Bowl Mania: Uniform Edition

[andrewharrington]

Spleen, I think you're missing the point on quite a few things here:

-Solid identity is not synonymous with what you deem as "cool". Hawai'i has a pretty lame identity. Texas is great, but the same things that make their identity great are what makes Penn State's identity great. I'm all for flashy, modern designs, don't get me wrong, but PSU has a strong identity. They own the basic navy and white category.

-Andy is not judging strictly from a fan point of view, in fact, I feel like it's quite the opposite in this case. As aawagner said: an identity is designed with an intended target market in mind. In this case, the target market is the college football fan. We wouldn't judge say, the identity of a company that makes infant toys, from the standpoint of a college freshman. It's irrelevant. The purpose of the design is to influence the target market and to attract them-- exactly the same logic behind a CFB team identity. Judging something like this in a "vacuum" addresses no real potential issues with the identity, as that removes the situational influence/environmental fit for the brand.

-Continuity is obviously going to build brand recognition, and thus, brand equity. The longer the identity is the same, the more people become familiarized with it. This isn't debatable: it's a fact. Now yes, there are some staples to UO's identity that are continuous, but there's a constant change. Recognition is obviously affected (whether you want to acknowledge that or not).

I think ultimately, you're confusing "cool" identity with "strong" identity. Even unique does not equal strong. It comes down to brand equity, IMO. If you don't have it, it's hard to say you have a totally strong/solid identity. Like it or not, success influences that-- bottom line.

Ok, I'm going to make this very brief, and very clear. Texas has a great indentity not because it's iconic, not becuase it's cool, but because it looks like something the University of TEXAS would wear. A great identity needs to incorporate your surrounding area and your university as a whole. Their colors are Texas, their mascot is Texas, and their uniforms are Texas. If you were to design an identity for a team located in Austin, Texas, then you would have a hard time coming up with something better than that.

So, you're looking for the identity to have some sort of literal connection to the geographical area or the team nickname. That's fine, but it doesn't always equal a strong identity, and it's definitely not a necessary component to a strong identity. If it were, we'd be sitting here saying, "What does a script logotype have to do with cola? What does an apple ave to do with computers? What does a peacock have to do with television?" More often than not, I think you'll find that literal identities are a bit contrived and expected. It takes a lot of restraint to pull off something literal, and that's where a lot of these teams fail. They try to put everything out there for the people to see all at once, but a better strategy would be to strip some of that away and save it for people to find out later. Encourage people to explore the identity. An identity does not need to explain everything in one sentence. The more layers you have to your identity, the more interaction you have with your audience, and that's what builds a strong brand over time.

Texas has a strong identity, but the only thing about their identity that overtly 'Texas' is the longhorn logo. Orange is what it is; Austin is not the same as West Texas. Burnt orange would be a good choice to reflect the location of UTEP, but Austin and East Texas are generally more green than brown or orange. Texas has a strong identity because Darrel Royal saw the value of continuity.

[knnhrvy16]

NC State really needs to make the outside stripes/logo trim black and go with the red helmet full-time.

I'm with you. That's the one and only thing that bugs me about the helmet, that it doesn't really match with the rest of that set. Throw some black trim on the helmet decals somehow (or if you have to, drop the black trim from the jersey to match the helmet) and you've got a sharp looking set. I like the white helmet a lot, but that red one (despite its inconsistencies) has been growing on me.

[DPV713]

The red helmet is what's separating NC State from Stanford, and I'm all for using it.

[oldschoolvikings]

This is a horrific look. Why is the all red monochrome especially stomach-turning to me?

[Varsity Blue]

Texas has a strong identity, but the only thing about their identity that overtly 'Texas' is the longhorn logo. Orange is what it is; Austin is not the same as West Texas. Burnt orange would be a good choice to reflect the location of UTEP, but Austin and East Texas are generally more green than brown or orange.

I don't disagree with what you've said but Texas' burnt orange (unintenionally) mirrors the color of so many actual Texas Longhorn cattle adding an aspect of literal identity.

[gdu]

http://wisconsinrose.com/

[MasherUO]

Oregon's Rose Bowl Jerseys

http://www.nikeinc.com/news/oregon-ducks-will-wear-most-innovative-football-uniform-to-date-for-rose-bowl/#/inline/6249

[moosebean11]

Cincinnati possibly wearing matte helmets for Liberty Bowl

[gdu]

Cincinnati possibly wearing matte helmets for Liberty Bowl

original...

[thespleenenator]

Oregon's Rose Bowl Jerseys

http://www.nikeinc.com/news/oregon-ducks-will-wear-most-innovative-football-uniform-to-date-for-rose-bowl/#/inline/6249

I've said it once an I will say it again. I love those.

[HedleyLamarr]

I'm not sure it means much, but there's this picture of players from both Georgia and Michigan State at one of the local children's hospitals in Tampa. The MSU players were wearing team sweatshirts and warmup gear, and a couple of the Georgia players were wearing the home red jerseys.

So possibly the Outback Bowl will have Georgia wearing the home reds and Michigan State wearing their road whites....

[duma]

[RHSNEYES]

Michigan appears to be wearing the grey facemasks and helmet numbers as everyone assumed.

[MJWalker45]

I'm not sure it means much, but there's this picture of players from both Georgia and Michigan State at one of the local children's hospitals in Tampa. The MSU players were wearing team sweatshirts and warmup gear, and a couple of the Georgia players were wearing the home red jerseys.

So possibly the Outback Bowl will have Georgia wearing the home reds and Michigan State wearing their road whites....

Or it could be similar to some teams that bring two sets of jerseys. Army wore black jerseys on their hospital visit last year but white in the game vs SMU. SMU wore white shirts at the visit and black alternates in the game. Both uniforms had bowl logos on them.

[drdougfresh]

I'm not sure it means much, but there's this picture of players from both Georgia and Michigan State at one of the local children's hospitals in Tampa. The MSU players were wearing team sweatshirts and warmup gear, and a couple of the Georgia players were wearing the home red jerseys.

So possibly the Outback Bowl will have Georgia wearing the home reds and Michigan State wearing their road whites....

Or it could be similar to some teams that bring two sets of jerseys. Army wore black jerseys on their hospital visit last year but white in the game vs SMU. SMU wore white shirts at the visit and black alternates in the game. Both uniforms had bowl logos on them.

Here you go: http://www.spartanjerseys.com/blog/michigan-state-football/michigan-state-will-wear-away-uniforms-at-the-outback-bowl/

[gdu]

I'm not sure it means much, but there's this picture of players from both Georgia and Michigan State at one of the local children's hospitals in Tampa. The MSU players were wearing team sweatshirts and warmup gear, and a couple of the Georgia players were wearing the home red jerseys.

So possibly the Outback Bowl will have Georgia wearing the home reds and Michigan State wearing their road whites....

Or it could be similar to some teams that bring two sets of jerseys. Army wore black jerseys on their hospital visit last year but white in the game vs SMU. SMU wore white shirts at the visit and black alternates in the game. Both uniforms had bowl logos on them.

Here you go: http://www.spartanjerseys.com/blog/michigan-state-football/michigan-state-will-wear-away-uniforms-at-the-outback-bowl/

That seems most liekly, though both teams could agree to wear home uniforms.

[wyopokes2]

Any bets Air Force wears their grey alts for the bowl game?

Scratch that In the home blues with white

[Kevin W.]

I wish they would. Those grays are sharp.

[GriffinM6]

I wish they would. Those grays are sharp.

Actually they're sand.

[logo-maker]

Air Force is also wearing helmets with the "patriotic" flag based lightning decal.

Edit: For that matter, Toledo also has a "patriotic" decal on their helmets.