Rochester Red Wings - UPDATE 8/13

[chestnutz]

People round here in Rochester don't care too much for the Red Wings. I've lived here my whole life and love the city, but damn, you wouldn't know we had a AAA club. High school teams get more publicity than them. For the first time since I was maybe 8 or 9 years old, I went to a game the other day (they lost to the Louisville Bats) for free. The game was absolute trash to watch, but I had a blast with my friends and some old guys behind the Wings dugout heckling the opposing players. That's another story...

But I figured a reason why nobody cares for the Wings is because their identity just plain sucks. They've had the same, trashy red bird sitting cross-legged on a ball for as long as I can remember. Every single person I've heard talk about it in Rochester hates the logo, and the only time I've ever seen Red Wing memorabilia is on a random dude wearing a 59fifty I saw in Massachusetts and a few old guys with the ugly velcrow hats who have zero sense of fashion. You get the idea.

So I decided to finally give it a go at my hometown team.

LOGOS

I knew immediately what I wanted to do, and that was to make my own changes to their seldom used alternate logo. I always thought it had great potential, just needed some tweaks. So I updated that for the primary. The alternate logo came about rather late in the process, but I decided to take the head from their current primary logo and make some changes. For the wordmarks I wanted to go with a classic, basebally, BoSox style font. I think it fits the team well. I really like their colors, as red-black-yellow is one of my favorite combos when used right, but I wanted to focus on red (they are the RED Wings).

UNIFORMS

Not much to explain. I used the same BoSox style font for the numbers and nameplate, and went with what I think is a pretty sweet vest for the home alternate, as I'm obsessed with vests for baseball teams. Went for a black alt for the road, and on the road I wanted to use a black hat with red brim, and focus on red at home. I also used (fisheatcat's I believe, may be wrong though) an action template to show even more of how they'd look.

[MNsports09]

this concept is a great idea. i liked that u stayed with the same colors, but changed that ugly RED WINGS script. as a Twins fan, i know a lot about thhe red wings, and i know they need an update!

however, im not feeling the hats. i think u should do an RW home cap, interlocked like the TC of the twins (to build a relationship between the major league team and the farm club), and the R cap as the away.

[RIPmetrodome]

this concept is a great idea. i liked that u stayed with the same colors, but changed that ugly RED WINGS script. as a Twins fan, i know a lot about thhe red wings, and i know they need an update!

however, im not feeling the hats. i think u should do an RW home cap, interlocked like the TC of the twins (to build a relationship between the major league team and the farm club), and the R cap as the away.

i agree with mnsports09, but i also want to add that you should keep the winged hat as the home alternate instead of as the away cap. also, the numbers are great. the color-pattern is unique, which makes the jersey seem less "cookie-cutter." overall, great concept, you should try doing more minor-league re-brands.

[dgnmrwrw]

Well, I really like the colors and the wordmarks/typeface. I think those elements look great, and the wordmarks especially have a very nice minor-league aesthetic. I think the R looks great on the cap.

I'm not quite sure about the logos, however. The wing logo is a good start, but I think the wings look a bit "stretched" instead of being naturally extendend. Sorry, it's hard to put it into words. I also think it's a bit detailed to be on a cap; however, it's just about perfect to be a sleeve patch.

I think what's bothering me about the bird head is the perspective. I've never thought that perspective worked well for birds, because you lose the depth of the beak and head when you view it head-on like that. It ends up being flat instead of dynamic.

[undead]

I really dig the uniforms and I especially like the wordmark. The wing logo is too detailed and kind of reminds me of fire coming out of a window. Can you make it look less like the Detroit Red Wings by removing the white treatment? Maybe just use white as a highlight of the wings. I think it would be better if you turned the bird secondary into a 3/4 view. He looks slightly cross-eyed right now.

Really nice start though. Ten times better than what they have now.

[chestnutz]

Well thanks to all those who commented, would've liked some more but oh well.

I think I may abandon the bird secondary idea. I'm not really sure how else to "personify" a red wing. Any ideas?

[RIPmetrodome]

The wing logo is a good start, but I think the wings look a bit "stretched" instead of being naturally extendend. Sorry, it's hard to put it into words. I also think it's a bit detailed to be on a cap; however, it's just about perfect to be a sleeve patch.

I agree with you, the winged logo would make a great sleeve patch. it looks too complicated to be on a cap. i believe a cap logo should generally be easy enough for a child to draw.

chestnutz, another suggestion for the alternate or away cap logo would be a baseball with a red wing attached to it, like the Detroit Red Wings logo.

[spamspamspamspam]

I really like the primary logo you've got, but I'd still like to see something with Spikes, The muscular bird.

[TBGKon]

Well thanks to all those who commented, would've liked some more but oh well.

I think I may abandon the bird secondary idea. I'm not really sure how else to "personify" a red wing. Any ideas?

What about a side view of the same bird? I just think the head-on view lacks depth.

Also, for a cap idea, try using something like this logo that the Wings used since Rochester's nicknamed the "Flower (or Flour) City"

[RoughRiders9]

As a student of RIT, I've attended a few Red Wings game and I do agree with you, their uniforms are just ugly!

However, the design that you came up with is just gorgerous! However, I'm not a big fan about the caps. Just work a bit more on it, that's all. Then I think you've hit the mark!

[elliott]

I don't like the bird logo. The perspective is off as stated before, but also it looks cross eyed and the red shading looks wrong. Just redo the eyes, they look very weird with "pupil", stylize it more. try giving a more 3/4s view, it tends to work better for birds.

The concept is very solid. The arm piping on the jerseys might be a little too complicated to see cleanly from afar, but it works for minor league. Honestly I'm not really feeling the half-shade on all the text logos. I feel like people do it too much on concepts here, and it would be cleaner without it. I kinda want to see you do something more with the cap logo. It's a little bland. But I love the primary, the jersey color combos look good, and I always love your presentations.

[bulldogbarks55]

Well thanks to all those who commented, would've liked some more but oh well.

I think I may abandon the bird secondary idea. I'm not really sure how else to "personify" a red wing. Any ideas?

I've been watching the Red Wings for more than 50 years. One thing you should do is lose the Black and Gold trim colors. The Wings colors were always Red and Navy Blue from their original parent St. Louis Cardinals. The uniforms the Wings wore from 1946 through 1969 would be perfect to go back to. The Black jerseys now are autrocious. You wear White at home, Grey on the road. I worked for the company that supplied the caps with the double-Wings-and-ball logo. They wore them from 1966-1971. Solid Navy New Era 850 with emblem the patch sewn on. We got the patches from the Buffalo Woven Label Works located in New York City, not Buffalo.

All the Black and Gold makes them look like a beer league softball team playing at Cobb's Hill. A team with as much heritage and pride as the Red Wings should dress more professionally and quit trying to impress a bunch of 12-year old fans.

Note to our Detroit friends- The Rochester Red Wings baseball club has used the nickname since 1928. That's well before your De-troy-it shinny boys (1934), eh?

[chestnutz]

Ya know before I started this whole concept I had no idea the Red Wings were the oldest team in the minors. Pretty interestin' fact.

bulldog, do you mean the colors they have now look beer league or their uniforms? I love their colors, but their uniforms I will agree are atrocious. They could learn a thing or two by going down to Cobbs Hill and seeing a team play haha.

I'll TRY to work on the bird head, but frankly I just suck at drawing birds (funny because my favorite animal is an eagle). If I can't get it to work I may scrap it altogether and come up with another variation on the ball and wings.

I'll definitely have an update though, thanks for the C&C.

[bulldogbarks55]

Ya know before I started this whole concept I had no idea the Red Wings were the oldest team in the minors. Pretty interestin' fact.

bulldog, do you mean the colors they have now look beer league or their uniforms? I love their colors, but their uniforms I will agree are atrocious. They could learn a thing or two by going down to Cobbs Hill and seeing a team play haha.

I'll TRY to work on the bird head, but frankly I just suck at drawing birds (funny because my favorite animal is an eagle). If I can't get it to work I may scrap it altogether and come up with another variation on the ball and wings.

I'll definitely have an update though, thanks for the C&C.

The Rochester IL franchise goes back to the late 1800s. The Red Wings nickname is since 1928. The team switched from Navy trim to Black in the late 1980s so as to be a little more like then-parent Baltimore. The addition of the Gold makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. READ MY LIPS- THE RED WINGS' COLORS SHOULD ALWAYS BE RED AND NAVY BLUE. PERIOD. END OF DISCUSSION.

Now, as to the current uniforms- I've always said that "Spikes" looks like the Atlanta Hawk on steroids. And you cannot read the lettering on the home Black jerseys. The current type face is OK, but the old '50s script is sweet. My point is that the oldest team in the league should dress to honor their heritage. MLB teams like the Yankees, Dodgers and Cardinals wear timeless uniforms that are instantly identified. The Wings '50s-'60s look, patterned after the parent Cardinals, was one of those simple, classy, timeless combinations that when you saw it you knew you were watching the ROCHESTER RED WINGS, not Shakey's Pizza or Al's Green Tavern. I rest my case.

[chestnutz]

Pretty big update:

-I deleted the inside-most layer of wings on the primary logo, so it's less detailed.

-Moved the strokes on the primary logo and wordmarks down, so it looks like it's looking up a bit

-Changed colors to red and navy. I figured why not honor tradition and go back to navy, and it also matches the Twins.

-Added the FC logo, which I debated with putting in earlier, because I love the Flower City moniker. Tweaked it a little.

-Got rid of the two-tone on the alternate logo and wordmarks

-Deleted shadow on baseball

-Uniforms were changed a bunch, I used the same sleeve striping that the Wings used in the Ripken era and that the Twins used in the 50's. I just wanted to make the whole uniform set feel more traditional and classic, since they're one of the original teams and should dress like so.

-Dropped the strokes on the numbers on jerseys

-Whole new hat set

-Home alternate I went with a very traditional look with a white cap and white vest, navy is used sparingly, and no piping.

-Changed road alternate to red.

-Probably a few more little things I'm forgetting.

Overall I'm happy with it, C&C appreciated!

[RIPmetrodome]

great improvement. i like the home hat idea. it is related to the TC logo "Twin Cities." (Twins are their major league affiliate). FC for "flour city" is a great idea. the current hats are a major improvement over the hats u had before.

[dgnmrwrw]

Well, I really did like the way the yellow looked in there. But all the changes you've made make perfect sense, and everything still looks very nice. Very good stuff.

[bulldogbarks55]

Pretty big update:

-I deleted the inside-most layer of wings on the primary logo, so it's less detailed.

-Moved the strokes on the primary logo and wordmarks down, so it looks like it's looking up a bit

-Changed colors to red and navy. I figured why not honor tradition and go back to navy, and it also matches the Twins.

-Added the FC logo, which I debated with putting in earlier, because I love the Flower City moniker. Tweaked it a little.

-Got rid of the two-tone on the alternate logo and wordmarks

-Deleted shadow on baseball

-Uniforms were changed a bunch, I used the same sleeve striping that the Wings used in the Ripken era and that the Twins used in the 50's. I just wanted to make the whole uniform set feel more traditional and classic, since they're one of the original teams and should dress like so.

-Dropped the strokes on the numbers on jerseys

-Whole new hat set

-Home alternate I went with a very traditional look with a white cap and white vest, navy is used sparingly, and no piping.

-Changed road alternate to red.

-Probably a few more little things I'm forgetting.

Overall I'm happy with it, C&C appreciated!

Very nice and classy. In fact these are far superior to their current "duds" which you can interpret any way you like. Hah, hah! Only thing you've got to do is make the numbers two-color. Two-color numbers will balance out the rest of the lettering. Also you could do home and away BP tops. Home Red pullover with the ball-and-wings logo on left chest, White numbers w/Navy outline. Away BP top- Navy with ball/wings logo, Red numbers outlined in White.

[PJBenterprises]

Chestnutz ? it?s always nice to see a fellow Rochesterian on the boards, but I have to admit ? Like Bulldog, I?m pretty protective of my hometown Wings, and definitely agree that for this team, tradition is the way to go. Additionally, there are a few points of clarification I must address to your original post.

You said: ?People round here in Rochester don't care too much for the Red Wings. I've lived here my whole life and love the city, but damn, you wouldn't know we had a AAA club."

I could not disagree more. In 1998 Baseball America named Rochester ?Baseball City USA?, and no other city has been named since. The Wings are consistently near the top of the International League in attendance, and while there have been some off-years, the team holds more governors cup championships than any other IL team (10 total). Further, many Rochesterians (myself included) hold a great sense of pride that such notables have come through Rochester on their way to the bigs as Ripken, Morneau, Mauer, Mussina, Finley, Musial, Gibson, Garza and Schilling (among many others).

That said, I do agree with your basic premise that the team could use an update to their visual identity. They?ve been using their current ?Spikes? (cartoon bird) mascot since 1997, when the team moved to Frontier Field. Their primary home uniform consists of a black jersey, black hat and white pants. This uniform set was introduced in ?97 as well, and has remained fairly consistent, with the exception of 2001 ? 2005, when a white jersey with the same basic design was worn at home.

And although the current identity is modern compared to their more traditional times, the team has introduced certain ?throwback? elements, recently, possibly as a means to appease local traditionalists like Bulldog and myself. Examples of this include the re-introduction of the ?Ball with Wings? logo (shown above) as a BP and alternate hat in 2003, the use of the ?Asymmetrical ball with wings? logo on the left sleeve of the ?08-present road jersey, and the use of the 1993-1996 ?Red Wings? script on the red BP jerseys, in use since the ?07 season. Also, it should be noted that the ?FC? logo shown above was not created by Chestnutz as RIPmetrodome suggested. It has been in use by the team off and on since the 2005 season. However, it has been used seldomly since ?07 when the 3930 version of the ?Ball with Wings? hat was introduced.

[chestnutz]

Chestnutz ? it?s always nice to see a fellow Rochesterian on the boards, but I have to admit ? Like Bulldog, I?m pretty protective of my hometown Wings, and definitely agree that for this team, tradition is the way to go. Additionally, there are a few points of clarification I must address to your original post.

You said: ?People round here in Rochester don't care too much for the Red Wings. I've lived here my whole life and love the city, but damn, you wouldn't know we had a AAA club."

I could not disagree more. In 1998 Baseball America named Rochester ?Baseball City USA?, and no other city has been named since. The Wings are consistently near the top of the International League in attendance, and while there have been some off-years, the team holds more governors cup championships than any other IL team (10 total). Further, many Rochesterians (myself included) hold a great sense of pride that such notables have come through Rochester on their way to the bigs as Ripken, Morneau, Mauer, Mussina, Finley, Musial, Gibson, Garza and Schilling (among many others).

That said, I do agree with your basic premise that the team could use an update to their visual identity. They?ve been using their current ?Spikes? (cartoon bird) mascot since 1997, when the team moved to Frontier Field. Their primary home uniform consists of a black jersey, black hat and white pants. This uniform set was introduced in ?97 as well, and has remained fairly consistent, with the exception of 2001 ? 2005, when a white jersey with the same basic design was worn at home.

And although the current identity is modern compared to their more traditional times, the team has introduced certain ?throwback? elements, recently, possibly as a means to appease local traditionalists like Bulldog and myself. Examples of this include the re-introduction of the ?Ball with Wings? logo (shown above) as a BP and alternate hat in 2003, the use of the ?Asymmetrical ball with wings? logo on the left sleeve of the ?08-present road jersey, and the use of the 1993-1996 ?Red Wings? script on the red BP jerseys, in use since the ?07 season. Also, it should be noted that the ?FC? logo shown above was not created by Chestnutz as RIPmetrodome suggested. It has been in use by the team off and on since the 2005 season. However, it has been used seldomly since ?07 when the 3930 version of the ?Ball with Wings? hat was introduced.

Well for me at least, I almost never see or hear people talking or caring about the Wings game at all. They aren't covered much in the D&C, the only time you'd see them on TV is a little 20 second clip on RNews or a few games on TWSN. Perhaps it's cause when I was a kid (late 90s) they really sucked, so that has psychologically made me always think the Wings suck and I don't care for them.

And I never said I created the FC logo, if you read my post, I said I made slight changes to the logo which was NOT made by me.

Thank you for your history lesson though, always good to see other peeps from the ROC around here.