NFL Expansion League

[seancarter]

Memphis Monarchs For Memphis Team In NFL Expansion League

[Brave-Bird 08]

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[rentz]

Drop the two-tone on the logo. Try to keep all the shading black. Not only does it minimize your color use but it looks stronger and is more effective.

I think I would lose the gold circle on the helmet as (and it may just be me) I can't help but see it as an eye.

[droozer]

I think the Memphis team should be called the Pharaohs. Memphis is name after the Ancient Egyptian city.

[dgnmrwrw]

I've been away for a while, so I'll comment on both concepts so far. I really like what you've done with the Invaders concept. The logos are a bit simplified and probably could use some refinement, but the still look nice. The colors are fantastic, and the uniforms are modern without being annoying. Pretty good stuff.

I also (generally) like the Defenders concept. The uniforms are good. The colors are nice, though they are very similar (especially in use on the uniforms) to the 49ers. You could probably tweak them if you wanted a little more differentiation. I do think that the Defenders logo (just like the Invaders) could use a little bit of refinement, particularly with respect to line weight.

Overall, you're off to a good start. I hope you see it through to the end.

[Dodger]

Wow, both the Invaders and Defenders look great! I really like the logos and color schemes for both teams. Can't wait to see more of these.

[illwauk]

- Kalamazoo Mallrats (home to the USA's first shopping mall). Though I do think Grand Rapids would be a better place for the team.

I would agree if Grand Rapids had a suitable venue for such a team, but to my knowledge, they don't. That's why I suggested Kalamazoo instead.

- Milwaukee Hogs (home to Harley-Davidson)

Love the idea of a Harley/motorcycle theme, but I couldn't take a team called the Hogs seriously... Outlaws, Ironhorses and Thunder are all better ways to convey the outlaw biker image.

[illwauk]

#2-Los Angeles Defenders

I was thinking "Gladiators" would be a much better name since they'd (most likely) be playing in the Coliseum.

I also have to agree that these unis make them look waaaay too much like the Niners. Maybe if you de-emphasized the gold and made that maroon/crimson the definite primary color.

[Brave-Bird 08]

I take all comments into consideration, but I would have to disagree with some peoples assesments that the team looks like San Fran

the 9ers are now bright red and gold, with no black and classic striping

my concept is a darker red, gold, but also features a heavy dose of black. also, san fran does not have a black jersey or red pants.

Just to justify my standing, but again I respect your opinions.

[illwauk]

I take all comments into consideration, but I would have to disagree with some peoples assesments that the team looks like San Fran

the 9ers are now bright red and gold, with no black and classic striping

my concept is a darker red, gold, but also features a heavy dose of black. also, san fran does not have a black jersey or red pants.

Just to justify my standing, but again I respect your opinions.

I understand your point, but when I said it looked way too much like the Niners, I meant that as in LA is too close to SF. If this was a team from any other part of the country, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

But since the Niners did remove almost all of its black and this team would (in theory) never actually meet the Niners on the field, it can slide.

I actually do love the concept and the execution.

[Puck]

I like the logo and look, so I don't mean any disrespect but I wanted to ask this.

Is anyone else feeling a little bit of a Taco Bell vibe looking at the helmet, or is that just me?

[oo_nrb]

I like the logo and look, so I don't mean any disrespect but I wanted to ask this.

Is anyone else feeling a little bit of a Taco Bell vibe looking at the helmet, or is that just me?

I think it's just you

[Puck]

I like the logo and look, so I don't mean any disrespect but I wanted to ask this.

Is anyone else feeling a little bit of a Taco Bell vibe looking at the helmet, or is that just me?

I think it's just you

it's why I asked the populous.

by all means, please continue with this thread.

[9erssteve]

I like the logo and look, so I don't mean any disrespect but I wanted to ask this.

Is anyone else feeling a little bit of a Taco Bell vibe looking at the helmet, or is that just me?

Okay I dont quite get a Taco Bell vibe but I think I know where you're coming from. The Taco Bell logo is really simplistic and I think this logo is too. In fact I said it earlier and I'll say it again I think it's to simplistic. The logo has no purpose about it, it is what it is just a simplified rendering of a helmet. It's a pretty good one but nothing more, there's no one in it, there's no real sense of emotion, energy or movement, it's just a stylised helmet. Right now I keep expecting Marvin the Martian to pop out of it and ask me to "take me to your leader", it's almost cartoonishly simple.

Compared to other historical helmet logos it seems a little young, I wanted to say childish but that's too harsh, but compare it to say the Cologne Centurions logo of the defunct NFLE and you'll see what I mean, one has a certain level of menace or aggression to it the other looks like an image you might find on a CD of historical images for kids school projects.

I think it's been executed pretty well, the only issue I have from that standpoint is why the gold circle has no outline when everything else does? I also think since the name change it's a more fitting choice of subject for the logo but I feel it lacks something as a sports logo, it just doesn't have that "IT" factor you would expect to see in an NFL logo, it's too cheerful for want of a better phrase.

I can see why people have made the 9ers comparison with regards the uniforms but I think since the 9ers reverted to the old school look there is certainly enough difference for them to be successfully implemented. I think it's a good start but the question that needs to be asked is would a demographic of say 16 to 25 year old males really be happy to wear that logo on a T-shirt to a game or if old enough a bar? Honestly I think the answer would probably be no it's just too simple.

9erssteve

[Brave-Bird 08]

thanks for all of the comments!

just for an update, i am a busy man. i have classes 3 days a week and have to cover 8th grade football games on off days, so concepts will be rare during the week.

my prime hours for actually sticking my nose into this are Sunday afternoons...or sat at sometime when im not doing anything.

with that said, concept #3 should turn up this weekend. This thread WILL go to the end.

[JH42XCC]

• Boise (ID) Bruisers (Bruisers was one of the names suggested for the Boise af2 team before deciding on Burn)
  
• Las Vegas (NV) Silverados (Nevada's nickname is the Silver State) or Cutthroats (Nevada's state fish is the Lohontan Cutthroat Trout)
  
• **Los Angeles (CA) Defenders**
  
• Portland (OR) Explorers (European explorers first arrived in what is now Oregon during the 17th century)
  

• San Antonio (TX) Generals (city has a strong military presence)
  
• Oklahoma City (OK) Roughnecks (Roughnecks are oiler workers; name also pays homage to Oklahoma being one of the largest producers of crude oil)
  
• **Albuquerque (NM) Invaders**
  
• Salt Lake City (UT) Pioneers (Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by Mormon pioneers)
  

• Memphis (TN) RiverHounds (Memphis is situated on the Mississippi River; partially named after mid-1990s NFL expansion attempt known as the Memphis Hound Dogs)
  
• Orlando (FL) Blazers (named after old World Football League team, which was actually called the Florida Blazers)
  
• Richmond (VA) Stars (taken from the city's motto "Sic Itur Ad Astra", which is latin for "Thus Do We Reach the Stars")
  
• Greensboro (NC) Revolution (a key battle in the American Revolution, the Battle of Guilford Court House, took place in what is now Greensboro in March of 1781; also a name of a former indoor football team)
  

• Kalamazoo (MI) Tribe (what is now Kalamazoo was once inhabited by Native Americans of the Hopewell tradition)
  
• Milwaukee (WI) Lakers (Milwaukee is located on the shore of Lake Michigan)
  
• Columbus (OH) Ironmen (Columbus is home to a Fortune 500 steel-processing company and the largest steel foundry in North America)
  
• Albany (NY) Senators (Albany is the capital of New York State) or Beavers (New York's state animal is the American Beaver)
  

[elliott]

I like your first effort but not really feeling this LA concept. It's been mentioned before, but the highlights look pretty weak. The simplicity without them would be better. The rendering of the helmet isn't exactly very professional, the name Defenders gives me the impression of power and bravery or something strong like that, so you want a logo that reflects this. However it's very static, it's just a helmet sitting there not doing much of anything, so then with this simple side view rendering I would expect more of an iconic feel, but the attempt to make it 3d doesn't do that justice. I think what you want is more of a bold helmet rendering. Teams like Michigan state have highly simplified side views that end of looking very classy, but your logo is too busy with the highlights to achieve this, so you are better off going for a powerful rendering, I'm just not seeing that here. I know I'm kinda rambling here so hopefully what I've said makes sense.

Also I don't see much consistency in the uniforms. Take the road combo, the shoulder stripe has the gold piping offset from the black with the white inner stripe, but then I feel a sharp contrast with that with the gold in between red and black on the numbers. Then you have the gold stripe next to black on the collar, which also contrasts with the shoulder. The red pants stripe doesn't really match anything; if you look at the red jersey it goes white-gold-black, but then the pants go simply black-gold, no white. I think you just need to figure out what you want to do with the striping across the whole uniform set and make it, well, uniform.

[pobably]

maybe i like simpleness but i like the defenders concept even more than the invaders one i absolutely love the color choice it reminds me of boston college but better with the added details on the uniform on the shoulder and on the pants great job the update to the invaders concept looks great as well and i like the alternate logo for the invaders as well it was predictable for it to be a UFO but for some reason it looks a little different then i was expecting maybe a little more cartoon like than i was thinking but different in a good way... i will be keeping up with this thread and awaiting the next team

[Brave-Bird 08]

***ALERT***

lame news here. As much as I enjoyed starting this thread, I do not think I will be able to finish it off.

I have recently picked up two writing internships which take up my time in the afternoon, commuting to football games all around Atlanta.

I also have 17 hours worth of classes

basically, I do not have the time anymore to stick it to making full fledged concepts.

If I alone tried to finish this off, it might take a year.

With that said, I would love to see the idea go through...so hopefully you guys can do your own concepts for the cities? Even if multiple concepts are done for each?!

That would be cool. I might throw in like an NFL redesign or something, or an NBA redesign, because I have those logos and wordmarks...

but designing stuff on my own takes at least 2 days...I only have about 2 hours of free time every day and ...well, lets face it, I really do not consider my computer the primary option for those 2 hrs haha.

hope to see some concepts on here, but for now it is no longer just my project.

[pobably]

wow this sucks alot but i understand what you mean great concept while it was going hope maybe if you ever get more time in the future you will consider starting it back up?