theSpungo's 2012 NFL Pro Combat Concepts

[capitalcanuck]

i like the idea of the ravens but the purple numbers on black is a no-no imo and use the black alt as home and make a purple one

[DeFrank]

Feathers I like, the colors and helmet I do not.

[mbannon92]

Wow. The Ravens are by far your best set yet. I like the focus on black, and the red and silver add a nice touch (although this is the exact same color scheme as TCU, and with the sublimated patterns the look is very similar). I think the purple numbers on black work fine. The purple is light enough, and the bright red gives them a solid outline. The sublimated feathers are great.

My only complaint is that there isn't a single logo in the whole set. Maybe you could give them a solid black helmet with the raven head and leave the feather helmet for the alt.

[The Impaler]

Love, love, love the Vikings set (less the colored belt loop, but we've been over that). The Ravens, ahhh, the Ravens, honestly don't know if I love or hate it. One thing that does bother me, is the lack of any color in the helmet, and the number font. Since you're trying to capitalize on the nature of the story, I feel something more eerie or spookie for the numbers would be better than just an italicized number.

[thespungo]

Wow. The Ravens are by far your best set yet. I like the focus on black, and the red and silver add a nice touch (although this is the exact same color scheme as TCU, and with the sublimated patterns the look is very similar). I think the purple numbers on black work fine. The purple is light enough, and the bright red gives them a solid outline. The sublimated feathers are great.

My only complaint is that there isn't a single logo in the whole set. Maybe you could give them a solid black helmet with the raven head and leave the feather helmet for the alt.

I concur that the lack of a logo may be a valid complaint here. I didn't feel that the Ravens have any logos or wordmarks now that really conveyed the theme I was going for, so I went without. If I were working on this professionally, I would definitely look into a total rebrand to come up with a logo and font set that really matched the darkness of the team's name.

The colors here are some of my favorite I've used thus far -- I especially like the red and purple when combined with the light grey road jersey.

Love, love, love the Vikings set (less the colored belt loop, but we've been over that). The Ravens, ahhh, the Ravens, honestly don't know if I love or hate it. One thing that does bother me, is the lack of any color in the helmet, and the number font. Since you're trying to capitalize on the nature of the story, I feel something more eerie or spookie for the numbers would be better than just an italicized number.

Again, I agree here about the numbers -- if given more time and resources to spend on this, a more fitting number set would be ideal. Although in this case, the standard block italics add a traditional football look to what is an otherwise modern design.

Thanks to everyone for the comments thus far.

[Somppi]

The Panthers set is the best Panthers concept I've seen. I do however wish the facemask was black though.

[andrewharrington]

Besides the potential illegibility of the numbers, the Ravens is great. Maybe replace the red with gold. I like that you went without a logo. Definitely makes the package tougher and more mature.

[thespungo]

The Panthers set is the best Panthers concept I've seen. I do however wish the facemask was black though.

Black or silver, I could definitely go either way on that. But the more I think about it, black very well could be the better option.

Besides the potential illegibility of the numbers, the Ravens is great. Maybe replace the red with gold. I like that you went without a logo. Definitely makes the package tougher and more mature.

The sublimation wouldn't be as pronounced in real life, and the purple numbers with red outline would provide a stark contrast to the black jerseys, so I don't think legibility is a problem.

I agree about the toughness and maturity of the set, though. Often times use of logos on a uniform can make them feel more manufactured, with logos simply being "plopped" on. My goal here was to design a uniform that would make the Ravens appear tougher, not as if they're simply wearing a uniform, but as if they're warriors clad for battle.

I think a lot of teams, even the Vikings, deserve a tougher brand identity that's more in line with their team nicknames.

Thanks for the comments.

[andrewharrington]

The Panthers set is the best Panthers concept I've seen. I do however wish the facemask was black though.

Black or silver, I could definitely go either way on that. But the more I think about it, black very well could be the better option.

Besides the potential illegibility of the numbers, the Ravens is great. Maybe replace the red with gold. I like that you went without a logo. Definitely makes the package tougher and more mature.

The sublimation wouldn't be as pronounced in real life, and the purple numbers with red outline would provide a stark contrast to the black jerseys, so I don't think legibility is a problem.

I agree about the toughness and maturity of the set, though. Often times use of logos on a uniform can make them feel more manufactured, with logos simply being "plopped" on. My goal here was to design a uniform that would make the Ravens appear tougher, not as if they're simply wearing a uniform, but as if they're warriors clad for battle.

I think a lot of teams, even the Vikings, deserve a tougher brand identity that's more in line with their team nicknames.

Thanks for the comments.

I'm still not sure about the numbers, unless it's bright fluorescent purple (might be a cool look) and I still don't know how I feel about red with it, but your second paragraph is spot on. I think people get caught up in the idea that a helmet must have a logo, when in reality, logos rarely add anything to a uniform or coordinate with the other elements of the uniform. The uniform is nothing more than an outfit evoking the attitude of that team logo and the identity of the team. I think the helmet is more a place for design than it is for logos. Some helmets look great with logos (Giants, Bears). Many simply do not, but when the helmet is used as an avenue for innovative design, I think that's where the real successes happen. Eagles, Rams, your shiny/matte feathered Ravens helmet here. When we think of the helmet as more than just a place to drop a logo, great things can happen.

[Lights Out]

The Ravens are awesome (I especially love the color scheme), but the numbers on the regular black jersey are illegible, and I think the wing pattern becomes overkill on the helmet, since it's already used liberally on the shoulders and numbers. I think you should put the logo on the helmet instead, and maybe use a purple "sheen" (kind of like the Jaguars' helmet). Also, instead of the blackout alternate, why not try a purple jersey?

[thespleenenator]

The Ravens are awesome (I especially love the color scheme), but the numbers on the regular black jersey are illegible, and I think the wing pattern becomes overkill on the helmet, since it's already used liberally on the shoulders and numbers. I think you should put the logo on the helmet instead, and maybe use a purple "sheen" (kind of like the Jaguars' helmet). Also, instead of the blackout alternate, why not try a purple jersey?

I would suggest going with white numbers on both jerseys. The purple/red numbers just look out of place.

[thespungo]

The Ravens are awesome (I especially love the color scheme), but the numbers on the regular black jersey are illegible, and I think the wing pattern becomes overkill on the helmet, since it's already used liberally on the shoulders and numbers. I think you should put the logo on the helmet instead, and maybe use a purple "sheen" (kind of like the Jaguars' helmet). Also, instead of the blackout alternate, why not try a purple jersey?

I would suggest going with white numbers on both jerseys. The purple/red numbers just look out of place.

Again, I don't see the illegibility problems with the numbers, and I thought we came to a good consensus on why the set works without the use of a logo. The purple/black gradient on the helmet, similar to the one used by the Jaguars, could be a good idea, as the raven's black feathers can naturally reflect colors of green and purple.

As for the lack of a purple jersey, the raven is a bird that is covered head-to-toe in black -- that makes this team the strongest candidate for an all-black look that both matches the team's intimidating image, as well as the team's nickname.

For the white numbers, those would be sorely out of place -- white is used nowhere in my set, and the cloudy grey is used sparingly.

Thanks for the comments.

[Lights Out]

Again, I don't see the illegibility problems with the numbers

Well, they're barely legible... or at least they would be in an actual game. Purple numbers on black is an eyesore, just ask UW fans.

[thespungo]

Again, I don't see the illegibility problems with the numbers

Well, they're barely legible... or at least they would be in an actual game. Purple numbers on black is an eyesore, just ask UW fans.

I used a completely different shade of purple, plus the red outline provides even more contrast and increased legibility -- with the outlines, even the Huskies uniform numbers are perfectly legible. I just don't see the problem here.