Random Astros Concept

[illwauk]

First, a little background... "googie" was the name of a style of architecture, signage and graphics that first emerged in the 1950s and lasted until around the mid 1960s. It was rooted in America's newfound fascination with space travel and atomic energy and was especially prevalent around the western part of the country, although it spread to many other parts as well. Common features of googie design included asymmetrical boomerangs, atoms and starbursts. Rule of thumb... if it wouldn't look out of place on The Jetsons, it's probably googie.

The Houston Astros name is a very timely reflection of this era and plenty of googie-influenced elements were part of their early identity. I got the idea when I was thinking about how so many teams that came of age in the 70s were coerced into giving up their unique identities in the 90s due to the pullover-era backlash. Ironically though, I was able to construct a googie-style script for the 'stros using elements from their more recent history.

Home

The most distinctive feature of the Astros "classic" uniforms was obviously their rainbow guts jersey. Even nearly two decades after the last version of the rainbow jerseys was worn full-time, the franchise is still identified with them that the 'stros found it necessary to incorporate in their anniversarry logo. I tried to incorporate it into the uniforms more subtly by giving them rainbow piping. I also used a classic block font for the numbers because I feel the scripts are the strongest part of this package and I didn't want a number font that would distract from it. It also looked like something a Texas team would've worn in the 60s (and did, in the case of the Cowboys).

Road

I changed the piping on the roads to navy and orange because the rainbow piping faded into the grey.

[illwauk]

Home Alt:

Road Alt:

[Ted Cunningham]

I think it's damn solid. I'd stick with just orange/navy and leave out the red and gold (even though I know that's a nod to the rainbow jerseys).

Also, maybe try and uniform the stars? I really like how the "italic" star looks coming off the wordmarks. I also really like the use of one color for the numbers (instead of gratuitous outlining).

Three caps may be overkill, but I definitely like orange at home and blue on the road.

[bohob]

I think the wordmarks don't fit. The rest appears to have a place, even the rainbow sleeves, but the wordmarks are too serious for what could be a fun concept.

[knnhrvy16]

This is probably my favorite Astros concept. I think this successfully evokes every era in team history and wraps it all into one uniform, and I think it's brilliant. Personally, I can't suggest anything to make it better. Awesome execution, and good work!

[LEWJ]

I personally would get rid of the rainbow piping on the home and alts.

Personally it doesn't tie in all too well with the road.

I'd use the piping on the road uniforms on the home and something similar on the alts.

I'd stick to just Navy, Orange, and White.

As for the cap, it really doesn't tie into the whole identity either.

I'd simply recolor this cap, so that it matches the star on the jersey. The star alone has worked effectively for a long time now.

All in all, I really like where you're going with this concept. Just make some changes to really tie together the identity.

[lancebridwell]

Nice set. That road uni has tigers written all over it.

[BBTV]

1. The rainbow trim looks nice the way you used it.

2. The single-color script looks great, especially on the road jersey. Ditto for the star. No outlines necessary.

3. The front number clashes with everything. It's from a different era than the script and star, and looks very out of place. Either use a different font or (preferably) lose it all together.

4. The cap logo looks strange because of it's static star and serifed letter clashing with the dynamic star and script lettering on the jersey. I think a slight modernization / redesign would work well.

[TwoRsAndTwoLs]

If I were you I would consider taking the left edge of the "italic star" and making it parallel to the line that the workmark scripts are set upon. I think it looks good already, though I could take or leave the front numbers, but I'm just curious what that would look like.

[yauger72]

god these are so much better than what they have now.

[illwauk]

Here's some updates. I relegated the H-Star caps and rainbow piping to the alternates.

Home (v2):

Road (v2):

[illwauk]

Home Alt (v2):

Road Alt (v2):

[JWoods077]

Well, I was actually a lot more partial to the first set. But this isn't real life is it?