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San Francisco // America Two

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After the great earthquake of 1906, San Francisco city leaders decided that to lift the spirits of its citizens they would provide funding to build a soccer stadium in what is now Golden Gate Park called Bay State Park. The team started play in 1907 and provided a much needed escape from the rebuilding efforts.

The team's logo originally was simply a trolley car from the front. 2 major events changed their identity forever: In 1937 the newly completed Golden Gate Bridge was added to the clubs badge, and in 1994 it was announced they'd leave their longtime home and move to the Presidio in a new stadium. This decision was with much controversy as the BSP was beloved by fans of the team and all around the league. There were a variety of "Save BSP" rallies (some at rival stadiums!) but in the end they still moved to their new state of the art stadium in 1996.

Perhaps it was karma, because before they moved they were a successful top flight club. But since then they've started a slow drop and they are now in danger of dropping out of the professional ranks to the 4th Division.

The team's popularity has allowed them to keep a top sponsor like Apple. The rest of their uniforms are very unique in that they feature tonal images of San Francisco vistas on each side, 4 different images in all. The orange color is the exact shade as the Golden Gate Bridge.

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The basics of the sketch ended up the same as the final, but originally I was thinking of a texture, not a photo as the background.

sanfran6.jpg

http://pcgdstudios.c...-san-francisco/

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My thoughts-

Dallas- My favorite so far, easily. A perfect design for a Texas team.

Jackson- I like this design too and I love argyle as a pattern for soccer kits. The colors work well also. My one issue is with the sponsor, and maybe this is common in soccer kits but the colors for Oscar Mayer clash horribly with the colors you have. I know that some companies will use white lettering on soccer kits they sponsor, so maybe a more low-key sponsor logo would help.

San Francisco- Great logo design, first of all, although it's disappointing to see the team slipping :). On the photo patterns, I love the Golden Gate shadow on the primary, but the design on the clash is kind of a miss for me. I think it's too much line and sort of takes away from the design and might not work as well on an actual jersey.

That all said, a continued great job on this series overall, a really formidable undertaking.

"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand."

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My thoughts-

Dallas- My favorite so far, easily. A perfect design for a Texas team.

Jackson- I like this design too and I love argyle as a pattern for soccer kits. The colors work well also. My one issue is with the sponsor, and maybe this is common in soccer kits but the colors for Oscar Mayer clash horribly with the colors you have. I know that some companies will use white lettering on soccer kits they sponsor, so maybe a more low-key sponsor logo would help.

San Francisco- Great logo design, first of all, although it's disappointing to see the team slipping :). On the photo patterns, I love the Golden Gate shadow on the primary, but the design on the clash is kind of a miss for me. I think it's too much line and sort of takes away from the design and might not work as well on an actual jersey.

That all said, a continued great job on this series overall, a really formidable undertaking.

Yeah. Is there any way you could change the Oscar Mayer colors to match the uniform?

sport-scarf_reds_zpsbb317600.png



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Love Emerald City SC. The away kit is a little much for me, but overall it a great design. I'd certainlly support it if it was a real life club!

Senior Creative at Sporting Kansas City. Follow me on Twitter: @NateTheDesigner 

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I would DEFINITELY buy that orange San Fran shirt. But as far as I know, San Franciscans hate the term "Frisco;" and locally, the word "Town" is associated with Oakland (San Fran is "The City," hence the Warriors' jerseys from the 70s). Suffice to say you'll probably need something new for the neck tape.

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I changed the "Frisco Town" to "We Are CSF," thanks for the heads up on that!

Next up:

Hollywood SC // America Premier

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LA's premier league team is Hollywood SC also known as the Stars. Since 1952 they've called Sunset Grounds their home. The team has had quite a history with its players in the tabloids for almost everything but playing soccer. They are the sweethearts of the American soccer media despite the fact they haven't really won anything. In fact, Bayern Munich teams from the 90s got their nickname "FC Hollywood" from the Stars. Star games are where it is to be seen, Jack Nicholson is a regular and perhaps the biggest Star fan.

Their logo is inspired by the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as the Hollywood Sign and the team's colors are Forest Green and Athletic Gold.

Hollywood SC's uniforms are green and gold. The Hollywood lights that are featured on the front and back are a recent addition but the rest of the uniform is pretty basic and has been more or less the same since 1952. The primary is green over gold while the change kit is gold over white. The resemblance to the Australia National team is coincidence.

hollywood2.jpghollywood3.jpghollywood4.jpghollywood5.jpg

The only major change from the sketch to the final is the socks. Originally going to be a bit more modern, went with the star motif instead.

hollywood6.jpg

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Kenosha-Racine // America One

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Some of the team's in America League are based on areas of the country that are near and dear to me. Some areas might not have a team if I was doing this project based on city size, but not all current pro teams are based solely on size (See Green Bay with a NFL team and LA without a NFL team) I went to college at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI so there had to be a team based there.

Because Kenosha is a smaller city (90k) and they are so close in proximity, I thought Racine would be a perfect partner for that team. They were founded when Kenosha and Racine were "roaring" with a large car manufacturing economy. Their logo is a K and R combined "kicking" a soccer ball. Their games are played at Harborpark in downtown Kenosha.

I wanted to keep their uniforms pretty classic, but some thin pinstripes are a soft nod to the (unfounded) rumors that Kenosha is run by the Italian mob even to this day. Their sponsor Abbott Labs which is just down I-94.

kenosha2.jpgkenosha3.jpgkenosha4.jpgkenosha5.jpg

The final output is almost exactly as I sketched 18 months ago.

kenosha6.jpg

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Dakota // America Two

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Dakota is actually one of my favorite concepts for a logo in the package. The logo features the state flowers of North Dakota on the top and South Dakota on the bottom. Everything about the identity is about about opposites. What is purple in one spot is green in the opposite spot.

Dakota started way back in 1903 as a railroad team that traveled around the Midwest playing other small town teams. They've called a variety of places around both states home but have settled in Fargo. One of their previous stadiums was called the Black Hills because for a brief time you could see the mountains in the background. While in Fargo a stadium name never clicked yet the fans kept calling their home "The Black Hills" and the name stuck.

Dakota is known as the Buffs and their uniforms feature a racing stripe under their badge that extends a bit onto the back. Their corporate sponsor is a local company Daktronics, makers of Video and Scoreboards. The primary kits are Green over white while the change kits are all purple.

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The logo from the sketch is pretty much exactly what ended up happening, but the uniforms are vastly different. At first I imagined them being a bit more modern and template style, but I wanted to do something with a racing stripe down the side and thought Dakota would work nicely.

dakota6.jpg

http://pcgdstudios.com/america-league-hollywood-kenosha-racine-dakota/

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Guest darkpiranha

The lights on Hollywood are a perfect touch. I like the color combo, but red carpet Red seems like it would have been a color they would have chosen, although you get into the potential issue of red and gold looking communist. However, based on the rumored history of Hollywood, maybe red and gold would have been slyly appropriate.

As an aside, will any of the team identities have something controversial about them, like a Native American name or logo, that is being protested against today but the team is sticking to its guns? There's always one team in a league that some group is complaining about. (for the record, I think "Braves" and "Chiefs" are fine, "Redskins" needs to go.)

One detail might have gotten edited out accidentally, as it SEEMS like the team is called the Stars, but the text doesn't make it explicit. It's implied by the comparison to Bayern Munich being called Hollywood FC and the Stars (wasn't sure if THAT was a typo because it seemed so incongruous, but Google confirms for me that they were indeed nicknamed Hollywood FC at one point because they were so star-laden), but the sentence about all that is a bit confusing.

And the other day I was making a half-joke about North and South Dakota being United together, never expecting that the Dakotas would indeed end up having a team. Nice.

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Added a clarifying line there so it's a bit more clear.

Trying to add these little things (Camden Pitch, FC hollywood) to imply the league was influential in all things America and soccer, it's been kinda fun doing that as I go along.

Bayern was more known as FC Hollywood in the 90s cause the players were in the gossip pages instead of ghe sports pages, kinda how i saw this Hollywood team.

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Hollywood: LOVE the searchlights., though I'd probably like it better if the green were complimented by a more "glitzy" color, say... Vegas Gold (known in this universe as Hollywood Gold?).

Kenosha-Racine: Al Capone did control his share of... uh, hot jazz-playing pet stores... in Kenosha back in the day, so the pinstripes still fit. I almost wish you would've saved these colors for Milwaukee though.

Dakota: Was this badge inspired by biker vests (like those found in Sturgis in August), by any chance? Either way, nice subtle nod.

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It is subtle but I love the slight undulation in the Hollywood sign in the star, just as it is in real life.

I was going to mention the fact that the Hollywood sign - and, by extension, the image of the Hollywood sign - is trademarked by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce/Hollywood Sign Trust... and said trademarked image is fiercely protected. So, I'm assuming in the world of the America League that Hollywood SC is paying a pretty significant licensing fee and/or share of merchandising profits to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce/Hollywood Sign Trust.

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New York United // America Premier

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Much like Chicago and all over the league, teams were spread thin through the 70s and it caused a number of takeovers and mergers. New York was not immune and 3 teams became one. Teams from the Bronx and Brooklyn were bought by the Manhattan team and became New York United. Its been largely considered a black eye on American Soccer as it destroyed 3 original identities. Interestingly there is increasing interest in Brooklyn to restart their team. Regardless they are New York United and they are the most successful team in New York winners of 7 championships and 8 US Open Cups. Their home games are played at Manhattan Coliseum and their nickname is the Unos, a play off United.

The logo features the Brooklyn Bridge which connects Brooklyn to Manhattan and golden sun rays. The initals at the bottom represent the previous 3 teams all done in Black and Gold.

The uniforms have a raglan cut and feature the same rays from the logo over black shorts and white socks. The change kit is primarily gold with the rays outlined, black shorts, and gold socks.

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The end result is pretty much exactly as imagined when I sketched it out.

newyork6.jpg

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Kingston // America One

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Kingston was founded around the same time as the other Caribbean teams to act as a travel partner. Like the others, they have taken advantage of the vacation setting to attrach talent and distract opposing talent. They've mostly played between the Premier League and America One, never really getting traction in either. The logo is a combination of their crest and their flag. The overall shape is from the Coat of Arms as well as the pineapple while the overall color scheme is from the country's flag. They play their games at Kingston's Memorial Park.

The uniforms are completely inspired by the nation's flag (The National Team must have used this at some point) The Primary is pretty much exactly as the flag, while the change is white base with green and gold cross.

kingston2.jpgkingston3.jpgkingston4.jpgkingston5.jpg

The biggest change from sketch to final is the socks, I couldn't get the diamonds to look right so I went with some nice bold stripes.

kingston6.jpg

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