NFL concepts: Falcons

[elliott]

Hey guys, I've been working on some football designs, I have another thread with hockey concepts that I intend to post more in but on this thread I'm gonna throw out some football ideas... some are gonna be more rebrands, others will have logo modifications and aren't as vast of a departure from the current brand (in terms of color too). These are presented in assumption that Nike is taking over the NFL next year and will make some alterations to cut and collar area, as shown. I used the NFL shield instead of the NFL Equipment logo, recolored in the scheme of each one much like the MLB does.

I thought that the Saints were a team that needed a few changes, 1) unify the gold color 2) make gold the primary color in stead of black 3) make the fleur de lis mark more simplified, no more outlines, just a plain one color logo and 4) use a recognizable feature of New Orleans to create a different sort of striping pattern. You'll also notice the departure from a standard block font, I think this one better fits the New Orleans vibe, and when it's combined w the striping pattern is very distinct. The striping pattern of the black alternate is more aligned with jerseys from the past with the recognizable stripe from the current throwback alternates. Obviously the undershirt pattern would not be seen on many of the players who didn't wear the compression style like Nike uses with its pro combats.

[Fox]

This is amazing! Although I think the undershirts should probably be black with the cool pattern like on the home and away.

[missouri tigers]

That stylized flur de lis looks great! I feel like the jersey numbers should be a tad bigger though, and the template proportions between the jersey an the rest of the elements seems off too (I'm not sure if you intended it to be that way).

But other than that, great work as always!

[philroy]

I absolutely love the update to the logo - beautifully done. I'm not a big football guy, but I would buy Saints merchandise with that logo on it - no question.

If I had to offer any constructive criticism, it would be the colour of the pant/long sleeve striping. Since the long sleeve striping meets up with the black cuff of the jerseys, I kinda wish that striping was black as well (pants too, in the interest of consistency). That would match with the collar striping, and make them all consistent. But that's just me.

Great job, Elliott - as usual.

[JayJaxon]

The new logo is wonderful. There is so much you can do with a flur de lis and you did something awesome with it.

[CS85]

haha! That's awesome! I love the collars.

[Deion.Blackwell8]

I would make the pants stripe black...white on gold is kinda hard to see. Darkening the gold could help too. Love number font. I'm not really a fan of your fleur de lis, I prefer the current one the Saints use. Fauxback is very nice.

[Kamtos]

Where did you get the template? I've been looking for a decent football template for a long while now.

[BlueSky]

Interesting take. I've seen the wrought iron used in a concept before and it's iffy because frankly, it can look a little feminine on a uniform. Also not onboard with the new FDL, but maybe that's just because I'm used to the current one.

This one looks like a lot of FDLs seen around the city and is more true to what the usual New Orleans FDL looks like. Which begs the question, how did they come up with the original FDL for the Saints? It's quite simplified compared to the usual.

[jaha32]

At first glance this honestly looks more like a tattoo design than an NFL logo, but then again, New Orleans is one city that having fancy logos actually fits. It does look nice on the helmet but the detail on the pants is too much on the pants for my taste. I prefer the nice thick black stripe, just like real life.

[tBBP]

Excuse me for a few minutes while I go in on this set here...

First things first. This concept accomplishes three things I've long wished for the Saints:

- Standardizes the golds (well, obviously)

- Establishes the color usage hierarchy as gold/white/black

- Incorporates unique design feature indicative of New Orleans

All that said, let's go through this.

I REALLY like the new fleur. That said, as great as simple one-color marks can be, I really feel like this one NEEDS an outline, to help it stand out more. As the team's primary logo, and featured element of such, it really should stand out more than it does--as is currently, it gets lost in that gold helmet from a distance. Which leads me to this...a team that's primarily gold probably should have a primarily gold logo. True, the color can alter depending on the background (that's the great versatility of one-color marks), but in this instance, a/ I think it could benefit from being gold with a black keyline and b/ stuck on a white helmet, to make it stand out even better. (And I think my esteemed pal skyaa1 BlueSky and I are on record as favoring a white shell for the Saints.) Try it out and see.

Another thing I really like is the wrought-iron design detail going on in the collar. When done right, a simple-yet-distinctive feature like that can really help enhance the overall aesthetic--see the Florida State Seminoles and the (now former) TCU Horned Frogs uniforms (with the triangle pattern) as great examples. That said, and even as unique as white cuffs and collar would be on a gold jersey, I really feel as though the collar and cuffs should be black on both jerseys, to help the numbers stand out more on both tops.

With the pants...this is one area where I think a solid stripe akin to what they have now would help improve the overall look. My suggestion would be gold bordered with thin black on the white; white bordered by thin black on gold pants. And if you want to do the wrought-iron thing through the middle, go for it. (If you do, though, I'd narrow that pants stripe down significantly--there is a such thing as "too much of a good thing", and having the wrought-iron detail that fat on the pants screams overkill.) It'd also help the color-matching a good bit...which brings me back to the helmets real quick. For as heavy as the uniform is on gold and white, no white exists on the helmet at all. (Another reason why I'd suggest a white lid.)

To the numbers...very nice idea of using sort of a wrought-iron-ish font style. That said, the notches in the numbers, at least to me, appear a bit overdone...sorta like the notches in the Texas Rangers' numbers, to me, they seem kinda forced. I'd have to see a complete number set to get a better opinion, though--do you have one?

Overall, this is definitely one of the more distinctive Saints concepts I've come across (and yes, that does include my own ). I really do like what you got going on here, but I'd also like to see it tweaked up a lil' bit, see if it can become a bit more cohesive. Great first display. *thumbs up*

[elliott]

Where did you get the template? I've been looking for a decent football template for a long while now.

This is a variation of Buc's football template from a few years ago.

Interesting take. I've seen the wrought iron used in a concept before and it's iffy because frankly, it can look a little feminine on a uniform. Also not onboard with the new FDL, but maybe that's just because I'm used to the current one.

This one looks like a lot of FDLs seen around the city and is more true to what the usual New Orleans FDL looks like. Which begs the question, how did they come up with the original FDL for the Saints? It's quite simplified compared to the usual.

Good point... I think toning down on the wrought iron motif on the pants might be the answer here to make this a little less "fancy". I tried to add a tiny bit of wrought iron flourish to the tips of the middle layer of the fleur de lis as well. Still, I think a simplified fleur de lis would be effective in real life, its such a simple motif that I believe it can function as one color, similar to how the Quebec Nordiques used it on their hem striping back in the day. I find the current incarnation used by the Saints to be a strong logo, but with some weaknesses such as distracting outlines and also different/inconsistent outline applications depending on background color / merchandise. A one color fleur de lis would certainly standardize things.

Excuse me for a few minutes while I go in on this set here...

First things first. This concept accomplishes three things I've long wished for the Saints:

- Standardizes the golds (well, obviously)

- Establishes the color usage hierarchy as gold/white/black

- Incorporates unique design feature indicative of New Orleans

All that said, let's go through this.

I REALLY like the new fleur. That said, as great as simple one-color marks can be, I really feel like this one NEEDS an outline, to help it stand out more. As the team's primary logo, and featured element of such, it really should stand out more than it does--as is currently, it gets lost in that gold helmet from a distance. Which leads me to this...a team that's primarily gold probably should have a primarily gold logo. True, the color can alter depending on the background (that's the great versatility of one-color marks), but in this instance, a/ I think it could benefit from being gold with a black keyline and b/ stuck on a white helmet, to make it stand out even better. (And I think my esteemed pal skyaa1 BlueSky and I are on record as favoring a white shell for the Saints.) Try it out and see.

Another thing I really like is the wrought-iron design detail going on in the collar. When done right, a simple-yet-distinctive feature like that can really help enhance the overall aesthetic--see the Florida State Seminoles and the (now former) TCU Horned Frogs uniforms (with the triangle pattern) as great examples. That said, and even as unique as white cuffs and collar would be on a gold jersey, I really feel as though the collar and cuffs should be black on both jerseys, to help the numbers stand out more on both tops.

With the pants...this is one area where I think a solid stripe akin to what they have now would help improve the overall look. My suggestion would be gold bordered with thin black on the white; white bordered by thin black on gold pants. And if you want to do the wrought-iron thing through the middle, go for it. (If you do, though, I'd narrow that pants stripe down significantly--there is a such thing as "too much of a good thing", and having the wrought-iron detail that fat on the pants screams overkill.) It'd also help the color-matching a good bit...which brings me back to the helmets real quick. For as heavy as the uniform is on gold and white, no white exists on the helmet at all. (Another reason why I'd suggest a white lid.)

To the numbers...very nice idea of using sort of a wrought-iron-ish font style. That said, the notches in the numbers, at least to me, appear a bit overdone...sorta like the notches in the Texas Rangers' numbers, to me, they seem kinda forced. I'd have to see a complete number set to get a better opinion, though--do you have one?

Overall, this is definitely one of the more distinctive Saints concepts I've come across (and yes, that does include my own ). I really do like what you got going on here, but I'd also like to see it tweaked up a lil' bit, see if it can become a bit more cohesive. Great first display. *thumbs up*

Fantastic critique, thank you. I agree with you regarding the collar design, it's very understated but unique to the NFL. I completely feel you on the pants design. I'm going to attempt to work up an update that cuts down on the patterning and uses more of a traditional stripe (I like your idea of what the stripe should look like). White helmets may just work too. White helmet with gold facemask, black stripe is what I'm thinking. Regarding the outline on the logo, a gold fleur with a single thin black outline (aligning it with the potential pants stripe) may do the trick.

The numbers were in part inspired by the Vanderbilt basketball numerals, I worked up a full number set which I will post with the update.

Thank you for the comments so far, I'll post an update and then post a few more concepts once I feel comfortable with this one. Preciate it guys.

[elliott]

Updated, including number font. More concepts coming

[thespleenenator]

Updated, including number font. More concepts coming

Ok, THAT is amazing!

I was about to comment on how it looked too "fancy" for the NFL, but now it looks so fancy, it's brilliant. It's crazy, it's kooy, it's fancy, it's New Orleans. Great update!

EDIT: Love the throwback as well. Wouldn't mind that being a full time uni if this didn't cut it.

[sparkychewbarky]

elliott, that fleur-de-lis is a beautiful piece of art:

the weight of the lines and spacing are perfect.

I'd love to see that on the front of a Nordiques sweater.

(I kinda liked it better without the outline)

[Fox]

This last update with a gold helmet would be perfection IMO!

[GeauxColonels]

While I think this is a GREAT attempt at a rebrand for the Saints, I just don't think the fancy fleur-de-lis works. To me it looks too much like something I would see on decor in pretty much every shop around the city. I think a more simple fleur works much better as an athletic logo. Again, GREAT work...I just don't think it works in an athletic setting.

[Cody21]

Elliot,is it okay if i borrow that font for a concept? it is so cool!

[Iron Lion]

Nice job! I really like this. I would add a thin black outline to the helmet stripe. But that's just me.

top notch concept.

[Deion.Blackwell8]

I love the white helmet, but I don't like the white collar on the gold jersey or the white stripe on the gold pants. You should flip the black and white on the gold jersey and pants is basically what I'm trying to say.