Buffalo Bisons concept

[New_Member]

I don't like the Bisons identity that they've adopted since becoming the Mets' Triple A team. Now that the Mets have improved their uniforms, I thought the Bisons could revert to a more traditional look too.

The bison is from the outfield wall of Buffalo's home field and is similar to the buffalo historically used by the Bills and Braves. The skyline shows the largest buildings in Buffalo, roughly in the order they would be seen from Lake Erie: City Hall, Niagara Mohawk building, Liberty Building, Rand Building, HSBC Center, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Like the Mets logo, the skyline is a composite one that doesn't reflect the actual view you would see looking at the city. If there is a Buffalonian that thinks I've chosen the wrong buildings or put them in the wrong order, let me know. I rotated the ball a little bit to give the logo some differentiation from the parent club and to mimic the horizontal framing of the famous Bison's hockey logo.

I plan on matching the logo to an updated version of the Bison's late 80's uniforms. C and C appreciated.

[illwauk]

This would probably look better if you put the buffalo "behind" the stitches. Aside from that, not too bad... can't wait to see the unis on this one.

[goforbroke]

I think the buffalo needs some detail.. Not a lot but some it's too plain as the main focus of the logo. At least an eye.

[New_Member]

Thanks for the feedback guys. As both goforbroke and illwauk suggested, the bison is too plain to work as the main part of the logo. I also found it awkward floating in midair. I tried if behind the stitches as illwauk suggested but it ended up making the baseball the focus of the logo, which was too much for me. After moving around the elements, I think the current version works best with no eye or detail on the bison. The buildings are a silhouette with no windows so it makes sense that the bison is a silhouette with no eye.

So I went back to the drawing board a bit. I rearranged the buildings so they are symmetrical. This looks a bit better and allows me to move the skyline upward, giving more room for the main part of the logo. I also cleaned up and simplified the buildings. Now however, the skyline is completely inaccurate. The buildings still come from the city but they are in the wrong places. Nonetheless, I think it looks better.

I also moved the stitching around so it is even more like the Pepsi cap logo. Although, those who look closely will notice the stitching is now arranged in a manner that can't exist on a baseball. Once again, I thought the improved aesthetics make this acceptable.

Lastly, I added the script from the Sabres alternate jersey, with slight tweaking in spacing. I will change the "B" to the cap's "B" once I finish making that logo. Given that the Sabres have already borrowed the script from the hockey Bisons and that I will be changing the "B", I am hoping my appropriation would be deemed kosher if it were used in real life. I prefer the whites script to the orange, which pops more and gives the logo some needed differentiation from the parent club.

When I conceived this concept, I didn't want the logo to be too similar to the Mets one because teams change affiliations so often and I wanted a look that could be tweaked for a new parent club. However, I ended up making the logo even more like the Mets. I still believe the lone bison should be the center of the team's identity, so if the Bisons switched affiliations they could drop the Mets theme but keep the Bison and script.

So, is this an improvement? Which script color works best? I would use the same for the blue softball top. Should the team name (traditional) or city name (works with bottlecap theme) adorn the logo?

[Red&Blue Crew]

I like where your going....

But is mixing Mets/Sabres/Bills logos the best way to improve the Bisons look?

What about incorporating some past Bisons logos instead

I really like the green/black/red era but it would look great in mets colors

[KyleMakesConcepts]

I'm from Buffalo, and I love the logo with the Sabres word mark, and the word mark is white with an orange outline. The only thing I would change is the buffalo. Maybe add a little more detail in it, like an orange outline or an orange eye? Something like that. Oh, one more thing, maybe fit the Buffalo Central Terminal in the skyline somehow?

[New_Member]

Thanks guys. Great to get feedback from Buffalo fans. Here is the latest update:

Following Red&Blue's suggestion, I changed the Bison from the Bills version to the version from the Bisons throwback jersey from a few years back. I am keeping the Hockey Bison's script because I just think it is so much better than anything from the Baseball Bison's past and is so unique.

I was originally going to use the B and script from the 80's and early 90's but then I realized it is the Indians' script style with the Braves B. It seems that the Bisons historically did not have a strong individual identity and would often model their jersey's after their parent club (Reds, White Sox, Indians and now Mets). The Green era is an exception but those jerseys don't work with the traditional look I want.

I may go back to the white script but I plan on using the B for the hat. I want to coordinate the hat and logo and I think an orange B would look better than a white one.

As for the Buffalo Central Terminal, I think that's a good idea. I may get to that after I address the unis. I do notice that it is away from downtown and is not in use. It will be hard to fit in so I may swap it out for St. Paul's Cathedral. Which one is more iconic? Or should I squeeze them because both buildings belong?

[New_Member]

Quick mock up of homes. May include front piping and eliminate the white outline around the B on the hat. The roads will be the same but with the Buffalo script. ...

C & C appreciated.

[New_Member]

Final Home and Road Jerseys...

[JaxNoles]

That uniform set is fantastic. Don't touch a thing. Except maybe adding a blue alt.

[KyleMakesConcepts]

Unifroms are great, but I do agree that a blue alternate would be awesome. I would say the Buffalo Central Terminal is more iconic, because the city has been on TV countless times because of it supposedly being haunted. But, the logo is so good, I'm not sure you even need to change it. Great set all together.

[sportstar1212]

Awesome set. As said before, a blue alt would be icing on the cake. I would surely buy both jerseys and the cap if they were real.

[New_Member]

Thanks for the comments. Kyle, after reading up on it, I will definitely put BCT in the logo when I get a chance. I am glad Buffalo is preserving and reusing it. If this were a real proposal, I'd want to put BCT in to support the historical preservation movement. (I love the random things I learn about on this forum.)

Here is a stab at a blue alternate. It would work as a road alternate as well.

[JaxNoles]

I'd go with the Bisons script on the alt jersey because, well, it's freaking gorgeous. Also, with the sleeve patch, I noticed you did versions with both "Bisons" and "Buffalo", so I was thinking, on the Home "Bisons" jersey, maybe go with the "Buffalo" sleeve patch, and on the road "Buffalo" jersey, go with the "Bisons" sleeve patch. A little touch that might add to the look.

[New_Member]

JaxNoles, I like to try to have the alts different from the homes so the change up is not just in the colors. I'll try a version with the script because the bison does look a little off on the chest. Having a contrasting logo patch would look good but I don't think I have ever seen such subtle change in detail for a sleeve patch, particularly a minor league club. The patch with the the Bisons script is the primary logo, so I'm going to leave it as is.

Altered the logo slightly: added the Buffalo Central Terminal to the left, redid the cathedral, and rearranged the buildings again; they are a little more accurate geographically now. I also fixed the bison's back foot, which looked he was rolling his ankle.

New on left; old on right

[KyleMakesConcepts]

New alternate and logo look great. The alternate would also be good with script, but its really good right now.

[JaxNoles]

JaxNoles, I like to try to have the alts different from the homes so the change up is not just in the colors. I'll try a version with the script because the bison does look a little off on the chest. Having a contrasting logo patch would look good but I don't think I have ever seen such subtle change in detail for a sleeve patch, particularly a minor league club. The patch with the the Bisons script is the primary logo, so I'm going to leave it as is.

Altered the logo slightly: added the Buffalo Central Terminal to the left, redid the cathedral, and rearranged the buildings again; they are a little more accurate geographically now. I also fixed the bison's back foot, which looked he was rolling his ankle.

New on left; old on right

That's understandable. Still one of the best baseball uniforms concepts I've seen.

[Red&Blue Crew]

I really love how this set has come along. It's a shame the Bisons don't look more like this. My only complaint is that the blue jersey looks a little to boring, I think the Bisons script would be much better.

[New_Member]

Thanks guys! As requested by the design committee: new alts. I made two versions, with and without front placket piping.

[AdAstraKC]

I think these are fantastic and I think your updates have all been upgrades. This would be a beautiful set for the team to wear. On the blue alt, had you considered using just the "B" in the upper left as opposed to the script or bison silhouette? Just an idea.