Dark numbers on dark jerseys

[jake22]

So I just got my lacrosse jersey for this season at my high school and it sparked a question in my mind.

The question is does it work for a dark colored jersey to have a dark colored number on it? My own personal opinion is that it really depends on the colors, in my example I think that red numbers on a black jersey work well. Clearly the more obvious choice would be white numbers outlined in red. I think that there are examples of both jerseys that can pull this off and jerseys that cant. I think that a white outline can help but it isnt always the way to go.

One example I can think of is the new black Michigan Sate basketball jersey that has dark green numbers with a white outline.

So can you guys think of examples of this that both work and dont work?

[oldschoolvikings]

I hated it as part of a complete uniform, but the Lions' old black alternate with the blue numbers was an interesting jersey by itself.

[TBGKon]

This is OK:

This is not:

[BrandMooreArt]

i really dont think red is a "dark color". its a mid range value and with the outline, it really pops out.

first think of value (tint and shade) rather than color. contrast in value is what makes something "pop". your eye will go to the lightest value which helps as well. its easier to see in black and white

red being a warm and intense color is always a good choice to combine with black and white helps as well. think of the Falcons

[BBTV]

It works at the lower levels where people are closer and there's not as much TV coverage, but at the major-league level, it's tough to read even red on black from many stadium seats, and announcers / writers have complained about this as well. HDTV has made it OK for TV though, but I still find it much easier to watch white / yellow / light color on dark.

If you look back, the Senators changed their red out for white, the Eagles wanted green on their black jerseys but had to go with white, and I know that there are other examples of teams that had to give up and change from colors to white but I can't think of them.

Baseball is a little different, since numbers don't really matter anymore. That's why you'll see the Giants black on black, the Angels red on red, the Braves navy on navy, etc. IMO those three examples all suck FWIW.

[Sodboy13]

For me, it comes down to the thickness and brightness of the outline. A thick, white outline does plenty when it comes to legibility, and without one, the look can quickly detriorate into a muddled mess.

The Lions' black alt, Northwestern's first go-round with black jerseys, and the Rays' navy alts come to mind as jerseys that pulled off the look successfully.

[loogodude90]

This was the first uniform that came into my mind...

I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on this - but I think it works fine. In fact I applaud them for using some creativity. Of course I'm not really analyzing from a super-practical standpoint. I've never announced a Kings game so from an announcer's perspective I can't really comment.

For an example that didn't work, for the first few games of the 2007-2008 season, the Wizards had their names-on-back written in un-outlined gold on their blue road uniforms. It was sort of hard to read, so not only did they make the letters bigger, but they added a white outline around the letters. The white outline created some contrast between the letters and jersey which made it easier to read. This change happened within the first week of the season IIRC. Here is a picture of this short-lived jersey - you can decide for yourself:

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/gilbert-arenas-2007-08-game-used-worn-halloween

[hockey week]

Mercyhurst (NCAA D1) women's team has been doing it since 2001, navy blue on white on forest green- brutal for commentators

[vmd9]

Mercyhurst (NCAA D1) women's team has been doing it since 2001, navy blue on white on forest green- brutal for commentators

ahh I hate the Lakers lol, but I guess it's kinda cool they are hosting the Frozen Four at the Tullio Arena...

[hockey week]

Mercyhurst (NCAA D1) women's team has been doing it since 2001, navy blue on white on forest green- brutal for commentators

ahh I hate the Lakers lol, but I guess it's kinda cool they are hosting the Frozen Four at the Tullio Arena...

I didn't know that anybody has heard of us enough to hate us lol. We kinda toil in obscurity despite being NCAA D1 in hockey

[ManCalledAmp]

Purple on black is the absolute worst. I do high school play by play for Dickson County HS (Dickson, TN), and DCHS plays Clarksville High in district games. The Wildcats' road jerseys are black with dark purple numbers, I believe outlined in thin white. And if being unreadable at 50 yards wasn't bad enough, they have "CHS" arched above the front numbers (in either yellow gold trimmed in white or vice versa, IIRC) and I think yellow-gold trim on the unis too. Horrendous. And to make matters worse, the girls' home unis use light yellow-gold numbers on white unis, and the boys' home look isn't even good (dark numbers, but an awful font).

CHS boys' roads and girls' homes are great examples of why purple and black don't need to be together on unis without a ton of white. Also, MSU's green/black, and the Philly Eagles' as well.

Gold, powder blue, reds, oranges, and silvers work fine with dark colors. Black, burgundy, navy, purple, dark green....those colors do not.

[charger77]

[oldschoolvikings]

Yeah, I'm not sure red on black really counts as dark on dark. Its all about contrast. Another thing to consider in creating color contrast is warm / cool relationships. Green on navy is tougher than red on nany, etc...

[Stevenet]

Rimouski Oceanic 99-00 had Navy Blue jerseys with navy blue numbers and a white outline

We went with this concept for my garage league hockey team on our white jerseys with white numbers and a red outline. Looks sharp.

[B-Rich]

Stuff like this doesn't work:

(Mississippi State at LSU, 2010)

[Sodboy13]

To illustrate my point:

[Gothamite]

The Milwaukee Admirals used to use black numbers on gray:

Before that, they used black on black on the sleeves:

[bucskick20]

I've actually always liked that style. I like the Braves blue alts. Its different but still looks sharp which is good on both fronts.

[Sport]

But that Braves jersey would look so much better with a little red in it. If the wordmark and numbers were red outlined in white then it would be a great jersey, but to me it looks like a practice jersey that they decided to wear in real games. Same goes for their all-blue caps/helmets.

I think dark on dark can work in baseball because numbers aren't as essential to player recognition, and the same goes for basketball when you can tell who a player is by their size and helmet-less face. Where it doesn't work is football and hockey. The players move too fast and number recognition is important from a television and fan standpoint. The Dallas Stars jerseys when they first moved to Dallas used dark green numbers on their black jerseys. It looked good, but they were hard to read. That Mississippi State uniform above is a good example of dark on dark numbers being bad for football.

[nash61]

It's not just dark-on-dark that's a problem for commentators, it's anything that doesn't have a significant amount of contrast. I got stuck commentating for the Bulldogs game when they wore these:

The the vintage white numbers overlap the vintage white chest stripes, making the numbers nearly illegible.