ArenaFL pres. by Nike - OKC YARD DAWGZ - C+C APPRECIATED ON ANYTHING!

[LAWeaver]

It's back and better than ever! Back in August, I attempted an Arena Football League Concept series. Unfortunately, I didn't even make it half-way in that thread. Well, consider this the resurrection of that thread. The main thing to remember in this thread is that it's a "what if?" thread. The "What if ?" part is wondering what would have happened if the AFL never went bankrupt following the 2008 season and teams from both the AFL and AF2 never folded, including some teams that never saw the 2000's. Long story short, here is the lineup for the new Arena Football League:

Without further ado, one of the current teams in the league, defending Arena Bowl Champions, the Arizona Rattlers:

My snake helmet returns as well as new striping on the pants and helmet. C+C appreciated!

[DS729]

No Rampage?

[LAWeaver]

No Rampage?

from what I've gathered on the GR Rampage Wikipedia page, after the Drive relocated to Massachusetts, they went bankrupt. In 97, a group of people bought the team and began play in 98. So technically, the Drive is the Rampage and vice versa. I think what I'll do is replace Quad Cities with GR and will make QC Iowa's AF2 team (another project, hint hint)

EDIT: Also, before I forget, a thank you to Conrad for some of the fonts I will be using. Grand Forks, Michigan State, Horned Frogs, and more will be used.

[macalesterscots]

The white snake looks out of place especially on the home since there isn't any white except for that little outline around the numbers. If you want to keep the black helmet, would probably just lose the white and replace it with teal. Or maybe go with a copper helmet with a black snake and teal diamonds; after all, they have used the copper helmet throughout pretty much all of the team's existence.

[LAWeaver]

The white snake looks out of place especially on the home since there isn't any white except for that little outline around the numbers. If you want to keep the black helmet, would probably just lose the white and replace it with teal. Or maybe go with a copper helmet with a black snake and teal diamonds; after all, they have used the copper helmet throughout pretty much all of the team's existence.

I did have a version with white numbers. Would that help even things out? I think I'm gonna stick with the helmet though. It's really growing on me.

BTW, alternates will be released at the end, so there's a chance for a copper helmet.

[macalesterscots]

The white snake looks out of place especially on the home since there isn't any white except for that little outline around the numbers. If you want to keep the black helmet, would probably just lose the white and replace it with teal. Or maybe go with a copper helmet with a black snake and teal diamonds; after all, they have used the copper helmet throughout pretty much all of the team's existence.

I did have a version with white numbers. Would that help even things out? I think I'm gonna stick with the helmet though. It's really growing on me.

BTW, alternates will be released at the end, so there's a chance for a copper helmet.

I think it would - there's still enough copper in the uniform that a simple switch from copper to white numbers wouldn't throw off the color balance

[LAWeaver]

Updated Arizona Sets:

Only change is the white numbers on the home.

LA will be next. Their story will come with them when they are posted. HINT: Avengers identity + KISS

[WSU151]

The Rattlers always looked great with a copper helmet and a teal mask. Maybe throw a little more teal on the jersey itself too.

[LAWeaver]

Okay, so LA is proving to be a bit of a hassle. My original color scheme for them was Black, Gray, and reddish-orange, to represent owner Gene Simmons and KISS. However, if I kept everyone else the same, I would have 3-4 teams with very similar color schemes. This is where the poll comes in. You guys can help decide what happens with the color schemes and can even cause a potential League adjustment. I like the Gladiators name, but I also like the Cleveland Barons name and can probably translate the old hockey logo over to a football template. If the switch is made from the Cleveland Gladiators to the Cleveland Barons, I'll drop Austin down to AF2, move the San Antonio Talons to the National-South to make room for the Las Vegas Gladiators in the N-West. This will put the Tampa Bay Storm in the remaining spot in the American-South.

So, while that poll is going on, I'll just leave this final update of the Rattlers (including alternate uniforms) up here:

RATTLERS BACKGROUND

Location: Phoenix, AZ

Stadium: U.S. Airways Center

Conference/Division: National-West

Owner: Ron Shurts

Team Colors:

Primaries:

- Really digging the copper helmet. Kinda kicking myself for not posting it earlier

- Kinda changed the snake a bit after the old version looked kinda fuzzy on Paint, which made it really hard to switch the helmet from black to copper. Now it's more 2-D and appears on the home and away jerseys as well

- Darkened the Teal a little as well, but not a whole lot

Alts:

- Teal jersey is paired with the copper helmet + pants

- A special "Desert Storm" alternate that is an all-copper set

BTW, I believe that the Arena Football League should be a little crazier with their uniforms. The sport of arena football is all about speed and is a fast-paced game. With "speed" and "fast" being Nike's trigger words, I thought I could have a little fun. Arena football isn't necessarily traditional, so why should an ArFL team have a traditional look? Just my $.02, so expect a little craziness in this series

[LAWeaver]

Bump for some C+C on the last Arizona Sets.

I'm glad to see people voting on the poll. Jacksonville is still up in the air, as it appears to be down to Red/black/silver and navy/neon green/silver. I have decided to end the other two polls. LA will be Red, blue, and gold, while Cleveland will be Red, black, and silver.

I have also decided to rename the Kansas City Brigade to the Kansas City Command, which was the name of the team when they returned from bankruptcy.

Also, the Milwaukee Mustangs franchise will be the one from the 1990's, not the one that started and shut down from 2009-2011 (team was Milwaukee Iron from 09-10). Their colors will be Purple, Teal, and black, but may be one of the last teams because I need the logo updated as well as Detroit's and Toronto's. I've sent out a request to Ren in his thread, but it appears he's busy with more important work at the moment and may be awhile before I get those.

[DS729]

Nice job on 'Zona! I think that JAX needs to be Seahawks colors, Red/Black/Silver is a really whored out scheme in the AFL. For the other 2, I'd say keep the original schemes.

[LAWeaver]

Thanks Scruggs.

I've got the original LA logo in my "database" (just a 33-slide PowerPoint with all 32 logos + League Logo) as I've grown to like it more.

Later tonight, I will post both Jacksonville Sets from the previous thread and people can vote on them to see which one looks the best (the winner will receive an update as the template has changed some).

Cleveland will also remain the same as well. Chicago is currently in the works and will remain mostly the same. With LA missing the Red/white/blue scheme, I think I may just put that on Chicago.

[LAWeaver]

Maybe this will swing the voting for Jacksonville - The previous sets posted in the last thread:

Red/black sets color scheme:

Navy/Neon Green color scheme:

Looking back on these, they both kinda suck, but I can fix them. We'll just have to see what color scheme I'll be using. Oh, and for those interested in what the Dark grayish blue color scheme would look like, here it is used on my UFA team:

Let's see if that helps the voting process Hopefully, Chicago will be posted within the next day or two.

[LAWeaver]

CHICAGO RUSH BACKGROUND

Location: Chicago, IL

Stadium: United Center

Conference/Division: National-North

Owner: Mike Ditka

Team Colors:

Ok, so I just found out last night that the Chicago Rush folded before this season began, despite their success on the field. I'll be honest here, I don't watch, nor do I follow, Arena Football. The only success I've seen is whatever's on the Arenabowl wikipedia page or the team's page. That being said, they have some great logos that are wasted on crappy uniforms. I'm hoping I'm fixing that.

Primaries:

Mixture between retro and modern here. A modern font and style of striping mixes with a stripe-less helmet and kinda-simple striping on the sleeves. The four stars are from the city's flag

Alternates may or not be a possibility. I am just gonna stick with releasing primary uniforms (home + Away) from now on until I get to the end. Then, I will release alternate jerseys at the end, that way if I have to call it quits early (which I hope not), I will at least have the main looks posted.

helmet Logo on white background:

Thoughts on Chicago?

[macalesterscots]

Really like the flag stripe on the pants - I think the striping ought to be consistent throughout the uniform however. Also not a big fan of the Michigan State font for the numbers. It's been getting overused on the forums in my opinion

[DS729]

Really like the flag stripe on the pants - I think the striping ought to be consistent throughout the uniform however. Also not a big fan of the Michigan State font for the numbers. It's been getting overused on the forums in my opinion

Man, I just saw that and had to go back and look for it! Somehow I missed that the first time.

On JAX, I honestly think the RWB just looks better, it looks as if you're trying to hard to be different with the Seahawk-esque set, I'd definitely stay with the status quo.

[LAWeaver]

Yeah, I was debating about going back to it. The reason I asked is because I was going to make Orlando the same color scheme, but instead of eliminating the yellow from their scheme, I'll just emphasize it a but more. Thanks for the input though. I am in the process of updating Chicago as we speak (don't expect me to post anything tonight: NASCAR's on tonight )

[LAWeaver]

Updated Rush sets:

Changes:

- Added 4-star striping to the sleeves

-Changed font from Michigan State to Athletic

changed the pants striping from Blu-W-Blu-W-Blu to Blu-W-R-W-Blu to show off the stars better

Jacksonville is up next followed by Iowa.Hint for Jacksonville: Gradients

EDIT: Added color swatches to the original Chicago post and the final Arizona post. Also added a kinda-bigger version of the helmet logo but on a white background that may or may not make an appearance on a helmet (hint hint nudge nudge)

[LAWeaver]

JACKSONVILLE SHARKS BACKGROUND

Location: Jacksonville, FL

Venue: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

Conference/Division: American-South

Owner: Wayne Weaver

Team Colors:

Changed History

The Jacksonville Sharks began play in 2000 as one of the original members of the AF2, the Jacksonville Tomcats. The Tomcats struggled their first two seasons. However, on the verge of being shut down, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver, who had originally wanted a team in Jacksonville at the Jacksonville Coliseum, bought the team and helped fund a new arena that is now known as the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. In 2005, the team rebranded from the Tomcats to the Jacksonville Sharks. The team received a facelift coming into the 2010 season and have won every division title since then.

Primary Uniforms

- First off, credit to conrad for the number font. That is the Texas Tech Red Raider font. However, the scripts on the jerseys above the number ("SHARKS" and "JAX") is a font called Ghost Rider. Unfortunately, this font does not come with numbers, so I had to download the closest font to it, which is the UA Red Raider

-Gradients come into play for the first time in this series in the helmets and undershirts.The helmet fades from black to red but doesn't quite get to the red. I was trying to go for a Jaguars 2000's "black-but-teal" look. I'm still satisfied with it though.

- The numbers, NOB, and scripts are also gradients, but on the home, I was trying to get a chrome look to it, but again, fell a little short. The home numbers & words (NOB & script) fade from gray to white while the script and #'s have red outlines. The road numbers, script, and NOB fade from black to red while the #'s & script have a black outline. I figured red numbers would help separate them from Cleveland and Orlando

- Sleeve & pants striping are pulled right from the logo. The sleeve stripes have the wavy streak of blood that's coming from the shark's... mouth? The pants striping is pulled from the gills. I thought this would look perfect for a Broncos-esque pants stripe.

I'd love to hear some feedback on this as well as the Chicago updates. I really feel like I hit a couple of Homeruns here, but I need to know to be for certain! So please, give me your C+C and I will see you when I post Iowa later in the weekend!

[LAWeaver]

Bump. Anybody?