Creating a University from Scratch

[Geoff]

On players tunnel to go to both locker rooms? In tense games, that might be a bad idea.

[9erssteve]

I myself went to college here in AZ (NAU), and even though it is the smallest of the 3 state colleges, there's a growing issue-- overcrowding. This economic climate is not necessarily conducive to starting any form of business (let alone a college, of all things), but that's why it's a concept. Phoenix itself is a huge city. The suburbs are still growing in spite of the housing market shindig (we were one of the hardest hit), and so one can venture to guess that the colleges are also gaining enrollment. ASU is a behemoth, and so poorly laid out, you can live "on campus" and be miles from the class you have to get to. U of A is a beautiful campus, but it's far away from Phoenix (eliminating commuters). NAU is the furthest from the valley, and is rapidly expanding while refusing to expand its facilities.

Big issue, right?

So, in my own little world, we're going to fix that. We're adding another college to Arizona. You may be amazed to find out that a state so large has only 3 state colleges. Let's balance Phoenix out a bit better.

Since I am creating a college here, I wanted to go over some of the most basic things that every college needs. A story behind the name, a solid color scheme, a good graphic identity, and really the biggest thing to me is that a school should have a relevant mascot. NAU, for example, was built in a logging town. Mascot? The Lumberjacks. Makes sense.

The Aztecs had a word, Arizuma, which means silver-bearing. While hotly contested as to where the name came from (there are several tribes and civilizations that claim to have named it), I thought the Aztec Empire would be some fun to play around with. It's a unique look/feel, and it's not really done at all (with the exception of SDSU). With the origin in mind, I thought about what kind of mascot would represent the state well. There's a ringtail cat, our state mammal, but it's hardly intimidating. I settled on the Coyotes. Sure, we have a hockey team here named that, but this is an entirely different identity, and in my world, people will actually come to the games during the regular season (burn).

So, Coyotes, Aztecs. Color time. State color is turquoise. Why the hell not? It's barely used in the NCAA, and it's very southwestern. I played with some combos, but settled on a two-tone gold secondary and tertiary. The fourth color is rarely used, but is a lighter tan with a gray tint (silver-bearing).

I'll start off by posting the actual site I have chosen for the college, as well as my initial academic logo.

The site is going to be in the rapidly-growing community of Anthem, AZ. It's on the north-end of Phoenix, and located among some smaller mountains near Lake Pleasant. This is where I got the name, North Valley University. Different, and I didn't want to use Arizona something, they're all taken. I realize the site is huge, but you have to plan ahead, right?

On to the academic logo. This features the most prominent colors, but is solely used to represent the university non-athletically.

Sun, valley, turquoise, Aztec pattern. I think it's a great visual symbol for this new college I'm creating.

I'm currently finishing up the athletics logos, and various uniforms. Look for those in the coming days. In the mean time, C&C is appreciated!

Take that logo reduce it to 25% of the size it is now, then tell me what happens to your gradient and the aztec lines underneath. Remember this thing will have to be used on business cards and letter heads not just on the sides of stadiums!

9erssteve

[drdougfresh]

Alright, now what you've really been waiting for: UNIFORMS.

I'm going to go in a predetermined order, so no requests for "what's next", please.

In honor of (most of our) ladies today, I'm going to post soccer first. I have used the Aztec striping pattern as stiping on the uniforms, but it's sublimated so it's not so in-your-face.

C&C appreciated!

[gatek99]

Where is the track! I can't wait to see the Cross Country uniforms! I am serious though (I ran in college). Anyhow this is pretty amazing right now! soccer uniforms look awesome, although that blue might look better with white pants

[raysox]

Personally, I would not do hockey. It is Arizona, and college! C'mon man! Plus, it needs some more dorms. Also, put a track around the soccer field. I know UF is like that.

Looks good other than that, hopefully it can be a conference. I have some fake universities made up for something else, and you're welcome to look that over if you PM me.

[Kevin W.]

It is Arizona, and college!

Hey now, Arizona and ASU have a very intense hockey rivalry. The Coyotes may be having trouble but college hockey is alive and well in Arizona, though Arizona's team is a club team (I don't know about ASU's).

[raysox]

It is Arizona, and college!

Hey now, Arizona and ASU have a very intense hockey rivalry. The Coyotes may be having trouble but college hockey is alive and well in Arizona, though Arizona's team is a club team (I don't know about ASU's).

But does either have a D1 style facility on campus?

[Kevin W.]

The lack of such a facility hasn't been an obstacle to Arizona being reasonably successful.

[drdougfresh]

Actually neither university has an NCAA team, both are club. NAU is a division lower, but consistently is ranked in their league, and actually beats ASU pretty regularly. It's an understated rivalry system within the state, but it's pretty heated. Hockey is actually fairly popular among the loyalists here in AZ, so I'm not going to skip out on a hockey team because "most people" don't follow it. It works in AZ, regardless of how poorly run the NHL team is haha.

As far as track goes, hadn't thought of that. Anyone have a template for that?

I may or may not address the dorm issue, as that was really just for fun. Not necessarily to scale or anything. Obviously, it has to start small and expand, anyway.

Thanks for all the comments, guys!

[Geoff]

I'd also like to remind people that the only reason NAU still doesn't have NCAA D1 hockey is because the equipment needed to keep up the ice in the Walkup Skydome broke and budget cuts meant the school could neither repair or replace it.

[drdougfresh]

I'd also like to remind people that the only reason NAU still doesn't have NCAA D1 hockey is because the equipment needed to keep up the ice in the Walkup Skydome broke and budget cuts meant the school could neither repair or replace it.

That and the university itself can't endorse the program because funding period. Too focused on football and making their lives easier, while the basketball, soccer, track, and swimming teams get kicked to the curb. JLAC is actually upgrading its facilities pretty soon to hold more people, but it doesn't have near the capacity of the Skydome.

[Geoff]

NAU Hockey was actually quite a big draw back in the 70s or 80s. It wasn't dropped until after the 85-86 season. The club team was restarted in 91-92.

[drdougfresh]

NAU Hockey was actually quite a big draw back in the 70s or 80s. It wasn't dropped until after the 85-86 season. The club team was restarted in 91-92.

And it still is right now haha. Even though football has a larger venue, I'd almost say that NAU hockey is more popular among students. Kinda crazy.

[drdougfresh]

I guess since we're talking about hockey, makes sense to post this one next. College hockey works in AZ, so we've got that settled.

Same kind of basic premise of design, I wanted to get the Aztec stripes involved in place of the traditional stripes. I think it makes for a pretty unique look, especially on a hockey uniform.

[GriffinM6]

Wow. You have been perfecting this. Start the funding for future proffesors, land, buildings,dorms, and complexes.

[missouri tigers]

The sports unis look good so far. I don't see anything you can approve apon on the actuall uniforms, but I'm not a big fan of the athletics logo. I think you could have given it a more traditional sports logo look, while still keeping the Aztec feel to it.

[hockey week]

1) no go on gold pants in hockey. Light colored pants simply don't work. Plus, I've worked with equipment managers for NCAA D1 hockey teams, and two sets of pants would be a real pain. Make it black and call it a day

2) NCAA wears white at home in hockey. Among the legal colors to substitute for white are yellow, baby blue and gold. Why not make the set gold home, black road, and the teal third? That would at least be pretty different.

3) you forgot socks and helmets for the hockey team. Helmets you can go without (though they usually match the pants, so I'd like to know if you're going gold again), but the socks are a definite question: would you put the aztec stripes on there?

4) I know it's your hypothetical college, but you already added an unbelievable stadium, do you really think a brand new team could afford Reebok Edge jerseys? I mean, if football is the primary sport (which would probably be the best draw), hockey would probably be relegated to an ACHA/club sport played on off-campus rinks like University of Arizona and Arizona State do (both have ACHA D1 hockey teams and no NCAA teams). I'm thinking old-school SportsKnit or AthleticKnit would be more realistic. If you want to do something more involved, you should do a progression. Start the school in the 70s or 80s, have timelines for one or two sports from then to now, and show what sports were added when. In the interest of not starting over, you could do all of the current sports and then retroactively add their histories. It's just all a bit much

[CAB]

I absolutely love all of this. I just might have to do one of these in Nebraska. We can get a whole conference going!

[lightning25]

I absolutely love all of this. I just might have to do one of these in Nebraska. We can get a whole conference going!

Yeah, I'm interested in doing this now too. My design skills are okay at best but I love the idea and it really inspires me to make a concept.

[missouri tigers]

I was actually concidering doing one soon too, maybe in hanibal,MO or Peoria, IL