brandIDENTITY: the NEW "New" New Orleans Saints

[tBBP]

Guess who's back? Yup...been a good while since I done messed around up in these parts.

Truth of the matter is that I've had so many ideas floating around in my mind over the months (and years), but just never had the time or desire to try to work any of them out. Having said that, the creative "bug" never really did die; I've also been studying much of the work of others as well as working to further develop and improve on my own skills and thought processes, with the thought in mind that if I ever get back to doing this, I definitely got to step my game up, push the envelope some more, and try some things I haven't yet seen tried. The new crop of talented up-and-comers around here, as well as some recently posted excellent work by several vets, has inspired me to actually try and hammer out some new stuff--as well as tighten down and finish some stuff I've had sitting for the longest time, this concept set being one of them. (Refreshing my own personal brand being another...which is also visible in this concept.)

Alright, enough of the soapbox...onto the concept now.

This is my third go-round for this particular team. This was my first one, from way back when I first joined up here. The second one was a collabo between myself and BlueSky (then known as skyaa1), which was actually his idea.. Those can be seen here and here. BlueSky's main idea in that collabo was the use of a white Saints helmet, the inspiration of which he told me came from Georgia Tech's old-school throwback uniforms a couple years ago. My idea to go along with that was heavy emphasis on gold and white, since currently no major pro sports team features gold as its main color. That idea was also a re-hash of the Saints' original uniforms, seen here. Well...for this concept set, not much has changed in that regard.

My primary goal in this set was to craft a fresh update of the Saints' current identity. To my memory, I can't recall having seen anyone actually take a shot at updating the longstanding fleur-de-lis logo. To be sure, it ain't easy, and for all the concepts I've posted in here over the years, very rarely have I ever set out to create any actual logos. But after studying endless amounts of fleur-de-lis photos as well as pictures of wrought-iron fences in New Orleans (and after finally committing my mind to trying my hand at logo design for once), I came up with an idea for a new logo, sketched it all out, and ran with it. Somehow, I figured I could make a fleur-de-lis out of the tip of a fencepost and two crescents (being that New Orleans is also known as the "Crescent City"), held together by a metal ring. To me, it symbolizes strength in unity--something many in the city of New Orleans know well about by this point. Origially I wasn't going to try any 3D effects, but the "logo" looked too flat, so I added a 3-d bevel effect--the first time I've ever tried my hand at beveling--to liven it up. I also carried that theme over to the new wordmark I created, the inspiration of which came from New Orleans' Hornets font. Still not sold on it, but I'll leave it as is for now. Along with that new primary mark, I crafted two supporting marks--one a crescent over the word "NOLA", inspired by the New Orleans Police badges, the other an update of the old LA state patch. Of course, I also created new customized numbers, again inspired by the Hornets, though not exactly similar.

As for the uniforms themselves, I followed much the same theme this time as with the collabo. I stuck with the white helmet idea and heavy emphasis on the gold (more like brass this go-round). The jersey design is much the same as the current, except I used my updated state patch in place of the current sleeve fleur-de-lis. Though I didn't label a primary or alternate in the finished set, I went into this project with the idea of a gold primary (again, something that'd be unique to major pro sports) and a black alternate. The three jerseys are accompanied by two pants choices--gold and white. Having said that, I also went back and re-created that "throwback alt" from my first Saints concept, inspired by those original Saints uniforms, but with a twist. Look for it in the player model rendering.

All in all, I've attempted to go somewhere new with this concept set. I wanted to include visual cues reminiscent of New Orleans without necessarily screaming "New Orleans", if that makes any sense. At the same time, I wanted to follow the lead of other current contemporary "classics" out there (think Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens), and keep this set simple yet distinctive. So with all that said, and with no further ado, here I present my latest concept set...the new NEW "New" New Orleans Saints.

Y'all know what to do...need some good C&C about this here. Lemme know what you think...and thanks in advance.

~Buc

[Cyclone20]

Even though i dislike the saints i think this is a very good upadate of their current set. I know lots of people love the standard block letters, but i think teams need to be more original with their fonts. The only change i would make is maybe add more detail to the louisiana patch because it looks a little akward as it is, but over all it is a nice set and a definate upgrade.

[Epiphanic]

I really like your fleur-de-lis. Very clever. I did notice that the crecents are skewed. Since you're going for the "Crecent City" connection, I think it'd be better if they were more circular. It's a minor quibble, but it's something that catches my eye.

[The Impaler]

Love it, nice update on the FDL. I will say, the one thing I really like about the saints current set is the lack of white, but I understand you wanted to go in a different direction, and it really looks fantastic. Honestly, don't think I would change a thing.

[bohob]

I agree with epi about the crescents in the fluer-de-lis and cyclone about the state logo. I main issue with the state logo is that there are two insignias inside the state, and they compete with each other, giving the logo no true focal point. The wordmarks and numbers are great though!

[Dogeshak]

Saints NEED to switch to a white helmet, great job! Your Concept > The Saints' Current

[ESTONES6]

I really like how its been developed. Its a simple, but consistent design with the stripes, which I love, personally.

I think the new logo is great. Well done. I am worried about the over-simplification of the Louisiana state logo though. I think it does it a dis-service. I like the idea of putting the arc that mimics the police badge, but I'm not sure it fits with the Louisianan logo.

Also... you used only white, gold, and black throughout the uniforms and logos, but then used gray on the Louisianan state logo. I think you should try to keep with the same, consistent color pallet.

Other than those 2 or 3 things... this looks great. You picked a nice color of Gold.

[BrandMooreArt]

i think you could go even lighter on the highlight colors of the logos. white is probably too stark of a contrast, but something lighter than what you have would be better.

i dont mind the typeface of the wordmark, but im not crazy about the numbers for no other reason than it just dosnt appeal to me.

maybe give the entire Saints wordmark an arch to reflect the cresent? it dosnt have to be too extreme though.

[andrewharrington]

Tell you what, I'm not feeling any of the supporting marks, or the white helmets too much, but the primary logo and the jersey numerals are really nice. On the primary, I'd explore dropping the beveling and choking in the inner shapes a little so that the outlines are bolder. I'd love to see it on a coppery-gold helmet like that original photo. You numbers are great because they are unique, yet they are still very functional and do not stray very far from classic block.

[tBBP]

Thanks so far to all who've chimed in.

@ Epiphanic...you are correct in that those crescents are a tabdit skewed upward...for whatever reason, the whole thing looked thrown off originally, so I "stretched" it upwards a little. I think I'll go back and mock up a version with the more circular crescents and put them side-by-side so you all can see what's up. Speaking of which, @Drew, just so I know I'm reading your post right...by "dropping", are you suggesting eliminating the beveling entirely? I can go back and mock that up as well. Speaking of, @ BrandN (nice mashup of that first name, btw), my original thought was to try to arch the script mark into something of a crescent shape, but in doing so it started looking mighty "forced", so I reverted to the current look. I can go back and see about sketching out another way to do that, though.

Also, I think I'll mock up a set of gold helmets with a black fleur (i'd presume in a solid shape, or perhaps with the same bevel effect), just to give you all a good visual. Whichever gets the best reviews will then be rendered onto one of those photo-realistic templates. I personally like the white helmet idea, but a stronger case can be made for keeping the gold lids (tradition, more universal to the different uniform combos).

Stay tuned for an update at some point down the line.

[CJworks]

I saw this concept earlier this morning, but didn't have time to comment.

Lot to like here, love the new logos, especially the wordmark and feur-de-lis. That white helmet looks great as well, similar to one I was working on for a fantasy team.

The only thing that's lacking is the uniforms. I don't particularly like the shade of gold, it almost looks orange. An update of their current unis would probably be your best bet.

Love it so far, nice work.

[carlosgg6]

I dont like the white helmet, but the whole concept is good

PD: "the NEW "New" New Orleans Saints"....that kills me

[-Akronite-]

A few things I noticed:

1. The LA state logo does not work IMO. You oversimplified the shape of the state so that it's nearly unrecognizable to someone who is unfamiliar with the New Orleans Saints. Also, putting two logos inside instead of a logo/wordmark of some sort makes it seem unbalanced and odd.

2. While I'm fine with their current flour de lis, this new one is a nice concept. I like the use of crescents within it. But, the crescent logo on its own seems odd and out of place. It just doesn't seem like a good representative of the team.

3. The jerseys look nice, helmets included. I am not a fan generally of logos on sleeves (I prefer some sort of striping or clever design) but the everything else works seamlessly. And really, the only problem I see with this logo is slapping it on the gold jersey, because it really hides it.

It seems that most people that come up with concepts, yourself included, do a phenomenal job of putting them together and presenting their ideas. When reading comments though, I feel like I'm the only one critiquing the ideas themselves in my head and not just their execution. I feel like concept-wise I'm overly critical but I'm always impressed by the presentation.

[Discrim]

on the gold jersey, the state map gets lost. I'd use the NOLA crescent on there instead, honestly, cus like others have said, the state map's too simplified to the point it doesn't even look like a state. lovin the new fleur de lis though, kinda reminds me of the Ragin Cajuns version except this one's not on fire.

[andrewharrington]

Yes. I just feel it might be stronger without the bevel and with slightly thicker outline.

[north dakota]

I love the gold jersey and the white helmet. I also like the modernization of the logo.