bigred618's Soccer Concepts (NY Red Bulls Rebrand)

[BigRed618]

BUMP Uniforms finally added for TFC.

Home

This was directly inspired by a TFC concept by capitalcanuck. His concept had a third kit that had a checkerboard pattern similar to this, an homage to Metros-Croatia, Toronto's NASL team in the 1970s.

The change kit:

Basically a recolored version of the home, with the bright grey used as the dominant color.

[nas1787]

I like the kits, they're pretty classic looking, but I'm not sold on the crest. The overall shape is just very odd. If you want to keep the double circle, the maple leaf would work better if it were fit into the circle in a similar way as TFC is. Also, the 2007 isn't necessary. I do like the shape of City Hall hidden in the design, but as is it seems like to many different shapes all put together.

[BigRed618]

I like the kits, they're pretty classic looking, but I'm not sold on the crest. The overall shape is just very odd. If you want to keep the double circle, the maple leaf would work better if it were fit into the circle in a similar way as TFC is. Also, the 2007 isn't necessary. I do like the shape of City Hall hidden in the design, but as is it seems like to many different shapes all put together.

I thought you were on to something when you said make the maple leaf fit into a circle better, so for the update, I redid the crest completely...

I gotta say, I surprised even myself with this one. I figured there were only so many ways to draw a leaf, that's why I used clipart of one for the previous version. This one's made completely from scratch. The odd shapes surrounding the leaf is an image of City Hall seen from above.

[BigRed618]

For my next concept, I try to make a nice look for Indianapolis' NASL team, which begins play in 2014. I call them...

Crossroads FC

Home Kit

When coming up with a name, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. "Racing Indy" was too obvious, and I know at least a couple other artists who used that name for their own concepts. Crossroads FC, or XRFC for short, is named after Indy's nickname, Crossroads of America.

The crest is kind of an oval shape, resembling a racetrack. The colors inside is a combination of Indy's flag and the checkerboard pattern that the team would call their home colors. The "XR" was hand drawn, so it may not look perfect.

XR's home colors are black and white checks, obviously resembling the checkered flag waved at the end of a motor race, heralding the victor. I then went with white shorts and socks to go with it.

Change Kit:

XR's road kit is meant to avoid clashing, of course. The blue shirt has a sublimation of Indy's flag on the front. Then I round it out with red shorts and blue socks.

What do you think? Is this a good look for an Indianapolis team? C&C, please and thank you.

[nas1787]

I like the kits, they're pretty classic looking, but I'm not sold on the crest. The overall shape is just very odd. If you want to keep the double circle, the maple leaf would work better if it were fit into the circle in a similar way as TFC is. Also, the 2007 isn't necessary. I do like the shape of City Hall hidden in the design, but as is it seems like to many different shapes all put together.

I thought you were on to something when you said make the maple leaf fit into a circle better, so for the update, I redid the crest completely...

I gotta say, I surprised even myself with this one. I figured there were only so many ways to draw a leaf, that's why I used clipart of one for the previous version. This one's made completely from scratch. The odd shapes surrounding the leaf is an image of City Hall seen from above.

Love it. Exactly what I was thinking. Really like the holding shape too. The maple leaf could likely be refined to resemble a maple leaf better, but I'm not sure how to go about that.

[BigRed618]

I'm going to organize these concepts more by turning it into a project, a vision of what MLS should look like in the future. A few others have tried this, and now I will.

The year is 20XX. MLS now controls the top two divisions of the American Soccer Pyramid, taking the NASL name. Each division will have 24 teams, making a total of 48. The top three of the D2 teams, called the Beta League, will be promoted to the top division, or the Alpha League. The last three of the Alpha League will be relegated to Beta status.

Here's the team list. Teams with a * are ones I've already done.

NASL Alpha

West Division

Los Angeles Aztecs*

Los Angeles Galaxy*

San Jose Earthquakes

Portland Timbers

Seattle Sounders FC

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Real Salt Lake*

Colorado Rapids

Dallas Cowboys SC

Houston Dynamo*

Minnesota Stars

Sporting Kansas City*

East Division

Chicago Fire*

Gateway Athletic (St. Louis)*

Columbus Crew*

DC United*

Toronto FC*

Montréal Impact

New England Revolution*

New York Red Bulls

New York Cosmos*

Philadelphia Union

Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Atlanta Silverbacks

NASL Beta

West Division

Edmonton Drillers

Chicago Sting

Alleghenny Athletic Assn. (Pittsburgh)

Tulsa Roughnecks

Pearl of Honolulu

FC Arizona

Las Vegas Eleven

Deportivo San Diego*

Calgary Aurora

Bavarian SC (Milwaukee)

San Antonio Scorpions

Saskatoon Gold

East Division

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Puerto Rico Islanders

Ottawa Dominion

Carolina Flight

Crossroads FC* (Indianapolis)

Rochester Lancers

Cleveland Wanderers

Terra Nova FC (St. John's, NF)

The City Beautiful (Orlando)

Brooklyn Italians

Spirit of Detroit

Virginia Cavalry FC*

[BigRed618]

BUMP for update. I'm just now realizing the size of that list I just made in my last post. I hope I don't have to eat those words later on...

GATEWAY ATHLETIC

I call this a fantasy team because it is a fantasy of mine. The biggest name in soccer in my (near) hometown is the Lions of the PDL, and I feel like the only one in my town who even knows they exist. Rumor has it that efforts are being made to revive AC St. Louis, that one-and-done Division 2 team that succumbed, imo, to mismanagement and an irresponsible ownership group, but I digress.

I've come up with several different ideas of what the Gateway City's team should look like, and this is my latest version...

First of all, this is the first time I used a Nike template. Hope I did a good job. I kept the crest simple as I could, evoking the image of a water wheel on a steamboat, an important icon in St. Louis' culture and history as much as the fleur-de-lis in the crest's center. The colors are taken from the big colleges of Illinois (orange) and Missouri (black.) St. Louis' metro area stretches far into the Prarie State, and there are a lot of Illinoisans who are fans of St. Louis teams. GAFC pays homage to their fans from both sides of the Mississippi River with this color scheme.

The Change Kit:

Solid white with black sleeves and black/orange trim throughout. I thought it looked nice. The main reason I chose Peabody as the team's sponsor was that it was the only one I haven't seen used yet, and Budweiser would be too obvious, like using Miller for a Milwaukee team.

C&C, please and thank you.

[BigRed618]

CD CHIVAS USA LA AZTECS

Home Kit

For this concept, I decided to rebrand Chivas USA, the club in need of one the most. Chivas is an LA-based club that caters almost exclusively to the city's Mexican population. With the rebrand, the Aztecs can keep a Mexico-themed identity, and not look like jerks about it.

The crest is just a recolored version of that of the NASL club of old. The colors are based on what the old team wore throughout their history, orange, orange and blue, then gold and blue. The home colors are orange and gold stripes with blue trim. The only element from Chivas USA that I kept was Corona as the team's presenting sponsor.

Change Kit

Primarily blue with orange and gold stripes down the middle for variety, to give the fans a reason to buy both shirts.

Third Kit

I almost made a throwback for the third, but thought this would look cooler instead. Primarily orange and white, with trace amounts of blue, this kit still evokes the memory of their glory days in the old league.

C&C appreciated, as always.

[Philsphan]

I really like the improvement for LA. The logo is pretty cool and so are the uniforms. My only criticism would be that the change uses a lot of navy and so do the rival Galaxy.

I like Gateway, but I'm not sure the colors really "feel" St. Louis.

Will be following this series and I hope you get enough comments to encourage you to do many concepts.

[BigRed618]

I really like the improvement for LA. The logo is pretty cool and so are the uniforms. My only criticism would be that the change uses a lot of navy and so do the rival Galaxy.

I like Gateway, but I'm not sure the colors really "feel" St. Louis.

Will be following this series and I hope you get enough comments to encourage you to do many concepts.

Thanks for your input and your kind words. Yeah, Gateway does look unusual, but that's what I was going for. I wanted to try something less obvious for them.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Home Kit

Between their crest and their kits, Galaxy is not as easy to improve on as some of the other teams are. I kept the crest as it is, same with the uniforms mostly. What I did add was a sash made from a funky ball/star pattern I made up.

Change Kit

Midnight blue shirt and socks, with blue shorts. The ball/star pattern makes an appearance here as well. In hindsight, I think I could've put some of those shapes on the back of the shirt somewhere...

[BigRed618]

I'm back again, and now I have two concepts for you. First is an idea for a team in San Diego...

DEPORTIVO SAN DIEGO

Home Kit

Change Kit

San Diego, second largest city in California, is best known for its natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, and close ties with the U.S. Navy. I try to reflect that by giving DSD a nautical theme. I'd be lying if I didn't also say that the crest was also inspired by a certain Brazilian team. The flag inside the roundel is based off of the flag used by the city's local yacht club. The colors are also tied closely to the city, especially its sports culture. The NFL's Chargers wear these colors, and it was also used by San Diego's old NASL team, the Sockers.

[BigRed618]

...and here's the other one, for the New York Cosmos!

NEW YORK COSMOS

Home Kit

Change Kit

Third Kit

The only thing I'm not satisfied with this one was that I couldn't find any Paint-friendly Umbro templates, so I made do with what I had. Hopefully it still looks good.

[BigRed618]

bump C&C, please and thank you.

[Philsphan]

Galaxy: the primary looks really good because it looks clean. The clash isn't as good. The double blue doesn't work and I don't like the dots.

Deportivo: Its good. The colors are very San Diego. I like the yellow clash especially.

Cosmos: I like the Cosmos but I'd have a really traditional primary kit like the ones they wore with Pele and the Statue of a Liberty one as the alternate.

[Gothamite]

Yeah, (as a Cosmos season ticket holder!) not feeling the Statue of Liberty bit.

I'm also not keen on re-coloring the crest's outline. If you're going to do that, it really should be green, since that's the club's primary color and it's arguably under-represented on the crest.

Love the Toronto checkerboard. Nicely done.

If the Indianapolis team tries to tie itself into motor sports in any form, they'll face a lawsuit from the Speedway - the NASL club already found that out, so they're steering well clear of that. Just something to keep in mind if you want your concepts grounded at all in reality.

[BigRed618]

Yeah, (as a Cosmos season ticket holder!) not feeling the Statue of Liberty bit.

I'm also not keen on re-coloring the crest's outline. If you're going to do that, it really should be green, since that's the club's primary color and it's arguably under-represented on the crest.

Love the Toronto checkerboard. Nicely done.

If the Indianapolis team tries to tie itself into motor sports in any form, they'll face a lawsuit from the Speedway - the NASL club already found that out, so they're steering well clear of that. Just something to keep in mind if you want your concepts grounded at all in reality.

I'll try to fix the Cosmos one as soon as I can. As for your Indy comment, I'm not sure how you figure the idea that black and white checks or an oblong circle are copyrighted images. If the Speedway decides to take action over that, I don't see them winning the case. Nevertheless, I'm coming up with a new Indy concept as we speak.

Anyway, here are a couple other concepts, the other two New York teams on my list...

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Home Kit:

Change Kit:

Third Kit:

For the crest, I went down a similar route as Mike Crosby by refitting the 2011 All-Star logo as a crest. The skyline will set the team apart from their triplet brothers in Germany and Brazil. The home kit is meant to have more red in their home colors, to set them apart from their intracity rivals Cosmos and Brooklyn. I'm trying to make it so these three teams can face eachother without having to change out of their home colors. The change kit was inspired by those iconic aluminum cans Red Bull comes in, and the third is basically a throwback to their days as the Metrostars.

[BigRed618]

BROOKLYN ITALIANS

Home Kit:

Change Kit:

The Brooklyn Italians currently play in the NPSL. It was seeing that bad crest that inspired me to improve their look. The crest I made is in an oval shape with a jaunty monogram which I stole from the Bruins, to make them look more Italian. The main colors are blue and gold, the official colors of Brooklyn as well as Italy, with Italian flag colors as accents.

[BigRed618]

BUMPing with an update on the Cosmos concept:

Home Kit

Change Kit

Third Kit

As suggested by Gothamite, I fixed up what he felt was wrong with my concept. He's a Cosmos season ticket holder, so I figured he had the better idea of how his heroes should look. The home jersey is now plain, with the image of Lady Liberty now adorning their third jerseys. As for the crest, I tried changing the trim around it to green, but I thought it looked odd. Then I thought of making the trim green and gold, but it made the sky blue part of the crest look out of place. Ultimately I changed it back to white, just like the official version.

[BigRed618]

FC DALLAS DALLAS COWBOYS FSC

Home Kit

Change Kit

Third Kit

Here's the backstory: In the year 20XX, The FC Dallas is bought by the owner of the NFL's Cowboys. He decides to give the Hoops the same identity as his football team, thinking the Cowboys name would make attract more fans, and also that both teams are owned by the same entity. This new sports empire would call itself Dallas Cowboys FSC, the suffix standing for Football & Soccer Club. The NASL Alpha team gets uniforms similar to their gridiron counterparts. The double stripes take on the form of hoops on the jersey, a small homage to their previous identity. The third kit is an obvious nod to their Dallas Burn days, but not necessarily based on any one of their kits. I'm considering getting rid of the Burn logo so it can be used as a third option to avoid clashing.

[curswine]

FSC, I like the sound of that.

The third isn't a nod to the Burn, it's more of a 'Hi, how are you doing?' It'd probably be more in their interest just to use their colours but not their logos, a more subtle horse logo somewhere on the shirt would work better.

Home and away seem more than suitable for the concept though.