Philadelphia Union Jersey Unveiled

[Viola73]

EVERY CITY has a working class, has people who wear hard hats, people who work on docks, etc. The identity would be perfectly valid for Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Philadelphia, Dallas - well, maybe not Dallas, since all they do is ride around on horses, rope cows, and fire six-shooters up in the air. [insert smiley of choice here]

I get the feeling that the average person has a view of the country where some cities are made up of steel bangers, fishermen, pipe fitters, nail hammerers, etc., while other cities are comprised of 500,000 accountants.

This is true and is a valid point, but like you also said the average joe thinks of certain images or professions when a city, state, or region is mentioned. Let me rephrase that...the average joe thinks of certain CLASSIC images when....

It is this perception that sports teams play off of and that cement itself into images, logos, and trademarks that at one time might have been an accurate but through time has become history.

[BBTV]

EVERY CITY has a working class, has people who wear hard hats, people who work on docks, etc. The identity would be perfectly valid for Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Philadelphia, Dallas - well, maybe not Dallas, since all they do is ride around on horses, rope cows, and fire six-shooters up in the air. [insert smiley of choice here]

I get the feeling that the average person has a view of the country where some cities are made up of steel bangers, fishermen, pipe fitters, nail hammerers, etc., while other cities are comprised of 500,000 accountants.

This is true and is a valid point, but like you also said the average joe thinks of certain images or professions when a city, state, or region is mentioned. Let me rephrase that...the average joe thinks of certain CLASSIC images when....

It is this perception that sports teams play off of and that cement itself into images, logos, and trademarks that at one time might have been an accurate but through time has become history.

Fair enough.

[walkerws]

Well I like Columbus' logo, but Gordie's is much better. I think the only thing I like better on the Crew logo is hte patch shape and that's just a personal dislike for straight edged badges. Philadelphia's badge is really good. The use of the Continental colors is nice. If the US picked up the tradition of using the continental colors kind of how italy wears blue, that'd make a sick 3rd set. Especially sans three stripes!

[gordie_delini]

Since it's come up in this thread, I'd like to emphasize that I had a minor role in creating the logo posted above. Gabe did the initial design, crafted the characters and designed the type. What I did was refine and tweak positioning, placement, crest shape and some other minor details. Gabe should really get most of the credit for that crest.

[walkerws]

You two did great work! Is the secondary logo more of a North American sports thing? I'd love to see what some people would think of for a second for the Union.

[Gothamite]

The Union do have a secondary.

They also use the snake on its own as a tertiary (but not often enough), the way Arsenal use their cannon on its own as a secondary.

[BBTV]

Was in City Sports in Center City Phila today, and saw all the Union merch. It all looks great - the shirts, replica jerseys, caps, etc. They're going to sell a lot of stuff - I just wish it translated better on the field (just my opinion that it's a little drab.)

[walkerws]

I agree. I think if it was a brighter gold, it'd look more vibrant.

[SteveR]

That's what I got out of that gold -- a whole lotta meh in that it's in that no man's land between Vegas gold and athletic gold (i.e. yellow). To me, neither the jersey or shorts work in that color. It's a fine striping/trim color.

I'm thinking a white jersey with that gold as a strong secondary color would be better, as would blue shorts.

[Gothamite]

Was in City Sports in Center City Phila today, and saw all the Union merch. It all looks great - the shirts, replica jerseys, caps, etc. They're going to sell a lot of stuff - I just wish it translated better on the field (just my opinion that it's a little drab.)

Dude, we've seen it in one game. In the rain. Isn't it a little early?

Seriously, navy and metallic gold is a great color combination that looks dull in anything other than direct sunlight. Ask any fan of the Brewers or Rams.

[Sport]

For the longest time I thought that "D.C. United" was just another one of those singular nicknames that were all the rage in the 90's. "The United" were just like "Heat", "Magic", "Revolution", "Crew" or "Mutiny". When it dawned on me that "The D.C. United" was simply "D.C. United" then I found that I liked the name even better.

As for the crew, I guess it's an okay nickname. People in town have always liked to joke that they're named "The Crew" because of all the road construction that we have. I'm not sure if Columbus has more road construction than any other large city, but I've always thought it was kind of a silly name for a city that is fairly white collar.

[walkerws]

I don't think any city in Ohio is white collar. It's the state capital so I guess that kind of counts.

[FirearmofMutiny]

For the longest time I thought that "D.C. United" was just another one of those singular nicknames that were all the rage in the 90's. "The United" were just like "Heat", "Magic", "Revolution", "Crew" or "Mutiny". When it dawned on me that "The D.C. United" was simply "D.C. United" then I found that I liked the name even better.

As for the crew, I guess it's an okay nickname. People in town have always liked to joke that they're named "The Crew" because of all the road construction that we have. I'm not sure if Columbus has more road construction than any other large city, but I've always thought it was kind of a silly name for a city that is fairly white collar.

To the Crew's credit, I love their tagline: "America's Hardest Working Team". Including working through all the Village People jokes Crew fans have had to endure.

[Brian in Boston]

Was in City Sports in Center City Phila today...

Wow! That brings back a flood of memories. I worked in the original City Sports location on Mass Ave in Boston back in the day. A great company to work for; I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

Sorry for the interruption, gang. Back to your Philly kit discussion.