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Your work on Southern is some of the best I work I have ever seen. I love the Jag print on the side.

It is really nice to see FAMU with a clean look. They always looked so generic to me even when they are trying to look modern. You made them professional/respectable for the first time.

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Great work on the Jaguars, but more importantly, do they actually have a player named Quixote? Or have you started including literary references in your work?

Not exactly...I know someone from Raton Rouge with that surname, so I tossed it on up there.

To answer the question about the pants...the sme "Jaguars" wordmark that is on the jerseys is what is found on the pants.

As for the yellow on white...that was a last-second flip/flop on my part--originally both the surname on the back and the coller/sleeve cuffs were blue; however, for the sake of uniformity (and a bit of uniqueness since I can't recall nann 'nother white jersey featuring as much yellow trim), I made it yellow. (Call it the "Nike" influence...if the University of Oregon, not to mention the U.S. Olympic Basketball squad, can have near-illegible surnames, why can't Southern? :D )

Thanks to all who've responded thus far. More to come later...can't say which school for sure yet.

EDIT: Oh--and to whoever it was that asked...yes, those numbers are custom. (That's one thing this series has been good for...I've got about 10 sets of unique number fonts now. ^_^ )

*Disclaimer: I am not an authoritative expert on stuff...I just do a lot of reading and research and keep in close connect with a bunch of people who are authoritative experts on stuff. 😁

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Not exactly...I know someone from Raton Rouge with that surname, so I tossed it on up there.

To answer the question about the pants...the sme "Jaguars" wordmark that is on the jerseys is what is found on the pants.

As for the yellow on white...that was a last-second flip/flop on my part--originally both the surname on the back and the coller/sleeve cuffs were blue; however, for the sake of uniformity (and a bit of uniqueness since I can't recall nann 'nother white jersey featuring as much yellow trim), I made it yellow. (Call it the "Nike" influence...if the University of Oregon, not to mention the U.S. Olympic Basketball squad, can have near-illegible surnames, why can't Southern? :D )

Thanks to all who've responded thus far. More to come later...can't say which school for sure yet.

EDIT: Oh--and to whoever it was that asked...yes, those numbers are custom. (That's one thing this series has been good for...I've got about 10 sets of unique number fonts now. ^_^ )

Ah answered my questions thank you. Once again these are all fantastic and I can't wait for more.

"The 0-2 pitch... SWING AND A MISS! STRUCK HIM OUT! THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES ARE 2008 WORLD CHAMPIONS OF BASEBALL!"

J M yoU wish you had a Duke Dog!

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Here I go again...number five in this series.

For this one, we gon go back to the MEAC, and go on up into Orangeburg, SC...home of South Carolina State University.

For those who don't know much about this institution, it actually holds a pretty high level of prestige. Read up on some background of the institution here:

Founded in 1896, South Carolina State University is South Carolina's only state-funded, historically black land-grant institution. Under the 1862 Morrill Land Grant Act, the South Carolina General Assembly created the Colored, Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College of South Carolina on March 3, 1896. (That right there pretty much encompasses all that "black schools" were in those days.) The institution spent operated in one singular building, the Morrill Hall, which held classrooms, the library, dormitories, and the president's office and residence, for 24 straight years.

Up until and even during the era of the Great Depression, academic programs received more attention as the student population increased, but other programs, such as the university's high school, were forced to close (due to the Great Depression). Fortunately, the New Deal Programs were used to create, among other things, Wilkinson Hall, the university's first separate library building, whic is now home to Admissions and Financial Aid). As the Great Depression era ended and the economy began to recover, the college's campus continued to grow, and after World War II, many students flocked to the college, creating a classroom shortage problem. In 1947, the United States Army created an ROTC detachment, into which all male students were required to enroll until mandatory enrollment ended in 1969. Seven years later, the institution was rechristened, by the the South Carolina General Assembly, as South Carolina State College in 1954. Due to the "separate but equal" laws in the state, the legislature gave the college large sums of money to build new academic facilities and dormitories, some of which still stand on the campus today, including the Student Union (erected in 1954), and Turner Hall (ereted in 1956). This was done in order to give black students an environment of "equal" education. In addtion, the legislature created a law program for the institution--chiefly to prevent black students from attending the law school at the then-segregated University of South Carolina. However, soon after USC integrated in 1966, South Carolina State's law program folded.

During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, many students participated in marches and rallies aimed at ending segregation. The struggle came to a climax on the night on February 8, 1968, when three students were killed and 27 others were wounded by state policemen at the height of a protest that opposed the segregation of a nearby bowling alley. The tragedy, known as the Orangeburg Massacre, is commemorated by a memorial plaza near the front of the campus. From the late-1960s to the mid-1980s, under the leadership of Dr. M. Maceo Nance, the campus experienced unprecedented growth in the form of new academic buildings, such as Nance Hall (erected in 1974) and Belcher Hall (erected in 1986), new residence halls, such as Sojourner Truth Hall (erected in 1972), which, at 14 stories, is the tallest building in Orangeburg County, and a new library building (erected in 1968), not to mention enlargements and renovations of existing facilities. The school also opened the I.P. Stanback Museum & Planetarium, which is the only facility of its kind on a historically black university campus in the entire nation!. After Dr. Nance's retirement in 1986, Dr. Albert Smith assumed the office of the school's president and, among other achievements, created an honors college in 1988.

During Dr. Smith's tenure, the school also gained university status from the South Carolina General Assembly, becoming South Carolina State University in 1992. The very next year, Dr. Barbara Hatton became the school's first female president and created many improvements for the campus, such as the 1994 renovation of Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium, constructing new suites and a larger press box, as well as increasing its capacity to 22,000. Hatton also spearheaded the creation of a plaza which resides in front of the Student Union and passes by several dorms and buildings in the central portion of the campus. Under SC State's next president, Dr. Leroy Davis, South Carolina State University celebrated its 100th anniversary (in 1996), and the school constructed a Fine Arts Center in 1999, giving the art and music departments a new home.

Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr, assumed the helm of president in 2003, and immediately set forth an aggresive improvement plan, among them a new 771-bed residence hall, which is the largest dormitory in South Carolina. More recently, South Carolina State broke ground on the new James E. Clyburn University Transportation Center (UTC), which will be home to the only UTC in South Carolina, one of only three among all HBCUs, and one of only 33 total UTCs in the nation.

Last year, on April 26, South Carolina State hosted the first debate of the 2008 Democratic Party Presidential candidate debate series. This event, which took place at the Martin Luther King Auditorium, was televised nationally, making SC State the first Historically Black University to host a Presidential Candidate debate on its campus.

In an attempt to resurrect the shootings of the "Orangeburg Massacre", filmaker Dan Klores made a short film entitled "Black Magic" that debuted on ESPN on March 16, 2008. Also set to broadcast on PBS in fall 2008 is the documentary film "Orangeburg," by Bestor Cram and Judy Richardson, both activists from the 1960s. Both films set out to shine light upon an incident that lacked media coverage on the night it occurred and days following. Since it commenced at night, no one expected the shootings and therefore limited pictures or television images were available to the general public. The little attention that this tragedy received was not all accurate either. It was originally perceived that this confrontation was fueled by "black power advocates" and that gunfire was exchanged between the law enforcement officials and the protesters. Later it was discovered that the victims were in fact all unarmed. The recent media awareness and film interest regarding this event may influence the passing of a bill that was introduced in 2007 to reopen the investigation into Orangeburg.

Several interestig facts an figures about South Carolina State University:

-Only undergraduate Environmental Sciences Field in the nation

-Only undergraduate Nuclear Engineering Program in the state

-Only Doctorate of Education degree program in the state

-Only Masters of Science Degree in Transportation

Among all colleges and universities in the nation, South Carolina State University ranks:

-4th in minority degrees granted in mathematics

-5th in minority degrees granted in Biology

-17th in minority degrees granted in all disciplines

-18th in minority degrees granted in Education

-29th in minority degrees granted in Computer and Information Science

-31st in minority degrees granted in the Master's level

In addtions, South Carolina State University was ranked the tenth best university in the nation (and ranked #1 in Social Mobility) by the Washington Monthly, a political magazine, in its 2006 College Ranking Guide--ahead of more "presitigous" institutions such as Harvard University, Columbia University, The Ohio State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Southern California, and Duke University. (That's good stuff right there!)

So as you can see...there's a lot to like about this school.

Among notable alumni from SCSU, you have notable people such as Ernest Everett Just, a pioneering black biologist (known as the "Black Apollo"); Nefertari Imani Baraka, an awared-winning poet and author; and Dr. Benjamin Mays, who someone up in here may recognize as a former president of "Da House"--Morehouse College, that is, down in Atlanta, GA.

(All information, facts, and figures, were compiled using both the school's website and Wikipedia.org.)

SCSU football is not without its successes. In fact, its fans are among the most fiercely loyal in all of HBCU sports. SCSU also managed to win itself a Black College National Championship back in 1994. It's done also had a few pretty decent players pass through its program--one of those being Harry Carson, HOF LB for the NY Giants from 1976-1988; and, of course, a guy by the name of David Jones, who would go on to terrorize opposing linemen, quarterbacks, and pretty much anyone else who dared cross him on the football field--and create his own piece of terminology that would become so imbedded in the game of football it'd go on to become an official statistic: the "sack". (By now, some of you should have figured out who I'm referring to here. If not, you may know the guy better by his more popular moniker, "Deacon". It should also be noted one other HBCU can lay claim to Jones, as well, as he spent a year each at both SCSU and later at Mississippi Vocational College--now known as Mississippi Valley State University.)

*****************************************

So there's all that--let's get on with the concept, shall we???

For those who've been following this project from the beginning, you may remember me saying that for some schools, I was only going to do uniform concepts/updates, and for others, I was planning on updating if not revamping the school's athletic logo/identity package.

Well, folks...this is one of those schools that falls into the latter of those two.

For those who've never seen SCSU's current identity, I'll bring you up to speed. The school's nickname is the Bulldogs. Colors? Garnet and blue--not often you run across that particular combo. Anyway...the current logo looks like this here. Yeah--now you know why I set out to revamp that there. For what it's worth, the football team uses that same marching bulldog with a big slock "S" behind it for its helmet logo. (By the way, Chris, if you're reading this, I happen to have that logo--surprisingly enough, in vector--if you want it.) Those of you who know me know that logo design ain't my area of expertise--but I thought this was a good starting place to start honing those skills, so during this unveiling, I'll also take you inside my process of updating/revamping SCSU's identity package.

So, seeing what SCSU currently uses for logos, I set out to concoct an updated version. I wanted to keep the same image, just fresher and less, well, wrinkled. This is the pencil drawing that resulted from my sketches. Once I had that down, I took it into Illustrator and set out to trace this thing, making any other little edits I deemed necessary. In doing so, I saw fit to restyle the block "S"/bulldog logo, as well. And, I decided to extract the head from my finished marching bulldog and make it into a new stand-along alternate logo, as well.

Here's what that transformation turned into for me:

SCSUstyleguidelogoevolutioin.png

Overall, I was rather pleased at how that turned out. (It's a very self-reassuring feeling to see how your pencil drawings "come to life" in the vector world.)

CONTINUED NEXT POST...

*Disclaimer: I am not an authoritative expert on stuff...I just do a lot of reading and research and keep in close connect with a bunch of people who are authoritative experts on stuff. 😁

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You probably noticed a script "state" on the chest of the stand-along marching bulldog. That was done to identify the school as "state" in the same vein as a Michigan State and the like. It also become one of four new wordmarks I put together for the school, since it currently has none I'm aware of. They're nothing fancy--in fact, they're all quite simple, but I felt they fit the image one might have upon seeing the logos. Along with that script "state" is a script "Bulldogs" mark, rendered in the same style. (I'll add that they're both custom-drawn.) in addition, I also made two block-letter marks, utililzing ITC Machine as the basis, then modifying it (look at the block "S" logo--you'll see why I went that route). I did the same with the jersey numbers, too.

The result of all that is seen below:

SCSUstyleguidelogos.png

From there, I went to the uniforms.

For this concept, I kept it basic and traditional--seemed to fit best with the image of South Carolina State. (Plus, garnet and blue aren't exactly two colors to get too crazy with when used together.) Currently, the SCSU Bulldogs look a little something like this. They used to look like this for a little while; and they've even sported this look before. None really all that bad, really. For inspiration, I looked to (my new) primary logo--particularly the double blue San Diego-offset outline, and utilized that as the striping pattern. Some may see equal parts Miami Dolphins and Florida Gators in the overall look. I say that because I used the same striping style as the Gators (by that I mean color order), and the overall package came out looking like it'd be two color flips from being the Dolphins. So how'd all that turn out?

Like this here...

SCSUstyleguideuniforms1.png

SCSUstyleguideuniforms2.png

SCSUstyleguideuniforms3.png

(Let me add that though I've included a mockup of the alternate blue jersey with garnet pants, I don't think anyone would want to see them worn together. It was included to satisfy curiosity.)

And...of course, all that in action view:

SCSUstyleguideaction.png

Okay--I know this was a whole lot to go through here...but holla back at me and let me know how y'all feeling about this here. There's more to come soon in this project, so stay tuned!

~Buc

*Disclaimer: I am not an authoritative expert on stuff...I just do a lot of reading and research and keep in close connect with a bunch of people who are authoritative experts on stuff. 😁

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Great rebrand! I'm very impressed with the logo updates, especially the custom scripts. While the uniforms aren't my personal favorite, they're definitely classic and will hold up to the test of time; Besides, as far as blue and red uniforms go, you can't get any better than Louisiana Tech's, they're one of my favorites. Once again I really appreciate all the time you put into these designs and presentations, it really pays off in the end.

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I have loved the entire series, man.

I'm, however, going to bring up a logo detail that bugs me. The right leg on your full-body logo comes out from the sweater really oddly. It almost seems like a slit is mysteriously going up the right side of his sweater, allowing room for his massive thigh.

Otherwise, many congratulations on a job well-done, again. :D

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For South Carolina State, the all-whites are my favorite.

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98% of people claim to have "brought sexy back." Well, I'm the 2% that never left.

Hometown Heroes

Dallas Stars- Brenden Morrow // Marty Turco // Loui Erikkson

Dallas Mavericks- Dirk Nowitzki // Jason Kidd // Jason Terry

Dallas Cowboys- Terrell Owens // DeMarcus Ware // Terence Newman // Felix Jones

Texas Rangers- Ian Kinsler // Elvis Andrus // Marlon Byrd

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Thanks for all feedback thus far.

Honestly, this most recent one was probably my favorite out of the lot, with Southern being a close second. (But I still got more on the way, so that could change.

Vicfurth...after reading your assessment of my "marching bulldog", I sat and tore it apart visually...and eventuallly I saw what you were getting at. That is being worked on right now...update to follow on that one.

As far as the "State" thing...yeah, I definitely see where one could mistake that for Delaware State's "State" mark...which is why I had to be careful when crafting that to make it sure it didn't damn near mirror that. I'll look into touching that up a little bit, as well.

More to come...so stay tuned.

*Disclaimer: I am not an authoritative expert on stuff...I just do a lot of reading and research and keep in close connect with a bunch of people who are authoritative experts on stuff. 😁

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Who's ready for another one? Aiight then...let's go.

Staying in the MEAC, we gon' take a lil' venture north of where we just were, in Orangeburg, SC, and cross the Cackalacki border up into Winston-Salem, NC, where we'll find Winston-Salem State University.

Before I get going with this here, I'll be the first to admit I ain't know much at all about this school before I started this project. Many more out there don't even know this institution exists. But in having researched this institution, I've found that this place truly is a "diamond in the rough", so to speak.

Here's a little background from the school, taken straight from the school's website, with additional info via Wikipedia:

Winston-Salem State University was established by Dr. Simon Green Atkins in 1892, and began life in 1897 as Slater Industrial and State Normal School. By 1925, it was renamed Winston-Salem Teachers College. it was the first historically black institution in the nation to grant degrees in elementary teachers' education. The institution's name was changed again, this time to Winston-Salem State University, in 1969, and it merged into the University of North Carolina system in 1972.

Winston-Salem State University is a premier, master's level public institution that develops the skills and values students need to contribute and succeed in the changing economy of the 21st Century. Its world-class degree programs in growing fields such as health sciences, information technology, financial services and teacher education, offer the flexibility to accommodate diverse life situations of both traditional and non-traditional students ranging from recent high-school graduates to working adults. The university's curriculum also prepares all students to use the latest technologies as powerful tools for continuous learning, career advancement and personal enrichment. Beyond technical skills, the WSSU educational experience inspires individual commitment to community service through class-room and field experiences that develop civic leadership and prepare students to make lifetime contributions to society.

So there's that for y'all.

I'm actually quite impressed at the manner with which this institution regards itself...premier, world-class. Pretty much all I've seen and read both of the institution and from students who have gone there or considered going there leads me to believe this place is top-notch, for real.

As for notable alumni, well...some very noteworthy names have come through WSSU's halls. And depending on your view of the two people I'm about to mention, that could be a good or bad thing. Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, is a WSSU alumnus, as well as everyone's favorite loud-mouthed, over-opinionated ESPN personality--wait for it--Stephen A. Smith. Also, for your own knowledge, a woman by the name of Louise Smith was educated at WSSU. She then went on to establish the first-ever kindergarten program in the state of North Carolina. (Read back through the school's bio and you'll see why that's noteworthy.)

On the sports side of the house, we'll find more notable names. Old-timers and history buffs might recognize the name Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, who played for the Baltimore Bullets and NY Knicks way back in the day. More "seasoned" Cowboy fans may know the namy Timmy Newsome--he spent eight years in the 'Boys' backfield. Also countd among WSSU alumni is former Miami Dolphins wideout Oronde Gadsden, as well as--Steelerheads, wait for it--Yancey Thigpen.

*************************************************

So on to the concept now...

For starters, and for those who've never seen the Winston-Salem State Rams football team, well...here's a good look at their former set. (This photo, however, pretty much says all that needs to be said about the "templating epidemic" that runs rampid through college football, especially within the HBCU realm.) Here's a look at their previous road set. Currently, the team uses the same goofy-looking template as the Toledo Rockets, which has them looking like this...right...here.

The one thing that kept sticking out in my mind about this institution was "prestige", and so I tried my best to follow that guiding light while embarking on this concept design (since, IMO, the previous sets did not, and the current sets sho' don't). To that end, I kept this one real simple--no fancy bells or whistles (or piping)--but with a few little embellishment to kinda help the whole set stand out a bit more.

Let's start by looking at the branding package.

As noted previously, WSSU's athletic nickname is the Rams. It's primary (and, other than academic, it's only) logo is that of a ram head--although it's one of the more interesting Ram logos I've ever seen. I actually leaned very heavily on the academic side of the school's branding to help forge the athletic look. As such, you'll see the Goudy Old Style typeface, the school's official typeface, utilized throughout. (This is where this whole thing kinda treads into KU territory, if you know what I mean.) The school has no athletic wordmark, so I borrowed, again, from the academic side, changed it a litttle, and it now stands as the athletic wordmark. As for colors, the school's official red is actually a very bright red (PMS 199 if anyone is interested). It almost looks magenta from a distance, but you know what? I like that bright red, plus I think it's a unique red in college sports--hell, maybe sports period--so I kept it. (I did, however, tone it down justasmidge so it wouldn't look too pinkish.) Depending on your monitor, you may or may not see the difference, The athletic teams currently use black for trim, but in looking in the school's graphic identity standards, I found that the academic side of the house uses two shades of cool grey as secondary colors, which I thought would be great to transfer to the athletic side (since, you know, my Buccaneers have already proven that red and (a darker) gray can work very well together, and since, to my knowledge, no other school currently employs gray in the fashion I have here.

Here's the logosheet:

WSSUstyleguidelogos.png

Most of you probably took note of that helmet sitting up top of that display here. Hell...the team's nicknamed the Rams...why not use them? (And why the school currently doesn't is beyond me.) Take another good look at the primary ram-head logo, and you'll see where I got the idea for the ram horns on the helmet. By now you all also see what I was getting at with the use of the cool gray. I carried that theme througout the uniform. You'll notice the pants stripe has the same type of adornment as the ram horns do on the helmet--that was to add just a tad little bit of flair to this set.

Here's a look at the uniforms:

WSSUstyleguideuniforms.png

WSSUstyleguideuniforms2.png

May be just a bit too plain-Jane for some, but for me...as I said, I figured that'd be the best way to portray something of a "premier" image, even if it does, as I mentioned earlier, tread a little into KU territory (which is a look I really like, by the way).

Oh--and, of course, the whole thing in action:

WSSUaction.png

So here's this whole thing for you all to digest. Let me know what's up with this one here...get at me!

*Disclaimer: I am not an authoritative expert on stuff...I just do a lot of reading and research and keep in close connect with a bunch of people who are authoritative experts on stuff. 😁

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