49ers still new uniforms?

[IceCap]

nm, dp

[sc49erfan15]

Seriously? Whats with the group thinking the current uniform is great? They did what so MANY OTHER teams have done in the late 90s and early this decade. Let's revamp our uniform so it still looks a little classic but it also has an edge. I know, we'll add black lining. The Lions did it. The Dolphins did it. It flows to other sports like the Cincinnati Reds and KC Royals among other teams. It's LAME. Now the Montana era is a bit out dated, especially with the stripe width on the pants. But its far superior to the repetitive look the 9ers have today. Oh hey, lets add a drop shadow too. That will look great!

LAME!

Here's 49er Hugh McElhenny in the early 1950s.

It's where the drop shadow came from, you genius. They didn't just add it for no reason.

[hawk36]

The 49ers and Dolphins, as I've said before, wrote the book on successful sports brand updating.

I would respectfully disagree. Adding a black (or dark blue) drop shadow and some outlines is not my opinion of a successful update. I see it as more of a "hey we can now more easily produce multiple outlines on merchandise so let's do it" kind of thing.

I stand by the design principle that the less there is, the more refined the solution has to be. The more you throw in there (multiple colors, outline, stripes, slashes, etc.), the less refined your design has to be to be seen as successful in the general public's eyes.

In my opinion, the current crop of uniform designers are not at the level of their counterparts from the past and thus are trying to make up for it by adding more and more ingredients to the recipe.

[IceCap]

The 49ers and Dolphins, as I've said before, wrote the book on successful sports brand updating.

I would respectfully disagree. Adding a black (or dark blue) drop shadow and some outlines is not my opinion of a successful update. I see it as more of a "hey we can now more easily produce multiple outlines on merchandise so let's do it" kind of thing.

I stand by the design principle that the less there is, the more refined the solution has to be. The more you throw in there (multiple colors, outline, stripes, slashes, etc.), the less refined your design has to be to be seen as successful in the general public's eyes.

I agree, in most cases. The KC Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and Detroit Lions all threw black on perfectly good uniforms in an attempt to be "hip."

I think the situation is different for the 49ers and Dolphins though. The 49ers didn't add black stripes and drop shadows 'cause it was cool, they did it as a reference to uniforms from their past. Black's been in their colour scheme almost since the franchise's beginning.

The Dolphins had reached the end of what they could have done with their "classic" look. The old dolphin was looking incredibly dated, and the teal and orange, rather then looking timeless, was beginning to look stagnate. They updated the logo and added navy as a trim to really infuse some life into the uniforms. I would agree that the Dolphins could probably stand to reduce the navy drop shadows to simple outlines, but overall I think the navy has really added to the overall look.

In my opinion, the current crop of uniform designers are not at the level of their counterparts from the past and thus are trying to make up for it by adding more and more ingredients to the recipe.

The current ones? I agree. The generic side-panelled stuff has to go. It all looks terrible.

The designers from the mid-90's/early 2000's, however, I think really got it. They came out with a lot of really nice, yet modern, designs.

[infrared41]

The current ones? I agree. The generic side-panelled stuff has to go. It all looks terrible.

The designers from the mid-90's/early 2000's, however, I think really got it. They came out with a lot of really nice, yet modern, designs.

Even an old school fool like me can't argue too much with that.

[oldschoolvikings]

The 49ers and Dolphins, as I've said before, wrote the book on successful sports brand updating.

I would respectfully disagree. Adding a black (or dark blue) drop shadow and some outlines is not my opinion of a successful update. I see it as more of a "hey we can now more easily produce multiple outlines on merchandise so let's do it" kind of thing.

I stand by the design principle that the less there is, the more refined the solution has to be. The more you throw in there (multiple colors, outline, stripes, slashes, etc.), the less refined your design has to be to be seen as successful in the general public's eyes.

I agree, in most cases. The KC Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and Detroit Lions all threw black on perfectly good uniforms in an attempt to be "hip."

I think the situation is different for the 49ers and Dolphins though. The 49ers didn't add black stripes and drop shadows 'cause it was cool, they did it as a reference to uniforms from their past. Black's been in their colour scheme almost since the franchise's beginning.

The Dolphins had reached the end of what they could have done with their "classic" look. The old dolphin was looking incredibly dated, and the teal and orange, rather then looking timeless, was beginning to look stagnate. They updated the logo and added navy as a trim to really infuse some life into the uniforms. I would agree that the Dolphins could probably stand to reduce the navy drop shadows to simple outlines, but overall I think the navy has really added to the overall look.

Yes, the 49ers had a history of black as a color, but that doesn't mean they added it to a uniform that, at the time, had almost no black because they were honoring the past. I've never heard that anywhere before, let alone from anyone in the niner organization. The fact that they'd just had a sucseesful throwback uni that used black made it easy for them to jump on what was undeniably a trendy option. I think its fine to say you like the update... that, of all the teams that jumped on the black trim bandwagon, they did it the best... that's an arguement you could make. But it was still a trendy unnessesary move, and that's always gonna rub some people the wrong way.

[RonRoberts]

I'd like to see something like this for the niners

It's hard to tell, but there is a gold outline around the numbers as well on the sleeve/sock stripes.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I agree; the Niners are Crimson, Cream and Gold. I don't remember any black in the 80s-era uniforms, and that's what they should go with. Why does EVERY freaking team feel the need to infuse black into their scheme? The Buffalo Bills have made this mistake, too, frankly; so many damned stripes on their helmets now the buffalo nearly gets striped-over. Ridiculous.

Get back to basics, Niners. Tweak the design a little if you want (maybe some piping instead of those broad stripes?) but stick to your primary colors and avoid the compellation to stick some unnecessary black into it. You have a look that's CLASSIC, and should use that to your advantage.

[bigdub81]

To emblish upon the classicness of their design and eliminate the black all but for the helmet decal whcih retains the updated apperance!

[TheOldRoman]

I agree, in most cases. The KC Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and Detroit Lions all threw black on perfectly good uniforms in an attempt to be "hip."

I think the situation is different for the 49ers and Dolphins though. The 49ers didn't add black stripes and drop shadows 'cause it was cool, they did it as a reference to uniforms from their past. Black's been in their colour scheme almost since the franchise's beginning.

The Dolphins had reached the end of what they could have done with their "classic" look. The old dolphin was looking incredibly dated, and the teal and orange, rather then looking timeless, was beginning to look stagnate. They updated the logo and added navy as a trim to really infuse some life into the uniforms. I would agree that the Dolphins could probably stand to reduce the navy drop shadows to simple outlines, but overall I think the navy has really added to the overall look.

A couple points.

1) While the Niners may have had black in their logo, and listed it as one of their official colors, it was not a team color. Colors can be in logos without appearing on the jersey. If the 49ers had to add black to "tie in" with the tiny amount on the helmet, then the Redskins have to add black and brown stripes to their jerseys and the Chicago Blackhawks have to fit yellow, kelly green, orange, and royal blue stripes onto theirs. While a color may be officially listed by a team for appearing in its logo, it doesn't mean merchandise should be produced in that color, and it doesn't mean it needs to be added to the jerseys.

2) Throwing black into the uniform and claiming it is to honor the past is bs. SF had a great color scheme with the lighter red, gold, and white. They didn't need to chage to a "hip" darker red (which they had never worn before), and they didn't need to add black. The Bills tried to tie in random points in their past with their current jerseys, and we all all know the atrocities that ensued. Navy and royal blue and red and nickle. Yuck. The White Sox could make jerseys with black, navy, royal blue, powder blue, red, crimson, and kelly green, but I don't think that would be honoring their past.

3) I will agree with you on the Dolphins logo. That was a big improvement. The old logo was a type of sloppiness rarely seen outside of the logo on LSU's helmets. The new logo looks better. I will even concede that it would be hard to do that logo with only 2 colors, so maybe navy was needed. However, the old jerseys were much better than their current ones. Overall, the navy detracted from the uniforms.

[oldschoolvikings]

The "color is in the logo, lets put it everywhere" arguement could lead to the total destruction of the current uniforms of Kansas City, Washington, Minnesota (can't get worse?... don't bet on it), Pittsburg, Baltimore, Tennessee...

[BBTV]

The "color is in the logo, lets put it everywhere" arguement could lead to the total destruction of the current uniforms of Kansas City, Washington, Minnesota (can't get worse?... don't bet on it), Pittsburg, Baltimore, Tennessee...

IMO KC looks silly having helmets that feature red, white, and black, but uniforms that feature red, white, and yellow.

[LMU]

Seriously? Whats with the group thinking the current uniform is great? They did what so MANY OTHER teams have done in the late 90s and early this decade. Let's revamp our uniform so it still looks a little classic but it also has an edge. I know, we'll add black lining. The Lions did it. The Dolphins did it. It flows to other sports like the Cincinnati Reds and KC Royals among other teams. It's LAME. Now the Montana era is a bit out dated, especially with the stripe width on the pants. But its far superior to the repetitive look the 9ers have today. Oh hey, lets add a drop shadow too. That will look great!

LAME!

Here's 49er Hugh McElhenny in the early 1950s.

It's where the drop shadow came from, you genius. They didn't just add it for no reason.

AND, a more recent example, that they actually won a Super Bowl in:

[oldschoolvikings]

The "color is in the logo, lets put it everywhere" arguement could lead to the total destruction of the current uniforms of Kansas City, Washington, Minnesota (can't get worse?... don't bet on it), Pittsburg, Baltimore, Tennessee...

IMO KC looks silly having helmets that feature red, white, and black, but uniforms that feature red, white, and yellow.

I agree... they need to replace the black trim on the helmet with gold.

[Old School Fool]

Actually if the 49ers used the current helmet with this throwback set and optional gold pants, I think we would have a winner.

Actually I prefer the 49ers go to something like this with their logo, ignore the crappy MS Paint job.

[robbman21]

Not to bring up a thread that died a couple of weeks ago, but I took what Bigdub did with his original re-tooling and expanded on it just a bit, by keeping the black, matching the helmet and pants stripes, but keeping the original helmet logo. Logo has also been removed from the pants and sleeves. I asked Patrick Willis and Steve Young to give me a hand in displaying these...if they went to something like this for next season, or really ANY variation of what's been posted in this thread so far then I would not be opposed. I'm still not big on the black shoes though...even though I included them here.

[RichardWitham]

i like your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter

[darkhaha]

If they do go in a throwback direction, the one thing they must do is decrease the width of the pant stripes. That element alone makes the old set inferior to the current one, IMHO...

[rtrich11]

Red mask, please. Needs that "zing".

[sc49erfan15]

I wouldn't mind that at all. Red mask and modern helmet logo, and you've got a winner.

[JQK]

Gray mask is perfect. Keep it.