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ESCC graveyard - Bordeaux, Bilbao, Sheffield - C&C welcome


jdp

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Much to my surprise, I did OK in Raysox's European Soccer Concept Cup (go vote if you haven't already). I didn't make the knock-out stage [cue the sad trombone music], but I don't think I embarrassed myself either, especially going up some longtime board members/great designers.

I have some thoughts on what I could have done better, but I'll keep those to myself for now.

What did you think of my concepts -- other than some obvious typos that keep me up at night (I'm an editor by trade)? What worked? What didn't? Good kits, bad presentation? Why didn't you vote for it (even the smallest details)? I'd be interested in any Illustrator and/or Photoshop tips/tricks/processes that could help me improve, too.

chrisCLEMENT was kind enough to provide some feedback during the UK voting round: "HONORABLE MENTION: Sheffield - Great concept, a better look at the crest and a back view of the jerseys would have put you into the top 5 in my box, very nice effort on your part. Lots of potential there!" So, again, thank you for that.

But I always appreciate more C&C. Thanks in advance!

First entry: France - AS Bordelais

Bordeaux.png

Crest: Not only incorporates the tower from the Bordeaux coat of arms, but also the shield shape typical of French club crests. The city symbol, lion and fleur de lis are front and center. As unoriginal as it may be, the color scheme mimics wine, a la Bordeaux.
Home kit: I'm a huge fan of sublimation, or at least subtle color changes in kits, so I included them here. The hoops are mimicked in the socks, which are Adidas' version of the Team Speed socks (for reference).
Away kit: Keeping with the hoops theme, I decided to change it up a bit. This time, the hoops are thinner and represent the tower in the crest.
Third kit: Went with the secondary color for the third kit. Adidas uses contrasting lines (am I using the right terms here?) to sublimate designs in jerseys. So I thought I would do the same to keep it looking like something Adidas would do. Rather than being on the back of the jerseys, the city symbol is now on front of the third kit, and the lion from the coat of arms replaces it.

Next up: Spain - Euskal Herriko Futbol Taldea

"Type something, will ya? We're paying for this stuff." - Peter Venkman
Complete: Stateside Soccer Federation | Complete: World Football Club Alliance | Stalled: Roller Hockey International Redux | Stalled: MLB & Soccer Crossover

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(bump, by way of another concept :) )

Spain - Euskal Herriko Futbol Taldea (Basque Country Football Club)
After seeing the concepts submitted for the first round of voting (France), it was obvious more research and explanations would be needed. So I went deep into Basque Country, the location of Bilbao (the city I actually selected and symbolized by an oak tree in the concept image). After researching, it was apparent Basque Country should be it's own thing--especially if you ask its residents--so I went with it. Here's what came of that.
Bilbao.png
Crest: Spanish crests can be pretty ornate, so I kept some of that here by using several different elements from the coat of arms. But given that simplicity generally wins out, I tamed down (or tried to) the amount of stuff that could have gone into it. Further explanations are within the image. Because the crest has extra elements, I opted to make them one-color on the kits.
(I went through so many versions of this crest it's ridiculous. I might include them in this thread later, just to show the progression and for posterity.)
Home kit: I selected Joma for the kits, as it is a Spanish company. This particular kit is based on Joma's Fit One jersey and is blue, the club's primary color.
Away kit: Red and white, the other club colors. This is actually inspired by a combination of Joma jerseys (Valencia 13-14, Honduras WC 2014, to name a couple).
Third kit: Green is in the Basque Country flag. The flag design also is sublimated onto the jersey. When I turned this in to Raysox, I saw that Nike went with green for the Athletic Bilbao away kit. So, clearly, I am on to something and Nike should hire me immediately. :P
Presentation: Maps were/are the way to go for a presentation, so I followed suit. The phrase "You are not in Spain…" was inspired by a sign commonly seen in the Basque Country. Here's a variation on that sign.
Feedback from 1clkgtramg during voting: "I would have made the bottom half of the crest a wave like the coat of arms, but it was still great. Really like that third kit as well. I would have put the full logo on the white away kit though."
Coming soon... last, but not least: UK - Steel City FC (Sheffield)

"Type something, will ya? We're paying for this stuff." - Peter Venkman
Complete: Stateside Soccer Federation | Complete: World Football Club Alliance | Stalled: Roller Hockey International Redux | Stalled: MLB & Soccer Crossover

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Your crests are way too detailed. At the resolution on my screen, a lot of the objects in the crests are shrunk to almost nothing.

I kind of figured that might be an issue--especially for Spain. But, are they still that bad when you expand the image?

"Type something, will ya? We're paying for this stuff." - Peter Venkman
Complete: Stateside Soccer Federation | Complete: World Football Club Alliance | Stalled: Roller Hockey International Redux | Stalled: MLB & Soccer Crossover

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It doesn't matter what they look like when the image is expanded on my monitor. What matters is how they work at the size of a badge. Fortunately, the Bordelais badge shows up just about the right size, and yes, it's way too ornate. The lion and the fleur-de-lis lose all detail. On EHFT, when I imagine the badge at the right size, the acorns disappear. Also, the waves don't look like waves to me. Taper the ends.

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It doesn't matter what they look like when the image is expanded on my monitor. What matters is how they work at the size of a badge. Fortunately, the Bordelais badge shows up just about the right size, and yes, it's way too ornate. The lion and the fleur-de-lis lose all detail. On EHFT, when I imagine the badge at the right size, the acorns disappear. Also, the waves don't look like waves to me. Taper the ends.

Well what they are on your montior is probably not the size they would be on a badge, FYI. Having to fit a lot of things into one image makes the file appear smaller unless you expand it.

There are plenty of badges in real life that are more detailed (it's really not that detailed, IMHO) that are still really nice crests.

Just my observation.

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It doesn't matter what they look like when the image is expanded on my monitor. What matters is how they work at the size of a badge. Fortunately, the Bordelais badge shows up just about the right size, and yes, it's way too ornate. The lion and the fleur-de-lis lose all detail. On EHFT, when I imagine the badge at the right size, the acorns disappear. Also, the waves don't look like waves to me. Taper the ends.

Point taken on the waves, FDL and lion.

I understand it need to be simplified, so I will take another crack at them. But, as to the images being shrunk, you mentioned the resolution of your screen, which is why I asked about it.

Anyway, I'll get to work on the simplification of the crests.

"Type something, will ya? We're paying for this stuff." - Peter Venkman
Complete: Stateside Soccer Federation | Complete: World Football Club Alliance | Stalled: Roller Hockey International Redux | Stalled: MLB & Soccer Crossover

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And finally...


UK - Steel City FC (Sheffield)


Because I didn't make it out of group play in France and Spain, I needed to throw down for the UK round. As best I could, at least. I was inspired by various Nike kit unveilings. I did put some of the inspiration for the crest and kits in the image itself, but a bit more is included below.


Sheffield.png

Background photo credit: Vanessa Zhang Photography


Crest: I wanted to include a lot more in there (flowing banners, an anvil, larger pincer and hammer, maybe a lion)--you know, all the stuff typical English crests have. I quickly realized it wasn't working out, so I simplified. The phrase "Forge Onwards" was my creation. As for the font for SCFC, I tried to find one that would mimic a blacksmith shop sign.


I do have an alternate crest I will "show off" after getting a bit of feedback on this one.


Home kit: It mimics the stripes of the crest. Not sure what else to say about this one.


Away kit: Because Nike is the kit supplier, I wanted to keep it simple, as so many Nike kits have been lately. White on white with blue striping. Done.


Third kit: As mentioned in the image, the third kit represents two things: the heat produced during steel production (bright orange) and the protective coat worn during steel production (gray). Admittedly, I was a little torn on how dark to go with the gray. Again, the design of the kit is pretty simple.


Presentation: I couldn't really fit the backs of the kits on the image, so I was hoping the insets would suffice. I figured it would be a knock against me, and it was. I will work on those for the future. With the crest, again, I was hoping that would suffice; I even lightened up the wall to help show it off. Or so I thought. Here's a better view.


14113856778_d02fc70533.jpg

"Type something, will ya? We're paying for this stuff." - Peter Venkman
Complete: Stateside Soccer Federation | Complete: World Football Club Alliance | Stalled: Roller Hockey International Redux | Stalled: MLB & Soccer Crossover

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Bordelais

The big thing for me on this one was the color. In a competition that was so close, it was the tipping point that put you just out of my top 5.

I felt like the purple was too red, and had too much of a magenta feel. I also would've liked to see it paired more with the teal.

BASQUE

This one was my number 5. The high point was definitely that third jersey. I'm a sucker for sublimation, and that jersey did it really well. I felt that the elements on the crest weren't very cohesive due to being small. It left a lot of empty blue space.

STEEL CITY

Speaking candidly, I think you got robbed by a lack of voters in the UK competition. I had this rated third, mostly because the crest was difficult to see, and looked different at the angle shown. Seeing it here, I'd make it my number 1 without any hesitation.

The only weakness is that there's a bit of empty space at the bottom. I'd make the numbers and tools a little bigger.

Great work overall, it's really too bad that you missed out on the tournament, I think your designs, especially Steel City could stand toe-to-toe with any of the top 16.

I've got a dribbble, check it out if you like my stuff; alternatively, if you hate my stuff, send it to your enemies to punish their insolence!

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I think that with your first one, the color is just not one a sports team would choose, I understand why you did it, the result just doesn't work. And like everybody said, to much detail, in it too. In sports logos, simplicity is everything.

With the second logo I personally don't like it, it's more simplistic, but for me there's just something off about it. I wish the green was more prominent I love that third jersey, and I think that would help it.

I personally love the logo for sheffield, it's personally one of the best soccer logos I've seen. I can't see why you didn't go far with that, it's simplistic, great colors. The only criticisms I would give are that, there's to much blank space, and I'd wish you had changed the ball color to blue or white, the brown is a little offsetting with the starkness of everything else in the logo.

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AS Bordelais scored highly with me. I liked how elements of the crest were used in the kits, the away in particular. I also rather liked the colour used on the home kit, although I know that purple isn't really everyone's cup of tea. I'd maybe have had the sponsor logo on the away in the purple as well, as the red looks a bit odd in isolation to me.

Euskal Herriko Futbol Taldea is another really clean set, and I think the third is particularly lovely - it deserves away kit status at least, rather than being a lowly third! I was a bit unsure on the crest though - the thinking behind it is fine, but one thing that didn't sit right with me is that some aspects (namely the waves) are very stylised, whereas others are shown in a more figurative style. I'm also in agreement with Whittier S that the ends of the waves should be tapered, and the leaves and the ball could be a bit larger as there's currently a lot of empty blue around them, as Lafarge commented.

I gave first place in my UK rankings to Steel City, there's a lot to like in there. The way you've combined the various bits of city and industry imagery ticks a lot of boxes, and the kits themselves look great - although it would indeed have been nice to see the backs in full. As I commented in the voting thread, I'm much more familiar with the UK towns and cities than I am with those from France, Spain et al and to me some of the concepts in this round really had a flavour of where the club's based - there's something I can't put my finger on about Steel City that feels very Sheffield.

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