUL

[eRay]

Wow. Amazing look. One thing I love is the Yellow piping and school name on the White jersey. I love Yellow piping on White for some reason. It is a subtle color change, but it pops at the same time. I think the name on the back of the White jersey could be Blue, though.

[Telemundo219]

Nice work man. I can't say nothing more.

[BJBerthiaume]

WOW

Unbelievable

WOW

[Discrim]

I'm trying to resist the urge to boo the Southern concept...but B, why'd ya have to make it look so damn good mane? I gotta point out one thing though, you forgot to give em a Bayou Classic special

[The NSL]

I didn't like how you said the Bayou Classic unis were used only once from each school; that's wrong. I saw Grambling's yellow Bayou Classic unis from I think 2006 in a few games last season.....But, that's different.

The Southern unis are pretty good; that jaguar printed scheme is tight! My only beef would be the name color on the back of the away; blue, not yellow

[vicfurth]

Thank you for resisting the urge to create a yellow alternate, lol.

The leopard-print is a bit out there, I think. Not to say it's badly-executed or that I don't like it. It's just... weird.

[PhilliesPhan1325]

These are all amazing. And that action template is so freaking realistic. For the Southern concept, I think what you did is perfect. The spots on a jersey may seem crazy but great job on having the right amount of that on the jersey. Its enough to be very unique and creative but not over the line into being busy on the jersey. Is that their number font because I like that. And, finally, what does it say on the stripe on the back of the pants?

[Drew22]

I really dig all of these concepts, but SU is by far the best. The spots are the best.

Minor nitpick: Number 35 for Southern looks white.