British College Football

[heernumurr]

I was bored and looking for a project, came across the British Universities American Football League. Now these teams are in no way comparable to NCAA football, it's pretty small-time and the team identities are what you'd expect. Everything is seems thrown together, and there is a lot of ripping off US teams. Not surprising since the players are probably having to buy the gear themselves, but I thought I'd have a go at tidying everything up and making it a little more unique.

So here's my local team (not my university though) the Leeds Celtics. Not sure where the name comes from, though it seems to have less to do with Ireland than would be expected. Even so, I decided to take the black out of the set as it doesn't really work in my eyes. The logo is an update of their celtic cross, and I've gone with more of that feel in the wordmark. I've tried to keep the uniforms as simple as possible to emphasise the colours, and to suit teams that probably don't have much money to spend on them.

It would be great to get some C&C on these, especially from a North American point of view. Hopefully I'll do a some more of these concepts if I have time and if there's an interest in seeing them.

Cheers!

[chestnutz]

I really love the primary logo, Will. Great modern, 3/4 take on a classic symbol. It works very well on the helmet as well. The uniforms are plain, I'd like to see you use some more creativity with them, even though they may have a low budget in real life. It's a concept, pretend they're as rich as the Cowboys

[logoman]

I like this a lot. Very clean and effective. The logo and helmet are beautiful and the unis are perfect for a team on a budget.I wouldn't change a thing about it.

[dgnmrwrw]

Ah! A celtic cross! I've just finished a logo with a similar cross.

Your logo is very nice, and the perspective is pretty interesting. I like it. I'm not yet sold on the helmet treatment, but it's not bad. Everything is very clean and simple, which is good, but I wonder if it might not be a bit too simple. A single over-the-shoulder stripe and pants stripe could go a long way. I can also understand not wanting to use black, but is there perhaps another color that could be implemented sparingly? It could provide a lot of depth.

[Ted Cunningham]

I really love the primary logo, Will. Great modern, 3/4 take on a classic symbol. It works very well on the helmet as well. The uniforms are plain, I'd like to see you use some more creativity with them, even though they may have a low budget in real life. It's a concept, pretend they're as rich as the Cowboys

This is such an interesting idea for a concept series. A great part of me wants to say "since the uniforms are so simple, go traditionalist. Grey facemasks all the way!" But then I realize, there's really no precedent for American football uniforms in Britain. So I'd suggest taking chestnutz's advice and go crazy. Many football (futbol) uniform templates are so out there and yet still look tasteful and coherent. If I were you, I'd take a little inspiration from there, and a little from American football uniforms (past and present) and flex your creative muscle.

As for these uniforms, I really like the face you used for the numerals. (Traditionalist, like I said ) The cross is a very cool logo, and the odd perspective makes it unique. (I like how the bottom goes off of the helmet.) If you want to stick with just green and white (emphasizing just the two colors) maybe look to the Polish national soccer team's uniforms? (I've always liked how they look modern, but stick with just the two colors.)

[Davidson]

celtics text isnt very celtic at all. id take a look at this.

i actually played leeds celtics when i was at uni. i played for the nottingham outlaws, haha,

do them next!

[heernumurr]

The "Celtics" text was my attempt at a more stylised, modern Celtic typeface, since I didn't want to just use the same stock type you see on Irish themed pubs everywhere. I'm not very experienced at custom type, so I'll try giving this an update at a later date once I've had more practice.

I'm not sure about the cross on the helmet. Sometimes I really like it as something a little different, sometimes it looks awkward. I'll perhaps introduce a helmet-only logo with a more traditional head-on perspective. However, considering how simple the rest of the set is, I'd like the helmet to be unique.

As for the uniforms, I think I want to keep them this simple. I had tried something with Celtic knot patterns on the sleeves, which looked good but I really want to emphasises the cost-effective side. I'm going to continue this as a series, and not all the uniforms will be as plain. However, I've set myself some rules to try and keep this somewhat viable to the actual teams. Only simple striping patterns, one helmet, ones set of pants and socks. The only thing that will change for the uniforms will be the jerseys, all teams will have a colour and a white.

[Davidson]

yeah, i know what you mean about the font, but there are a few things i would recommend.

celtic characters (for better or worse) have certain conventions. e's as' t's k's etc are never seen in their western capital style.

http://www.stoneengravings.co.uk/images2/celtic.jpg

and you would never see a genuine celtic script that used fixed width letters like that. your c's and e's would be extended well beyond your t's.

[Saintsfan]

American Football has always had quite a cult status on British University campusses. (at least some of them!) At my own Alma Mater, Staffordshire University, it had that vaguely cult status! (I think perhaps because it was one sport we were vaguely competitive at!!)

Go Stallions!!

[heernumurr]

Thanks for the feedback so far, I'm going to take Fraser's tips on board and try the Celtics type again.

Here are a couple more teams, I went for different a different approach for each. Birmingham have a weird red, blue and yellow colour scheme with white helmets ehich is pretty unique but I wanted to try and give them a more subtle look. The logo is a deliberate attempt at a non-aggressive or fierce lion, I really don't think the opposition is going to be intimidated by the picture on your helmet. Obviously there's an epic lion-based football logo getting a lot of well deserved praise on the boards at the minute, and I don't think this is anywhere near that standard. However, it's pretty close to what I was going for and C&C will surely improve it.

Went for a much simpler concept with Nottingham. The secondary is based on the Robin Hood statue in Nottingham, and the wordmark and primary logo go with this medieval theme. The primary is a really simple gothic style "N", I wanted to capture the iconic feel of the Bulldogs or Badgers helmets. Kept the same colour combo as the team's current set; I love the black helmet, white jersey, black pants and didn't want to try and force another colour into the set.

[chestnutz]

Love Nottingham. It's great for a low budget team, from the logos to the uniforms. I get a Friday Night Lights vibe from the set, which I LOVE, I mean I love a solid black and white identity.

The Lions, not feeling too much. I just don't think the logos are up to snuff for you. The spaces between each shape (the blue lines) aren't even at all, kind of randomly placed and jaggedy. He looks pretty depressed, and a bit wide. Wordmark is great though. Not a huge fan of the uniforms, but they're not horrible. I'd prefer blue pants on the away, but that's just because I love white on color away uniforms.

[watermelonman]

it seems like the half-and-half multi-color lettering in the wordmark is popular. dont know what i mean, here are some examples:

Edmonton Oilers concept

New York Islanders concept

not saying thats a bad thing, though, because many of these wordmarks are beautiful.

but your lion looks depressed. it wishes it was never drawn. maybe a fiercer facial expression will improve the lion design.

and your nottingham outlaw uniforms remind me of a prisoner's outfit. wait.... outlaws=eventual prisoners!! great job on tying the team name to the uniform-style!

but seriously, i like your decision to stay simple with these concepts. because with a small college budget, its hard to have multiple uniforms and over-the-top design aspects. IMO, simple things can go a long ways. think detroit red wings or the new york yankees.

[dgnmrwrw]

I actually quite like where both of these are starting out. I really like the colors for Birmingham, and the logo is pretty good. I like the more regal look to the lion. If you want to play with it, look at using a standard line weight throughout the logo, probably something close to the top of the gold outline (maybe a little thicker). You could also look at more dynamic white highlights or sharper edges on some of the strokes, but it's really nice as is. The uniforms are simple, but clean and they look good. A gold helmet and pants might have looked good (though they may not work with that logo), but the white is fine.

I concur with everything chestnutz said about Nottingham. Something about that all-black and white look just works. The "N" logo really should be too simple, but it's not, and it looks great on the helmet. You could probably improve the secondary logo by removing most of his legs, enlarging him, bringing him closer to the wordmark, and letting the bow overlap the wordmark (and give that bow a string!).

[heernumurr]

Here's a quick update of the Birmingham set. Tried to take most of the advice given, tidying up the logo a bit, trying out blue pants instead of white and a bolder design on the jersey sleeves. I'm not sure this is quite there yet, but hopefully heading in the right direction.

[wildwing64]

Wow, this is a thread I didn't think I'd ever see here.

I like what you've done for Leeds, but as much as I think the removal of black works, it is one of the University's main colours, so I don't think a teeny tiny bit of black would hurt the uniform design. The way you've applied the helmet logo is rather unique, but I'm not sure how that would translate onto a real helmet for a low budget team.

The update to your Lions logo is better than the first, and the bolder striping on the sleeves works well. Overall, a huge upgrade from what they are using at the moment... http://www.birminghamlions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/varney.jpg

As for Nottingham, this redesign is pretty much perfect. Although I like their current primary/helmet logo, yours works just as well, if not better.

Now howabout a redesign for my University's Anglia Ruskin Phantoms? (Because their logo and uniform are a complete joke. I actually have a fairly amateurish redesign in the works which I may post sometime.)

[Hathaway Browne]

Excellent designs, can't wait to see what else you come up with.

[Saintsfan]

Good upgrade on the Lions. The sleeves definitely look better. I am a little bit in two minds as two which of the Lions logos I like best. The new one looks quite a friendly cuddly lion really, but is definitely clearer.