CCSLC Apprentice: Challenge 5

[GFB]

Just in case you missed anything....

(1) There are now two 24-hour deadlines for judging and eliminating contestants at the end of each challenge (see post in Challenge 4 thread for more information)

(2) bruschimania is now a member of Team Prodigy

(3) Sgoalie19 has been eliminated

Here is your fifth challenge:

You have just been hired by Nike. It's your first day and it is important to impress your boss right from the start. You get to your desk and on it you see a folder with your first job enclosed. You sit down and anxiously read the debriefing entitled "The University of Oregon".....

Your task will be to create "revolutionary" football and basketball uniform. The designs should be "modern" and "cutting edge", but they must have all the necessary pieces of equipment (no sleeveless football jerseys or one piece basketball uniforms or etc). Outside of that one rule, you are free to do whatever you please...

The deadline for this contest will be Saturday, August 16th at noon EST

Have fun playing mad scientist!

Matt

[eRay]

Should be entertaining to watch this process to say the least. Very good challenge, GFB.

Imagine somebody getting that task on their first day on the job!

[GFB]

Should be entertaining to watch this process to say the least. Very good challenge, GFB.

Imagine somebody getting that task on their first day on the job!

With the stuff Oregon has been using, it wouldn't suprise me in the least that was exactly what happened...

[scottysprings]

This seems like an awesome challenge, makes me sad I had to drop out Gooooo Prodigy!

[ShinyHubCaps]

Is it possible that, before concepts are presented, we may get a rubric of how this will be judged? It seems that the judging on this challenge might be a little dubious, and I already have a couple of questions. For example, does the "revolutionary" aspect supersede a quality design? Obviously the goal is to have both, but what if you have two concepts, one that is safe but attractive and the other that is revolutionary but putrid (like Oregon's current uniforms)? Also, is this being judged as a challenge apart from the roleplay or in addition to it? For example, in the roleplay, we are working for Nike and would probably not have the ability to use new logos, replace their official athletic wordmark, etc. As a concept apart from the roleplay, however, this would not be a problem.

I just wanted to pose these questions to see if there's a general consensus so it's not up in the air come judging time.

[GFB]

Is it possible that, before concepts are presented, we may get a rubric of how this will be judged? It seems that the judging on this challenge might be a little dubious, and I already have a couple of questions. For example, does the "revolutionary" aspect supersede a quality design? Obviously the goal is to have both, but what if you have two concepts, one that is safe but attractive and the other that is revolutionary but putrid (like Oregon's current uniforms)? Also, is this being judged as a challenge apart from the roleplay or in addition to it? For example, in the roleplay, we are working for Nike and would probably not have the ability to use new logos, replace their official athletic wordmark, etc. As a concept apart from the roleplay, however, this would not be a problem.

I just wanted to pose these questions to see if there's a general consensus so it's not up in the air come judging time.

Very good questions... I'll put this out here and I'll let the judges know so we are all on the same page...

The presentations will be judged on the following 3 premises...

Premise 1) The uniqueness and the originality of the concept.

Premise 2) The all-around, aesthetically-pleasing, nature of the concept. (a.k.a. the "eye-pleasingness" of the concept)

Premise 3) The practicality of the concept. (No point in designing something that doesn't fulfill it's basic purpose)

I will leave how much the judges weigh each premise up to each judge. Obviously, no two people have the same design tastes, but our judges should give us good variety in viewpoints that we will be able to establish a winner...

As for the outside or inside role play... I'm going to say outside of role play. You were designing inside role play, with no boundaries as to logos or designs. But these are being judged from outside of the company, from the "educated" design world...

Hope this is enough for you...

[gingerbreadmann]

TEAM OPTIMUS: NIKE CORPORATION UNIVERSITY OF OREGON UNIFORM DESIGN SUBMISSION

rev·o·lu·tion·ar·y [rev-uh-loo-shuh-ner-ee]; adj.

2. markedly new or introducing radical change

The good people of Eugene, Oregon have watched their Ducks compete at a championship-caliber level in both the Pac-10 and National stages for years now. Unfortunately, they have often done so while having to shield their eyes. The graphic identity system of the Oregon Ducks is the stuff of legend, known by name across the country for their unique, well, “system of dress.”

Though to use the word “unique” may be putting it nicely. The Ducks always find themselves ridiculed for their undoubtedly wild, maverick football uniforms containing an unheralded mish-mash of seemingly random elements. It is time we at Nike re-thought innovation in the form of the Ducks, and come up with something everyone is not just content with, but ecstatic over.

However in the case of the Oregon Ducks, “innovative” and “revolutionary” can mean just the apparent opposite – simple, yet elegant. The main principle of our design is to unify the University of Oregon under their primary symbol, the ominous “O,” while paying homage and tying together both the history of the Ducks and today's newest ideas. And sometimes when a team is over-the-top as it is the best innovation can be gong back to the basics and letting some simplicity as a major change speak for itself.

MAIN LOGO AND WORDMARKS

We have not altered the main logo of the Ducks as we feel it represents the University very well as it is. We also believe the problem lies within the team's various jerseys and uniforms. Therefore, when we look to revamp the school's on-field identity, we believe starting with and keeping the most consistent and well-known element of the current athletics identity, as it is not in need of an update, is the right move. This will not completely alienate the fans who have seen their teams succeed year after year under this identity and inundate them with components that could seem even more outlandish than the previous identity. Same goes for the current wordmark.

FOOTBALL UNIFORMS

The Ducks' football uniforms are arguably the most notorious for wacky uniform elements and combinations in all of sports. Here, we aim to simplify things a bit while integrating our guiding principles for this project. First off, we ditched the radical, bloated Belotti Bold font for a more vertical, modern while clean, and easy-to-read font. Since this whole project is revolved around the “O”, we have rather subtly and creatively worked the “O” logo into the back of the uniform, where the top of the “O” is the base for the nameplate. Part of the sides of the “O” wrap around to the front, creating a clean but modern side panel effect. The subliminal “Donald Duck” logo is a nod to the more laid-back side of the University's identity, showcasing a logo not widely-used but has a lot of character, taken from after the basketball jersey design as described below. Also, the mix of that type of logo with the new subliminal technologies never-before-seen in college athletics are the perfect balance to create the flavor of revolutionary we are looking for. The “O” is worked into the back of the pants as well, but in a way that the bottom is not viewable. Paired together with the backs of the jerseys, there is a great contrast between the relatively clean front of the uniform and the back which has many eye-pleasing and significant elements without being busy. By incorporating the “O” as we have, we further show how the football team is still an extension of the University of Oregon and one with the rest of the institution. We have included 4 versions of the football uniform, a standard home and away with two colored alternates, black and yellow, that can be worn sparingly but satisfy those who enjoy spicing it up a bit. Plus by condensing to one helmet design, a green model not unlike the previous design, we show that you can have modern and revolutionary without going over-the-top with 48 different combinations.

[gingerbreadmann]

BASKETBALL IDENTITY

When Nike introduced the System of Dress, we intended for it to be the new wave of college basketball uniforms, with multiple new features designed for performance and aesthetic beauty. This idea and what it represents perfectly fits our motivation behind the new Ducks identity, so we adapted the new uniform look for SOD. In addition, as we did for the football uniforms, we incorporated the “O” logo around the back number and partly as a base for the nameplate. Again, this is how we symbolize unity throughout the program. One thing we did not want to do was overuse piping on the jersey, as piping is very common and frequent in other Nike designs and we wanted a more clean and unique look for Oregon. Therefore, we left the “O” to stand by itself and dominate the jersey in the hope of not overcrowding the design with wild and uncontrollable piping to allow for adequate flow. In addition, we mainly ditched the use of black (in both sports) because we believe black was overused in the current/previous uniform set and the use of white over black in many instances would create a cleaner, more appealing look. That all said, however, one of the main principles of the SOD is “Respect the Past (Represent the Future). This was exactly the inspiration for the addition of the subliminal duck logo on the back of the jersey. The cartoonish “Donald” invokes thoughts of a retro feel (Respecting the Past), while retaining the feel of a logo that could be used rather prominently in some form. This led to the subliminal pattern incarnation of Donald, because to Represent the future we had to use a creative way to incorporate him into the jersey without him being overpowering. The NCAA has not ever seen a logo used on a uniform in this way, and especially when paired with the usage of Daffy on the football jersey, done for consistency, just represents innovation in both the ways we want it: to the people of Oregon and to the college athletics world. Now for the pants, as in football, we added the “O” onto the pants but cut off the bottom for the sake of subtlety and beauty. We again created two alternates, yellow and black, to add some other colors an hues to the mix if the team decides to change it up once in a while.

CONCLUSION

We sincerely hope you, the panel, understand our vision of “revolutionary.” When you look at what the University of Oregon is using now, it seems like a garbled mess of forced and ill-advised 'innovation.' It occurred to us that we needed to take a step back and introduce the one modern component not used by Oregon: Cleanliness. We feel it can go a long way. In addition, sometimes you need to think outside the box to think outside the box, or sometimes you need to take a step in the direction commonly viewed as back to take a giant step forward. All of that which we brought to the table was not alone, however. We sought to unite both athletic programs under the University of Oregon, and took many steps in both identities to do so. We used a mix of the past and the newest technologies and styles known to the uniform world.

We are not the sharpest tool in the shed. Comparing our intelligence to yours is like comparing apples to oranges. However, we do understand what is arguably the greatest thing since sliced bread: you can never use too many clichés.

[-(dp)-]

Prodigy Design Collective: Oregon Ducks Uniforms

The Prodigy Design Collective has been working with Nike to design new football and basketball uniforms. However, before we got to the uniforms, we felt the identity could use an addition. The O is somewhat Iconic, and a very nice logo, but we felt the Athletics should embrace their unique nickname, the Ducks. The O is still there with no changes, but alternate logos have been added. One is a side view of a flying mallard, while the other is just the head from the same logo. They already have the simple, iconic logo, so we went with a more modern look with these logos. On to the uniforms...

Both uniforms use a custom number font, designed by Prodigy. These numbers are meant to keep aspects from the wordmark, while not going to far away from traditional athletic numbers. They are used on both the basketball and football uniforms. The next thing we changed was the color scheme. We kept the forest green and bright yellow, and switched out the black for a very dark 'midnight' green. Silver was removed completely also.

The striping on the side of the basketball uniforms is inspired by the wings of a duck, and the striping on a mallard. the 'DUCKS' wordmark was used on all three jerseys, but the home and away also have the O logo directly under the wordmark, to represent the state of Oregon, and not just the ducks nickname. It is larger than the wordmark, so to keep it from sticking out too much over the wordmark, we made it the color that has the least contrast with the jersey for home and away. One thing that is unique about the uniform, is that the front number is located above the team name, on the left of the player's chest.

A sublimated pattern, meant to resemble a duck's feathers, was added to the side of the home and away, and the whole front of the alternate. For the alternate, we wanted something more than just a recoloring of the home and away, so it was changed up a bit.

The football uniforms use most of the same aspects of the basketball uniforms, except they are arranged in a way that is more practical for football. The winged design goes over the shoulder, instead of under the arm. The sublimated feathers appear here also. Possibly the most unique part of the uniform is the helmet. It was created to look like a duck's head' with eyes on each side, and the yellow facemask serving as the beak. The paint used for the helmet appears to be the very dark green where it isn't receiving much light, but when the light hits it, it should appear to be the brighter green. the head of a mallard is this way, and we tried to reflect that on the helmet.

Many players wear the long sleeve thermal undershirts, and all nike teams have pretty much the same design, in the team colors. We decided to give Oregon their own unique design, which features the feather pattern going down the sleeves.

[fiasco!]

I'm very happy with both teams going with more simple, elegant designs. On first glance, I thought it would be difficult to pick a winner, since everything both teams did they did very well. There are a couple things I noticed that one team did better than the other and that has swayed my decision.

Prodigy's numbers are just great. I love that there is no outline or drop shadow necessary to distinguish them from the color of the jersey, they just look great. I'm definitely a fan of Optimus' "O" design on the jerseys, but the sublimated duck completely ruins it for me. Prodigy's uni designs are simple, yet have the elements that scream "DUCKS!". The feathers, the subtle wing pattern, and the new duck logo are all fantastic. I would have liked to see the duck logo as the final football helmet logo with the duck head helmet as the alt, but it all still works very well together.

All in all, Prodigy stepped up their game and showed why they belong in this competition.

Verdict: Prodigy

[mania]

As someone from a competing team, I don't understand why Optimus would create jerseys that can't be sold everywhere.

"In 1991 the agreement was expanded to allow wider use of the likeness on merchandise but any images with Donald could only be sold in the state of Oregon."

Not at all a critique of their look so much as not understanding why the move was made.

[pollux]

With the shorter timetable and apparent lack of ideas from both teams, I'm pleasantly surprised to see both final products.

I really like the use of the O as a main part for the design of Optimus. It has been done in good taste and all elements fit well together. The duck, however, seems to forced in both uniforms. The idea is good, the execution somewhat lack. I personally am not a fan of sublimated images on uniforms...

I have to say that the duck-like design from Prodigy is amazing. I like that the design was clean and yet reminds of the Ducks. This is simply well-thought and executed. The new duck is very cool as well, and brings fresh energy to the whole package. And the helmet is quite clever. I'm happy you decided to go along with it.

My vote goes to Prodigy.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

A comment from the peanut gallery: I love that subliminated duck. I think repeating the big "O" on the basketball shorts is a bit much, but the front/back O is wonderful. On Prodigy's design, I really like that helmet and undershirt.

I think both teams did a great job (as usual), but I would give the nod to Optimus. Sales abilities aside, that Disney duck is wonderful. Again, awesome work from both teams. This continues to be a fun competition to observe.

[Brian in Boston]

Kudos to both teams for creating uniforms that strike me as being major improvements over the monstrosities that the Ducks currently wear. Also, you deserve praise for the fact that you turned these around in record time.

Optimus

I really love the simplicity inherent in your decision to work Oregon's "O" logo into your uniform designs. That said, while I find that it worked extremely well on the jerseys of both the football and basketball uniforms, I felt that it was forced on both the football pants and basketball shorts. On the football pants it doesn't even come close to forming an enclosed "O", while including it on the basketball shorts just strikes me as being too much of a good thing in combination with the jerseys.

I'm also not a fan of your decision to go with a contrasting outline color around the "O" on the basketball uniforms, while eschewing such a flourish on the football uniforms. I would have preferred to see consistency in this regard throughout the uniforms used by Oregon's athletic department. For what it's worth, I'd have opted to go the "no outline" route employed on the football unis. It just seems cleaner to me.

My biggest problem with your proposed uniforms is the sublimated "Donald" graphic. First of all, as bruschimania pointed out, Oregon's agreement with the Walt Disney Company prohibits the sale of merchandise bearing Oregon's version of the character outside of the State of Oregon. That's a real-world limitation that you should have known about and allowed to impact your design choices. Further, I just don't think that it adds anything to your overall concept. Your design is simple... minimalist. Yet, you introduce a highly-detailed cartoon element to the mix. It strikes me as jarring. I also don't like that the graphic isn't consistent in the way that is applied on the two uniforms: it is centered in the "O" on the football jerseys, while overlapped by the "O" on the basketball jerseys. The latter appliaction is particularly bothersome.

The alphanumeric font and color palette are both solid.

Prodigy

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

I'm a big fan of the wing pattern/side-striping, the sublimated feather pattern and the new duck logo. They're all simple, sleek, modern and well-integrated into the overall design concept. Ditto for your alpahnumeric font. I love that you jettisoned Black for Midnight Green in the color palette. I keep thinking that the use of the duck's eyes on the helmet might be a tad too much - too "cutesy" - for my personal taste, but then I find myself won over by them. Ultimately, I think that I might have opted to simply go with an unadorned irridescent helmet, but I don't consider the "helmet as duck's head" choice to be a deal-breaker.

A truly inspired concept.

Challenge 5 Winner: PRODIGY

[gingerbreadmann]

Kudos to both teams for creating uniforms that strike me as being major improvements over the monstrosities that the Ducks currently wear. Also, you deserve praise for the fact that you turned these around in record time.

Optimus

I really love the simplicity inherent in your decision to work Oregon's "O" logo into your uniform designs. That said, while I find that it worked extremely well on the jerseys of both the football and basketball uniforms, I felt that it was forced on both the football pants and basketball shorts. On the football pants it doesn't even come close to forming an enclosed "O", while including it on the basketball shorts just strikes me as being too much of a good thing in combination with the jerseys.

My biggest problem with your proposed uniforms is the sublimated "Donald" graphic. First of all, as bruschimania pointed out, Oregon's agreement with the Walt Disney Company prohibits the sale of merchandise bearing Oregon's version of the character outside of the State of Oregon.

I won't challenge your verdict, much as I disagree, but I'll just point out the reason I cut it off on the pants was just for that, so it wouldn't be seen as forced and overused. You get the consistency all through the back but trying to fit the bottom of the O on the pants as well would have been complete overkill. Plus, how would the O be enclosed with it wrapping onto 2 separate legs?

As well, I'd like to know how you Bruschi got that info, as it isn't on the Oregon athletics trademark page, the Oregon Duck Mascot Wikipedia page, or the University of Oregon Athletics Wiki page. Use that against me or not, know that it's not in any of those places and I did look for any possible restrictions.

[mania]

I remembered reading about it a couple of years ago when it was asked about the deemphization of him as a symbol of the athletic system... actually, this thread here: http://boards.sportslogos.net/index.php?sh...c=53671&hl=

In a google search, I came across not only the logo on sportslogos.net which says the same, put in by Chris himself, but this article:

http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2004...donald_duck.php

[slapshot]

Wow. Very inspired efforts by both teams.

Optimus

Points for the unique idea of sublimating the old Donald Duck logo. And by lightening the green in the identity, it makes it more obvious on the green jerseys. I get the O logo used on the backs of the football and basketball jerseys, but the execution is lacking because the bottom of the O would be cut off by the pants. And on the football uniforms it reminds me too much of BYU's bib, which has since been deemed illegal by the NCAA.

The basketball uniforms remind me too much of the Sonics. Could be the color scheme. Not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation.

There's so many design elements going on that would prevent the uniforms from being interchangeable, however.

Prodigy

This is a fantastic entry from top to bottom. Nice modern version of the duck logo. The football and basketball designs are very innovative, but they all work well interchangeably, and I can actually see a team wearing these on the field (not that it's a good thing either, from a traditionally aesthetic point of view).

The duck eyes on the helmet definitely seem like a Nike possibility. But it's also subtle, in a way, so it could work on field as well.

The only thing I see that I don't like is the shape at the bottom of the basketball shorts. Is the curve supposed to mirror from front to back, or does it change up and repeat at the middle seam? If it's the latter then the duck logo doesn't fit the area as well as it should.

Overall winner...Prodigy

[ShinyHubCaps]

As someone from a competing team, I don't understand why Optimus would create jerseys that can't be sold everywhere.

"In 1991 the agreement was expanded to allow wider use of the likeness on merchandise but any images with Donald could only be sold in the state of Oregon."

Then again, in 1991, the Internet was just being launched. Now it is probably home to 95% of the shops that sell Oregon Ducks jerseys outside of the state of Oregon. How many physical shops actually sell Oregon authentic jerseys in, say, Texas? Most of them would be purchased online, and the way I understand it, that would be acceptable. Even in the first link you mentioned, someone posted a pic of Oregon in a Donald Duck uniform from 1994, suggesting that, by some method, it would still be acceptable (assuming that they sold authentic jerseys then). (In that post, as well, Gothamite said that they did still sell them online, so I'd guess that 95% of the people who wanted one could still get one, as long as it's based in Oregon.)

[GFB]

As someone from a competing team, I don't understand why Optimus would create jerseys that can't be sold everywhere.

"In 1991 the agreement was expanded to allow wider use of the likeness on merchandise but any images with Donald could only be sold in the state of Oregon."

Not at all a critique of their look so much as not understanding why the move was made.

I'm guessing that was your "ace in the hole?"

I have to say I am impressed... both teams put up with a very short deadline... and i appreciate the judges coming out as well...

Optimus:

I like the idea of using the O as the focal point. It is instantly recognizable with the school, a great starting point... however, I think your execution is lacking a little bit on this challenge...

My first issue is with the fact that you used two "O's" on both uniforms. Why not just have the top of the O on the jersey and the bottom of the O on the pants/shorts? The way I see it now, I see O-O. And what if they tuck-in the uniforms? Will I still see the full effect, or will I get one-and-a-half O's?

Also, It just doesn't seem to be, unique... On the basketball jersey it reminds me of the Seattle Supersonics, and on the football jersey, it reminds me of the Puma soccer jerseys from the world cup in '06...

I do like the subliminated logo... it's a shame that you did use a logo that would not work in real life. I was aware of the status of that logo before the contest... I just thought it was more common knowledge...

Prodigy:

Though I'm not in love with this concept as much as some people are, it is unique.

I think you need to work on your ducks. They just seem off, especially the full body one...

Also, why do you have two variations of you number font? If you are going to come up with a font, I think that it should be capable of handling both front numbers and sleeve numbers...

While the concept may not be my cup o' tea, it is something I haven't really seen before, so you get points for that...

Winner: Prodigy

And with that, I am officially declaring Prodigy the winner!

We'll meet back in the board room tomorrow...

[gingerbreadmann]

Well, much as I extremely disagree with many of the judges and their take on this whole thing, I assume this means it's time to concede to Prodigy (job well done), choose two people to join me here, and plead my case.

That said, I bring in, and this is nothing personal and was a tough choice, lets_go_red and williamrhys.

Both of these people had things going on during this challenge, as it seems every member of our team did (including me), but I have to pick two. I believe I should stay in this competition because as a Task Manager, I applied early deadlines that proved to work well in our favor and allowed us to manage time very well, and stuck to them. Even if I was the only one who did any work towards the deadline, I got something done in time. Aside from Shiny's mesh jersey sketch and Cola's mockup, I essentially assembled the whole package for our team singlehandedly. I think that speaks for itself somewhat. Add on the praise received from the judges(and peanut gallery!), relatively scant compared to that of Prodigy's design, however we did receive some compliments for an inspired concept design. Considering all I did on this challenge, I am proud of that no matter what the outcome of this particular challenge and more importantly, I firmly believe that this should be in my favor to stay in this tournament, if singlehandedly completing our design wasn't enough. In addition on every challenge so far, I have contributed a lot to the team, whether it be ideas, mockups, constructive criticism, the like, and I have done this consistently. I think the combination of my contributions from previous challenges and the fact I picked up our team this challenge as Task Manager when I was needed due to the situations of other group members, and produced a competitive package that received praise from the panel, should be the reason why I don't deserve to be eliminated from the CCSLC Apprentice challenge at this time. Thank you.