college football,constant uniform and helmet changes thoughts

[ram29jackson]

YA KNOW... I like to see new and creative stuff..and I like when a team goes retro or pseudo retro.

but a lot of this stuff is like these designers are battling graffiti artists trying to one up each other with crap.

the new science that makes all this possible is fascinating but a lot of these just look like over done motorcycle helmets and lose that feeling of a football team.

and more interesting...college football is willing to do this while the pro's cant do throwbacks for one paranoid red tape reason or another.

nice,subtle old school salute

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fascinating but still odd

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[mjd77]

I loved it when Oregon started this trend and I continue to love what Oregon is doing with their gear. When other teams started to "copy" what Oregon was doing I didn't mind. (Boise State and OK State are the first ones that come to mind.) I usually liked it when teams could go with multiple different looks. However, now even I am at the point where I feel it has gotten completely out of hand. IMO all we see now are schools trying to one up each other to see how crazy they can get with uni and helmet design, and frankly, I think most of them have done a horrible job with it. I almost cringe when I think about where this new airbrushed helmet trend is headed. Let's face it...since this stuff is used as a recruiting tool now, I don't see the trend dying down anytime soon.

[ram29jackson]

and also,..even with the uniqueness come some trends. Arizona State being the latest of quite a few schools that went with the "logo on one side and uniform number on the other"

that subtle trend I can tolerate and support to a degree because its not too flashy

[Xist2inspire]

What really grinds my gears about this ridiculous trend-following is the negative effect it has on the world of design. When you get such an onslaught of ill-conceived and poorly executed designs, people tend to look down on the element itself rather than the execution of it, which is totally the wrong way to go about it. I see more posts about "why (insert trendy look here) sucks" than "how (insert trendy look here) can be utilized better," and that's just sad.

Chrome helmets, matte helmets, anthracite, blackouts, whiteouts, sublimation, giant helmet logos, one-offs, etc all have their place in the world of design. But like everything else, you have to be smart about how you use it. "Classiness" is not achieved by merely adopting a template, be it traditional or modern. "Looking good" is not about jumping on everything new and shiny. What makes or breaks teams in terms of looks is how well they shape different elements to fit their image, and how much they pay attention to detail.

[ram29jackson]

theres no way the Dolphins new look lasts that long...3..4 years ?

[wonderbread]

theres no way the Dolphins new look lasts that long...3..4 years ?

They cant change significantly for 5 years

[mjd77]

What really grinds my gears about this ridiculous trend-following is the negative effect it has on the world of design. When you get such an onslaught of ill-conceived and poorly executed designs, people tend to look down on the element itself rather than the execution of it, which is totally the wrong way to go about it. I see more posts about "why (insert trendy look here) sucks" than "how (insert trendy look here) can be utilized better," and that's just sad.

Chrome helmets, matte helmets, anthracite, blackouts, whiteouts, sublimation, giant helmet logos, one-offs, etc all have their place in the world of design. But like everything else, you have to be smart about how you use it. "Classiness" is not achieved by merely adopting a template, be it traditional or modern. "Looking good" is not about jumping on everything new and shiny. What makes or breaks teams in terms of looks is how well they shape different elements to fit their image, and how much they pay attention to detail.

I guess that's what I was trying to say in my blurb. I like the idea of teams doing it, but now there are so many schools that are doing a horrible job in the execution, it just seems to turn the whole thing into a negative for me. I still think Oregon does the best job with it and with each redesign from them, they come up with something that ties together well. On the other end of the spectrum, you have schools like Virginia Tech.

[BrandMooreArt]

X2I hit it on the head about the execution of the designs. there's nothing wrong with what is being used, but how it's being used. well, for most of it. i'll never be convinced the chrome/mirror helmet finishes are a good idea. and a few others

its a bittersweet time in sports design, especially college football. one the one hand i love that there is an audience that is open to new and creative designs and we're able to explore things never done before. then, what we're given is a load of most of the time. 2013 has been a really bad design year, the worst since the "pro combat explosion" of 2009. (but to be fair, there are some gems mixed in. mostly with helmet design)

most sports design fans blame the manufacturers Nike, UA, and Adidas, but the people who are mostly at fault here for the wild designs that deviate from their normal identity are the schools themselves. they're the ones throwing away their identity equity and trying to be Oregon. what they all miss is that Oregon's football aesthetic is a reflection of their brand; who they are. much of that was defined by Coach Kelly building a culture of doing things better, and blazing your own paths. thats the "why" for doing it, and the "how" for Oregon is they seem to always get Nike's best efforts. sorry, Jaguars, Dolphins, and Vikings. a black helmet for Nebraska dosen't reflect their brand. its a plea to be accepted as one of the cool kids. schools need to not forget who they are and who they want to be viewed as.

[ohryan]

Who is it that pays for all these alternate/throwback/special/one-off/ uniforms? I'm assuming the schools do, because I can't imagine the NCAA allowing sportswear companies to throw tons of money at certain programs and not others, (but I could very well be wrong). With athletic budgets as tight as many are, you'd think there would come a time when big-dollar boosters would start to question why money is being poured in to things like alternate uniforms when they could be used up upgrade facilities or coaches salaries (or buyouts). You can call it a recruiting tool all you want, but when all is said and done, I can't imagine that a lot of recruits have actually been swayed by a school's wardrobe.

[ram29jackson]

Who is it that pays for all these alternate/throwback/special/one-off/ uniforms? I'm assuming the schools do, because I can't imagine the NCAA allowing sportswear companies to throw tons of money at certain programs and not others, (but I could very well be wrong). With athletic budgets as tight as many are, you'd think there would come a time when big-dollar boosters would start to question why money is being poured in to things like alternate uniforms when they could be used up upgrade facilities or coaches salaries (or buyouts). You can call it a recruiting tool all you want, but when all is said and done, I can't imagine that a lot of recruits have actually been swayed by a school's wardrobe.

i'm not googling anything yet but its always been my understanding that the schools don't pay much if anything for them. The Brands are just looking to advertise their lines

[ESTONES6]

I hate teams wearing colors that aren't their actual school colors. That's the first thing.

Second, I love traditional uniforms with stripe patterns on the pants, helmet, and sleeves. That being said, more modern stripes (Denver Broncos) or patterns (Florida gator print) when a school does it correct, i.e. the TCU Horned Frogs skin pattern look tremendous. Its clean, its not over the top. Examples on the other side of the spectrum include the Maryland Terrapins flag helmet and flag uniforms.

Third, I don't like modern for the sake of modern. The Oklahoma State Cowboys are a good example. The double strip pattern is nice, but the little random triangle ruins it for me. A team that does modern right is partially the Oregon Ducks. I love the wing pattern on the helmet. I love the feathers on the shirt. I HATE the carbon fiber pattern since it doesnt have anything to do with Oregon.

That being said, this trend of having a non-tradition logo on the helmet is something that I really am liking. The Oregon Ducks with the wing pattern is pure genius. Its as unique as you can get, it looks aggressive but elegant, its sexy, it makes the team look fast... like warriors. Another prime example is the Navy helmets from last year, with the bottom fourth of the helmet navy blue, with the gold stripe on top or the OSU ProCombat uniforms from 2 years ago... the silver helmet with the truncated, oversized, thick red strip. This new trend Nike is coming up with makes the players look, well for the lack of a better term... bad ass.