Lafarge's ESCC concepts (The ones that didn't make the cut)

[MDGP]

Well, the dust has settled from the French round of the ESCC, and my boys finished with a hard fought 7th place after making a solid run at the wild card spot.

One of my regrets from the first round was not providing information about the design process, as many of the elements seem obscure without proper explanation.

So, I'd like to present that now. (Hopefully the image shows up... I'm using my phone)

CREST:

The crest features a large circular medallion upon a red shield. The medallion itself is derived from two separate elements. First, the green cross represents the Croix de Guerre, which was presented to the soldiers who fought in World War I and II.

What's so significant about this? Well, the city of Reims played an important role in both wars. In World War I, the Second Battle of the Marne is widely regarded as the beginning of the end of the war. In World War II, the city played host to the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, resulting in the actual end of the war.

In the middle of the cross is the Calice du Sacre Tau, representing the royal history of the city during the 1500's through the 1600's.

Finally, upon the bottom of the shield are crossed swords. These swords, along with the muted yellow, do not represent war or royalty, but the industry of the region. Reims is one of the world's leading producers of Champagne. The swords at the bottom are two sabrage swords, which are used to ceremoniously open bottles of champagne.

UNIFORMS:

The home uniform is simply meant to evoke a mixture of classic and modern uniform design.

The striping upon the clash kit is another homage to the soldiers of France, and mimicks the bands upon which medals were hung. The crest is meant to resemble a medal upon the chest of the players.

Finally, the shirt sponsor is a French cement company that was too much fun for me to not use.

[Whittier S]

My only problem with the set was that those swords looked too small and thin to embroider. A very tiny thing, but the competition was so stiff, it knocked it just out of my top five. It's gorgeous in all other respects.

[Jake3roo]

really good job. I know the swords are symbolic, but I would either make them bigger or eliminate them.

[1clkgtramg]

Glad you did this, I was debating to do so as well. The thing that grabbed me most from your entry was the colours. Although I will echo the font being too condensed for a clear embroidering.

[GeauxColonels]

It's a great look. Definitely in my top 5. I agree that the swords were too small on the shield. I like the stripes down the chest but the stripes down the sides of the shorts reminded me too much of an Adidas kit.

[nas1787]

Is there a reasoning behind the colour scheme?

[VictoriaGooner]

Thanks for the background story on your concept club Lafarge. As for my voting, you were outside my top five because of the small swords due to embroidery plus no use of a proper local area business for your shirt sponsor. Good nonetheless mate!

[MDGP]

Is there a reasoning behind the colour scheme?

Yep, originally it was going to be just green and yellow, due to three things: The symbol (logo?) of Champagne-Ardenne, my initial "Chalice-centric" design, and the champagne industry (green vineyards and yellow champagne). As it progressed, I felt like the crest just wasn't there, and needed another color to convey the purpose. As I learned more about the war connections, I felt that red would be a good compliment, while retaining some historic value. Finally, I dulled down the yellow a bit to reduce the visual "noise," and went with a more champagne-like color, for obvious reasons.

[MDGP]

Well, the voting for the UK is complete, and it looks like I'm moving on to the tournament! In regards to F.C. Tyne, I'm gonna wait to post it until I'm either eliminated or crowned champion (I really hope it's the second).

However, I also have my German design that I never posted. Like my French team, BG Munich finished in 7th place. So, I'd like to present it here and get some feedback.

[GeauxColonels]

I put my critiques of all of the entries in the Germany thread. I plan on doing the same for all of them.

[MDGP]

I put my critiques of all of the entries in the Germany thread. I plan on doing the same for all of them.

I did see yours, really good C+C from you. Glad you liked the color scheme, it's my absolute favorite color scheme to use. I was initially going to have a third, but I had a ton of trouble making it work with the overall identity.

[jdp]

Reims - This is just a personal preference, but the champagne color is too much champagne. For me, it would look better as white, with champagne as an accent. That said, the kit is well done. The crest is solid, too. It might be too much, but to address the swords, maybe they are larger and behind the shield?

BG Munich - Solid crest and home kit. No issues there. The shoulder stripes of the clash kit, though, are a little too much. I know some really liked the shoulders, but they looked too mismatched to me. Love the sublimation, though.

[MDGP]

Reims - This is just a personal preference, but the champagne color is too much champagne. For me, it would look better as white, with champagne as an accent. That said, the kit is well done. The crest is solid, too. It might be too much, but to address the swords, maybe they are larger and behind the shield?

BG Munich - Solid crest and home kit. No issues there. The shoulder stripes of the clash kit, though, are a little too much. I know some really liked the shoulders, but they looked too mismatched to me. Love the sublimation, though.

REIMS

You actually hit a few of my main concerns that I had about the concepts going in. When it came to the color scheme, I was a bit upset that I wasn't able to work in white... It never really occurred to me to go with white and utilize the other three colors as accents. I'd definitely look into that next time.

The swords were the biggest pain of the entire identity for me. Initially they were supposed to be crossed behind the cross to further represent the Croix du Guerre, but it didn't look right. I tried so many different placements, renderings, shapes, etc. and I just couldn't get it to work. If I were to do it again, I'd likely eliminate the swords and try something else.

In general, the entire identity was a bit of an experiment for me, trying to make a more abstract crest and building the identity from there. I feel like it suffered from a bit of overthinking rather than doing what comes natural, which I did more on the final two.

BG MUNICH

When it came to the clash, the competition dictated taking some calculated risks, and this was one of those. As you said, some people liked it, but clearly not enough people to move me on. In general, it's pretty tough to make the Maryland-style shoulder stripes to work. (Originally both sides were supposed to have the lozenge shape but in different colors, but I found it to be a bit much).

[Whittier S]

FBGM was one of my top-five. I thought it was pretty much flawless.

[rykochristie]

I honestly like both of them better than FC Tyne (FC Tyne is still pretty good)

[Whittier S]

If there is any quibble with FBGM, it's that the lozenge in the M is so small as to be pretty much unreproducible.

[MDGP]

Sigh... Well, it was a good run, but I guess it's time to post my last team.

This has been a real fun competition, and I'd like to thank everyone who voted for this one. The fact that I was a single vote away from making it to the semifinals is a real honor, especially since I had never made a soccer concept before three months ago (which reminds me, I need to finish up the ASF). I look forward to whatever the next competition is.

In the meantime, tell me what you didn't like about this.

[Jaffa]

Reims is a solid effort, it's an unusual colour scheme but one that works quite well I think. Like others who have posted, I would have liked to have seen a bit more made of the swords on the crest.

I think the Munich kits look rather smart - the colour scheme works well and the designs are simple but clean, with the sublimation on the away being a rather nice touch. The crest is rather nice too.

Tyne though is my favourite of the three - you've used the various bits of symbolism very well to create a really strong identity. I like the thinking behind the third, it was joked in years gone by that when a north east club needed a new player all they needed to do was whistle down a coal mine and one would pop out - appropriate then to dress them like they'd done just that . I think a top eight finish was well deserved.