MLS Concepts: Next up, the Chicago Fire

[aawagner011]

Alright everyone. I thought I'd venture into some domestic "football". The only soccer concepts I've posted have been international and I didn't want to dabble too much in the clubs abroad. Anyways, I've mocked up some new looks for LA. Keep in mind that this is my own custom adidas template. Half the fun in creating a template is finding one that actually works and you could see as a real design on the pitch. I know a lot of adidas designs are built around a template, so I wanted to try my hand at this.

The primary kit is the standard all white LA has worn for a few years now. I will admit that I took heavy inspiration from the initial Becks kit. That was my favorite of the Beckham era looks. I thought the later kits became more drab as the focus shifted to mostly just white with navy blue. I really liked that yellow accenting and thought it provided some visual appeal without being incredibly "loud" on the kit (by that I mean if the panels were a dark color, they would be much more visually jarring). Anyways, I wanted to get back to some yellow trim so I added it along the sides similar to the 2007 kit as well as the sleeve ends. I loved the collars they wore with the first two white uniforms they had, so I brought it back, along with some contrast color buttons. The quasar is found on the socks and the upper back (where the founding year of 1995 is also located).

The secondary kit is all navy blue (reverting back after their recent experiment with an off blue and a superrrr dark navy/black kit. Nearly all piping and mesh is the base color to not detract from the primary element common to LA shirts- the sash. The sash introduces the other lighter blue color also found in their crest and is outlined in yellow. Not much else to explain on that one.

Let me know what you think. I hope to add a few more teams, though there are no promises how many or how timely they will be!

[Kevin W.]

I like that you've avoided going the same route as so many others and kept the Galaxy's home kit white. I know they have a lot of history wearing color at home but it just doesn't seem right to change them from the white kits.

[Turkleton]

Nice work.

The away kit is especially sweet and I can see both kits being worn on a football pitch. Very adidas-like!

[aawagner011]

I like that you've avoided going the same route as so many others and kept the Galaxy's home kit white. I know they have a lot of history wearing color at home but it just doesn't seem right to change them from the white kits.

Thanks man. I have always liked their all white sets. I thought they looked very classy and I think they have developed some brand equity in them with the rise of MLS. Going back to the old colors was never a consideration.

Nice work.

The away kit is especially sweet and I can see both kits being worn on a football pitch. Very adidas-like!

I appreciate the kind words! I thought that away kit would be nice to tie into their history while combining the modern looks they currently wear (in a similar way to their current home shirt).

On a side note, I've been cooking up some looks for Chicago, so stay tuned for that. It would be nice to get some more comments before moving on, though!

[kw11333]

Thumbs up for sure.

[Turkleton]

I'll def be keeping an eye on this thread, looking forward to the next concepts.

I love football and design wise I consider myself to be better at football kit design that I am designing other sports unis, so I always get a kick out of the football concepts on here!

[aawagner011]

Moving on to the next team, the Chicago Fire. Kinda fitting seeing as how LA and Chicago just kicked off!

Chicago departed from their usual white chest stripe to a dark navy stripe this year. I think it is a nice look, but I don't think I prefer it compared to their usual white. I have restored that here and also introduced a light blue shade to outline the stripe. This infers the flag of Chicago. I thought this was too easy of an idea that I'm surprised it hasn't been done before (at least on the home kit). For that very reason, I have made the sponsor in red. I will admit that I couldn't find a current version of the Quaker logo, so I'm using a retro version. However, I have also included the traditional Chicago stars above the sponsor in the negative space to complete the flag imagery. The same stripe is seen on the socks.

The away kit is very much the same as the home. However, it is an even more direct representation of the flag. Chicago has worn a similar kit before, but it was more of a template design that actually didn't feature the middle white stripe. Chicago is currently using a very nice away jersey that features very subtle references to the flag, but it is navy in color. The now defunct women's team, Chicago Red Stars actually wore a shirt very similar to the flag. For this, I wanted to directly recall the flag. I did use the same basic design as the home kit, but I figured for a squad whose signature look is the red jersey with the stripe, I could simply take that same stripe and use it on the away. So here we have a light blue shirt with a white stripe. While it is not part of the flag, I wanted to bring some red in as trim, so the stripe is outlined just like the home. I decided that the two primary colors here should be the light blue and white. Therefore, all red is limited only to trim or striping. The white shorts also provide an alternate for the home kit.

[Kevin W.]

As much as I love the powder blue for Chicago, their clash kit being anything other than all-white seems weird which is why I'm still not too keen on this year's RL clash kit. Powder blue would be better as a third kit.

Also, I just noticed that both sets of kits are missing the championship stars above the crests.

[aawagner011]

As much as I love the powder blue for Chicago, their clash kit being anything other than all-white seems weird which is why I'm still not too keen on this year's RL clash kit. Powder blue would be better as a third kit.

Also, I just noticed that both sets of kits are missing the championship stars above the crests.

Thanks for the comment. I know Chicago has typically worn white away from home, but I usually viewed that as caused by MLS' first decade or so of teams in "color at home" and "white away". It was pretty much league protocol, but now there has been a shift to "primary" and "secondary" kits, much like soccer abroad. I wanted to take this opportunity to add a splash of color instead of going the usual route.

And in regards to the championship stars, I've always thought that to be a little silly. It makes sense in international soccer where the tournament is every four years. But when you have the opportunity to win the league every year, those badges are going to be looking pretty crowded in a decade or two. I removed that feature.

Also, Philly coming up next after some more comments. They feature a new template.