Denver Nuggets New Identity

[Sport]

One solution to the Nuggets identity is to brand them as a team from and of the city of Denver. I don't think there's a lot to work with there, though. Denver seems pretty generic to me. It's western, but not really.

Mountains. Go with a mountain theme, ignore the terrible nickname completely, and do something "mountainy"

[DEAD!]

I really hope they never go back to anything like what they had in 93-03. You guys may think that looks nice, but growing up in Denver, I just can't look at that logo without being reminded of lousy Nuggets teams. Maybe it's a nice look, but the years of losing with that identity have created a firm bias against it.

... and I really hope the Broncos never use the old logo because they remind me of the Super Bowl losing teams

[knnhrvy16]

This may fit better and fall into the "unpopular opinions" thread, but I've been one of the few who have HATED the Melo-era Nuggets identity. I thought what they had before that was alot better. True, it was associated with losing, but I vastly preferred the Navy, Dark Red, and (Old?)Gold over what they have now. And though it was indeed a product of the 90's, they didn't go overboard at all with it and everything from the logo to the uniforms was sharp and clean. The powder blue, cobalt (later navy), and yellow-gold just didn't look like it fit, and appeared to me more of a following-the-current-trend switch. I don't know, when I think of a miner or a 49er, goldpanner, whatever you want to associate the whole idea of "Nuggets" with, I don't think of vibrant blues and yellow. I think of what the 90's identity had - Navy, Dark Red, and Gold. Essentially darker colors. It was a much more western and outdoors-ish scheme to me, therefore much more fitting.

You know what's funny? This passage also damn near perfectly sums up my thoughts about the Jazz's last re-brand. Say what you want about the mid-late '90s look, but I felt that was a damn-near perfect identity for them. Okay, the gradient effects were a little over-the-top, but purple and green, and copper, and mountains--all very indicative of Utah, especially when one envisions the Wasatch range. FOr some reason, they felt the need to piss on all that by doing exactly what the Nuggets and Grizzlies had done just mere seasons prior...jump on the popular baby/navy/saffron trend. (Now I'm not saying all this to bust chops...just a very interesting coincidence to note.)

Oh no, I don't take it as busting chops at all. Infact, I sort of agree with you. I do like what the Jazz have now, but if they were to drop everything and go straight back to the 1996-04 look, I seriously wouldn't be upset at all. The gradients could go, but I wouldn't mind if everything else from that era came back. It's the Jazz look I grew up with, so it'd be very nostalgic for me personally, and the colors were certainly fantastc for the area (if you've never been to Utah, just look at that color scheme and it sums it up perfectly). Looking back at the whole enchilada, I really wish the Jazz hadn't rebranded in 2004, or at least went with Purple and Powder rather than Navy and Powder. After a while, we just looked like the Nuggets' and Grizzlies' cousin, and purple as a primary again would have differentiated enough (infact, I still wish our primary color was purple even now instead of navy). Anyways, sorry to get too off topic but you really brought up a good point, Buc.

[TruColor]

I don't like those old colors. They're way too drab. The blue and red are about equally dark, and the gold is too muted to jump out from them. The Cavaliers used sort of a spin on these colors, but by minimizing the navy blue (well, initially...) and using a lighter wine and gold, things popped more.

In terms of colors in print, they were almost exactly the same:

Only the Metallic Gold was slightly different.

In textile terms, they were a bit different:

[The_Admiral]

The template for the black alternates could've been manipulated into a nice 2004 update. Keep the color scheme, lose the mountain gradient, maybe tweak the numbers a little bit, put "Utah" on the roads, and you'd have been good to go for years to come.

[knnhrvy16]

The template for the black alternates could've been manipulated into a nice 2004 update. Keep the color scheme, lose the mountain gradient, maybe tweak the numbers a little bit, put "Utah" on the roads, and you'd have been good to go for years to come.

You know what's funny, I remember being 11 or so around 2003 and drawing up something like that on my own. Of course back then the drawing itself was sloppy and awful, but the idea in my head looked really good. Looking back, I think that really could have worked. A white jersey with copper side panels, the black as is (with probably "Utah" on the front like you suggested), and a purple or copper alternate....yeah, that would have been really cool come to think of it!

[andrewharrington]

Look at what the Cavaliers did. It's like they couldn't even be arsed to outline their numbers.

You make it sound like outlined numbers are a requirement for a team to look professional, which is certainly not the case.

[IceCap]

I actually like those jerseys too, but I really dislike the current trend of just rehashing old looks from the past instead of creating new ones.

I don't mind the trend of going retro if what's old is better. Retro isn't always better, but it is in a fair amount of cases.

To each his own, but no matter what it looks like aesthetically, it always feels cheap and lazy to me. Going back to an old look not only shows desperation in trying to recapture a bygone era but also a complete lack of creativity.

The ultimate goal is to look good. You cannot discount aesthetics. If an older uniform is better then what you're currently wearing, go with that.

Being smart and going back to a better design (or being cheap and lazy, to use your words) is better then pushing the envelope and coming up with an over-designed mess that will look dated in five to ten years. Going the latter route is how you end up with the Atlanta Bulls*its.

[Sport]

I actually like those jerseys too, but I really dislike the current trend of just rehashing old looks from the past instead of creating new ones.

I don't mind the trend of going retro if what's old is better. Retro isn't always better, but it is in a fair amount of cases.

To each his own, but no matter what it looks like aesthetically, it always feels cheap and lazy to me. Going back to an old look not only shows desperation in trying to recapture a bygone era but also a complete lack of creativity.

The ultimate goal is to look good. You cannot discount aesthetics. If an older uniform is better then what you're currently wearing, go with that.

Being smart and going back to a better design (or being cheap and lazy, to use your words) is better then pushing the envelope and coming up with an over-designed mess that will look dated in five to ten years. Going the latter route is how you end up with the Atlanta Bulls*its.

The Atlanta Bulls*its, hahaha. They're so right on in that article/comic. I love Cracked.

[IceCap]

Quick! To the SWPL thread!

[knnhrvy16]

I actually like those jerseys too, but I really dislike the current trend of just rehashing old looks from the past instead of creating new ones.

I don't mind the trend of going retro if what's old is better. Retro isn't always better, but it is in a fair amount of cases.

To each his own, but no matter what it looks like aesthetically, it always feels cheap and lazy to me. Going back to an old look not only shows desperation in trying to recapture a bygone era but also a complete lack of creativity.

The ultimate goal is to look good. You cannot discount aesthetics. If an older uniform is better then what you're currently wearing, go with that.

Being smart and going back to a better design (or being cheap and lazy, to use your words) is better then pushing the envelope and coming up with an over-designed mess that will look dated in five to ten years. Going the latter route is how you end up with the Atlanta Bulls*its.

The Atlanta Bulls*its, hahaha. They're so right on in that article/comic. I love Cracked.

That comic made my night. It's so hilariously true! That Bulls*its part was dead-on, seems like many rebrands recently fall right into that category.

[Lights Out]

The ultimate goal is to look good. You cannot discount aesthetics. If an older uniform is better then what you're currently wearing, go with that.

Being smart and going back to a better design (or being cheap and lazy, to use your words) is better then pushing the envelope and coming up with an over-designed mess that will look dated in five to ten years. Going the latter route is how you end up with the Atlanta Bulls*its.

Problem is, your theory completely ignores the fact that teams and designers can come up with new looks that also look good. How do you think all those retro uniforms you love were created? They were all brand new at one point.

[The_Admiral]

Look at what the Cavaliers did. It's like they couldn't even be arsed to outline their numbers.

You make it sound like outlined numbers are a requirement for a team to look professional, which is certainly not the case.

No, it's not, but the feel that I got from the Cavaliers' redesign (and some people backed me up on this) is that they started looking plain and unremarkable because LeBron James left. Obviously, they had put the plan into motion long before THE DECISION, and they'd be wearing them if LeBron were still there, but with the way things did play out, it seems like they just abandoned what they had going. Reportedly, the value of the Cleveland Cavaliers dropped some $100,000,000 with LeBron's departure. This shouldn't be reflected in their uniform design.

[IceCap]

The ultimate goal is to look good. You cannot discount aesthetics. If an older uniform is better then what you're currently wearing, go with that.

Being smart and going back to a better design (or being cheap and lazy, to use your words) is better then pushing the envelope and coming up with an over-designed mess that will look dated in five to ten years. Going the latter route is how you end up with the Atlanta Bulls*its.

Problem is, your theory completely ignores the fact that teams and designers can come up with new looks that also look good. How do you think all those retro uniforms you love were created? They were all brand new at one point.

Indeed they were. And not every new design is bad. There are plenty of good contemporary designs.

The problem with your theory, however, is that it's not focused on the team looking as good as possible. It's about pushing the design envelope. Which in other fields is a great thing. In the world of sports uniforms, however, pushing the envelope just for the sake of pushing the envelope leads to messes like the Bills' and Flames' current looks.

Sometimes an old look is simply better. If a team can look back into its history and pull out a timeless, classic look to reintroduce then that's what they should do rather then risk designing something new and ending up with an aesthetic mess.

[CubsFanBudMan]

I'm with the camp that associate the navy, gold and red Nuggets with Dikembe on the ground, smiling with the ball after the first 8/1 upset of the Sonics. First image that popped in my mind reading this thread, before Old Roman posted it and Buc added the video. Funny though, that the Nuggets fans associate it with bad teams.

The Nuggets were first to adopt powder blue, though, and I thought it was a genius move at the time, since really only the Chargers had trotted out powder blue and hadn't committed fully to it. No team in the NBA since has done it as well, and I look at them being on the bandwagon, but not the Nuggets. Wish they'd stayed with the cobalt blue, though. Despite that, they've mainly had some form of blue and gold throughout their history, and I think they should keep this look even with Carmelo's exit. No need to get rid of both great 2003 rebrands just because the players drafted that year are both gone.

[Carter23]

Knowing the current design trends in sports, we'll probably soon be seeing these brought back exactly the way they were:

pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease

[IceCap]

Someone explain the appeal of the rainbow uniforms to me.

[rams80]

Someone explain the appeal of the rainbow uniforms to me.

It's old, therefore its awesome.

[Cujo]

Someone explain the appeal of the rainbow uniforms to me.

DUDE WARE HAVE U BEEN?? RETRO IZ INNN!!!1!11

Really, if you look around the NBA, how many teams have been able to pull off the newish-retro look? Not the Sixers. Not the Warriors. Not the Jazz. The only team that even came close to impressing me was the Sonics -- and, well, they're gone now.

[Norva]

I like the rainbow jerseys because I like zany out there logos and color schemes, even if they suck in the grand scheme of things. It's fun and it feels like today sometimes that uniforms are just bland and boring. I even love those old Houston rainbow guts jerseys.