And The Award Goes To...

Sorry there hasn't been a post in a while, the blog has been on hold recently, but should pick up again soon. Today we'll look at something incredible by way of the soccer-inspired blog The Beautiful Gear, by way of the blog FilmDrunk, by way of UniWatch. Hope that wasn't too confusing. It's a remarkably humorous–and superbly-executed design from a team in a Dallas-based indoor soccer league. Team captain Mike Miller explained to 'The Beautiful Gear:' 

"I’ve got an indoor soccer team in Division 11 (1 being best, 11 being worst… obviously) here in Dallas, Texas and I would like to submit our team jerseys which I designed and made. The patches are embroidered and the lettering is authentic jersey vinyl on Adidas Predator blanks. While we only finished 3rd in our division, I like to think we looked good doing it. The team name is Portman Kunis United (aka The Scissors). It’s a tribute to Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman in the movie Black Swan, for their….. amazing acting. Notice the handcrafted numbering, custom with a swan on each number."

The uniforms are simply outstanding. Obviously for real embroidery as well as legit Adidas kits and custom vinyl letter one would need to shell a decent chunk of change, but original designs executed like the pros are the kinds of things we live for at ALTLG. If you haven't seen The Black Swan, you've probably at least heard about some of the more 'memorable' scenes; this humorous reference should need little explanation. It is in this spirit in which this design is so impressively–and humorously presented. Frankly there's not a lot to breakdown here; you just need to admire it. From the subtle–yet thoughtful details of the swan logo on each number à la the EPL's Barclay Lion, to the scissor logo on the rear of the collar, this design–if not for it's R-rated humor could easily be mistaken for a professional team, complete with sponsorship across the chest. Even one of the names on the back has humor in itself. And as you might expect, the two kits–home and away/clash–are of course, black and white. 

From ALTLG to you Mr. Miller, a tip of the cap for a job well done. It's not often you see design as humorous and beautiful as this.

Little Things

Note to Reader: This post was originally published this past week, but again due to server issues at Blogger, has not appeared on the site until now.

I've made some small updates to the site to help make ALTLG a more 'complete' blog, and hopefully help you as readers explore more uni and logo-related content. I've added some additional links along the side of the page; these are all great places to peruse and in some cases, see some spectacular user-submitted concept art.

I've added two more blogs, Icethetics, and Football Shirt Culture, which are dedicated to hockey uniforms/logos and soccer kits/logos respectively. Icethetics has lots of great concept designs as well as being a tremendous resource for those wanting to stay abreast with hockey design. Football Shirt Culture is an incredibly useful site because as any soccer fan knows, teams changes kits quite frequently.

Aside from the two blogs, I've also posted links to ColorWerx and The Helmet Project. These are both incredibly comprehensive resources. ColorWerx, formerly know as The Society For Sports Uniforms Research, has a simply huge amount of information including detailed uniform histories from MLB to the NFL. The Helmet Project has catalogued virtually every college and NFL helmet ever worn, making it the place to go if you're at all curious about headgear your favorite team has donned in the past.

I know that we're far from actually needing one, but I've added a Search function through Google Custom Search at the bottom of the page that will hopefully be useful as I publish more entries. Also worth noting is the new block logo above the Search function. I like it so far, but I want to eventually come up with something more visual that doesn't use words.  Let me know if you have any ideas.

Lastly, there will be a new entry tomorrow, and beyond that I've got some other things in the works for the site itself to look forward to. Thanks for your patience, this Blogger server issue has really slowed down the blog.

Down Goes Frazier

ALTLG will be down for a day or two, as several recent posts seem to have disappeared entirely from the blog and archive. In the interest of efficiency, new posts will unfortunately be delayed until I can figure out what happened and find a reliable way to back up my content.

EDIT: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/05/blogger-is-back.html Well it appears the problem wasn't nearly as mysterious as once thought. In the interest of avoiding futility, I will continue to wait for my posts to possibly be restored instead of trying to rewrite them.

ALTLG Extra: In Which Half The Nation Learns D.C. Has An NBA Team

Note to Reader: This entry was originally posted last Wednesday, but due to technical difficulties beyond my control, was lost until now. Sorry for the delay–I know it's old news now, I'm doing my best to keep updates frequent and regular. 

The blue sloth-thing and the And1 guy's days in the District may be numbered. 

Big news out of the District of Columbia as the Washington Wizards have unveiled new logos and colors, and of course, new uniforms. I'll only make brief remarks and leave most of the commentary to Uniwatch, who has already expertly covered the rebranding more thoroughly that I could hope to.

Harkening back to an older style has been the recent rebranding trend in the NBA, exemplified by Utah, Golden State and Philly. So while the Wizards' new threads are a marked improvement, it's not like this hasn't been done before. However, the new wordmarks do present some nice details. Notable are the hands on the "DC" logo that call back to the Bullets era, and the silhouette of the Washington Monument created by the stems of the "H" and "D." The usage of a landmark in the logo is reminiscent of the Washington Capitals secondary logo in which the shape of the Capitol Dome is created by the negative space of the eagle. It's certainly no coincidence that the Wizards and Caps now share some aesthetic similarities; they're both owned by Ted Leonsis and Monumental Sports and Entertainment.

Overall, the uniforms are a significant improvement over the 90s styled blue and gold they've worn in the past. While this uniform set doesn't exactly flirt with perfection, it does seem to stay away from the arbitrary stripes and panels that have plagued many of the NBA's modern uniforms. My only real criticism is a minor one: the silver/gray trim around the numbers looks dull to me. Against the jerseys' bold, contrasting stripes, the darker trim seems out of place, and last minute. It makes the numbers look cheap or glued on; I would have very much liked to see them go with white instead. Aside from a few minor annoyances it's still a solid improvement. And if you're a team like the Wizards, you can be happy that at ALTLG there is more than one way to win.

All Forked Up: Part II

In the previous entry we took a look at Arizona State's recent rebranding campaign in terms of the logo and wordmark. But now, it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty: the uniforms. Before any critique is made, it would serve us all well to examine a few of ASU's previous uniforms. Before Nike started running the show, Adidas had been providing the Sun Devils with uniforms that had ranged from ordinary to modern mundane. Nike's first uniform set was a step forward, but not particularly exceptional. The single helmet stripe, contrasting collar and sleeve trim, and single pant stripe created a bold, simple look that ASU wore for a several years. A unique feature of Arizona State's uniforms was the "PT-42" patch that honored former Sun Devil Pat Tillman, who left an NFL career to serve in the military after 9/11. This tribute became a permanent fixture that remains a part of the uniforms to this day. Aside from a minor template update, the uniforms remained unchanged from introduction to retirement with the exception of the addition of a solid maroon away pant. In 2009, Nike updated ASU's look that reduced the uniform's trim to contrasting piping, and changed the pant logo from "Sparky" to the interlocking "A-S." Along with the uniform change, ASU decided to go monochrome several times. Overall, the uniform update was relatively minor, but it brought some modern touches to a relatively plain uniform set.

Now on to the new stuff. First up is the helmet. Gone is the single stripe, and replacing Sparky is the new pitchfork logo, sized and oriented in a sort of Florida State style. Considering the logo changes, I love the new helmet. Although it's an obvious way to implement the new team mark, it's uncluttered and avoids unnecessary striping or other adornments. Can't tell just by the photos, but the helmets' paint job also appear to have that matte finish that is all the rage in college football right now.

The uniforms themselves have been simplified by the elimination of any sort of contrasting trim. The trim and TV numbers have been replaced with shoulder stripes and an "ASU" wordmark on the sleeve. The shoulder stripes are interesting in that they echo "barbs" of the pitchfork, but I think the new look is a little too simliar to this, especially since they're in the same conference. The chest workmark has been updated in the new font, but probably won't be noticeable unless up close. The new uniforms continue the tradition of honoring Pat Tillman, with a kind of medal or medallion at the collar that's unique and subtle. The pants have been greatly simplified, with only the obligatory swoosh and hip pitchfork logo breaking up the solid color.

The new uniform set introduces iterations in maroon, gold, and black–complete with its own helmet. The  addition of black into the ASU color scheme is probably the most dramatic change introduced by Nike. Because black has not been a significant presence in the Sun Devil color palette, in "uni-speak" we call this "Black for Black's sake," or BFBS. There are many instances of BFBS in other sports, and for the most part, are only created as a merchandising or popularity ploy, since black is not a dominant part of the team's color scheme. Generally. I share the same sentiments as Paul Lukas of UniWatch on BFBS, in that I don't really care for it. I understand that to some extent, appeasing fans and players is important, but  I think that BFBS is a cheap way out. Instead of something creative, most of the time, BFBS is merely a black clone of a home or away uniform. In the instance of ASU, this is mostly the case, save for the uniform numbers which have a gradient that fades from gold to white. It looks sharp, but ASU isn't the first team to display this.

Overall, I just don't feel like I can say this is truly a step forward for Arizona State. While I like the new logo, and wordmark, the elimination of TV numbers, and the more-or-less blank pants don't get a lot of points from me. I think a lot of fans expect an Oregon-scale rebranding; they want something drastic and cutting edge. And thus far it seems like Nike has had a tough time repeating their success in a way that appeals to fans. To their credit, it can be a hard balance to strike. From a design standpoint, creating something modern and unique that isn't totally off-base of tradition is kind of like pushing the opposing ends of two magnets together. In summary, the Sun Devils' rebranding feels very similar to Michigan State's; it certainly isn't a step backwards, but it really isn't much of an improvement.

All Forked Up: Part I

Recently Arizona State and Nike unveiled new uniforms, logos and even some new colors. As was the case for Michigan State and Washington State, this was a comprehensive rebranding effort. The goal was to establish a distinct, aggressive look for all of ASU athletics. In this two-part series, we'll look at the Sun Devils' new duds and try to determine if Nike was able to deliver a positive change in the Valley of the Sun. 

Before we examine any of the uniform or logo changes, the first question to be addressed is, why rebrand? A simple answer would be money–merchandise sales. A new look means being able to supply your fanbase with new jerseys, shirts, hats, etc. Beyond simply financial reasons, what are the other reasons to rebrand? In the case of Michigan State, the Spartans desired a consistent identity across their sports programs as this, this, this, and this, had all been used in recent years. Sometimes when schools have a high-profile rival, they feel as though they need to establish a strong brand presence to compete. I don't know it's ever been explicitly stated as such, but you can definitely feel some of that with WSU's rebranding; they wanted to put themselves on the map. One of the more underrated reasons to rebrand is that it can be a recruiting tool; kids seem to love it. While many schools like Notre Dame and Texas lean on heralded traditions and history to snag top-flight recruits, Oregon has taken a distinctly converse attitude to reeling in talent. Oregon has used their wildly unconventional uniforms to plant themselves firmly on college football landscape, and establish the Ducks as one of the "cool" programs in the country. 

Now that've we looked at just a few of the reasons one might rebrand, we can take a look at the rebranding itself. At the forefront of the changes are a new wordmark and logo which will bring some consistency to ASU. Like MSU before rebranding, the Sun Devils had been using several different logos. The wordmark is clean and distinct, combining bold-formed lettering familiar to athletics with curved "Sun Devil horns" almost as serifs. While I like how Nike was able to create something unique while maintaining a clean look, I'm not sure the subtleties of the wordmark will be noticeable from any sort of distance. As for the logo, they're clearly looking to establish an identity around the unique "Sun Devil pitchfork." The logo draws some aggressive lines–which is what they're going for–but I'm not sure how well it will hold up over time. As much as I love many of the modern designs Nike has created, I also tend to be a sucker for the traditional college aesthetic: block letters, with big, bold colors and stripes. And when you put the pitchfork next to Cal's script logo or Arizona's "A" logo, it definitely stands out, but I'm not sold on it's longevity–I just don't see this logo holding up over time. On the other hand, it might just be me. The logo does indeed do what it was created to do: it updates and simplifies ASU's primary "Sparky" logo, and gives their program a visual "edge." The pitchfork also means that Arizona State will continue to be counted among the NCAA schools not using a letter-based primary logo. 

While Nike's partnership with ASU brought change to all the Sun Devils' uniforms, I'll be focusing on just football. We'll see just how well the new logo and color(s) fit in with the uniforms–and how ASU's new look stacks up as a whole. 

Rebranding

I've been busy lately, and haven't had time to do a solid post. I did however update the look of the site with a new wordmark/logo. I can't say I'm totally sold on it yet–we'll see. Later I'll have a proper post, where we'll examine a couple other examples of rebranding.

Closed for Renovation

Sorry no new post today. I'm working on changing the appearance of the site, and creating the all-important logo for the blog as well. Expect a new post tomorrow, as well as some visual changes in the coming days.

Preparing for War

If you haven't heard of Nike's Pro-Combat line of college football uniforms, you've probably seen them. Pro-Combat uniforms, according to Nike, represent the cutting edge of football uniform innovation and design. The two years ago, when Nike released their first line of Pro-Combat uniforms, several of them were more or less fauxbacks, throwbacks–with a few modern alterations. However in their second year, the uniform designs were even more unconventional, some almost resembling Major League Baseball's "Turn Ahead The Clock" event from 1999. The rising popularity of the innovative and sometimes outlandish Pro-Combat uniform series has led to many creating their own mock 'Pro-Combat style' uniform for their favorite team or school.

In my latest entry, we examined some ads from the Adidas Football facebook page. After perusing the Photos section which contained a lot of user-submitted material, I came across something interesting. Someone had done some mockups of a Pro-Combat uniform for Michigan, which raised an eyebrow for a few reasons.

For one, the Pro-Combat concept is a Nike thing, I'm not trying to say fans of Adidas schools aren't allowed to make a mockup, but it's intriguing that Adidas would allow that sort of thing on their page. Additionally, the mockup itself uses a Nike design template, and the creator of the mockup neglected to alter or remove the Swoosh from the player's cleats, making this all the more obvious. I know it's not in any official advertising or anything, but it's curious to see that this sort of thing made it onto Adidas' facebook page, despite bearing the obvious mark of the enemy.

Adidas has acknowledged the popularity of Nike's unconventional uniforms and has slated this season's game between Notre Dame and Michigan as a 'throwback' game in which both teams–which are Adidas schools–will wear special throwback uniforms. I'll be curious to see if these will be true throwback uniforms; will they be accurate to the respective era they represent? More importantly, will Adidas' offering be as popular as Pro-Combat without the modern stylings that have made them popular? It's a distinctly different approach; Nike has put a lot of their stock into programs known for bucking tradition. Adidas, however, has its placed resources behind two programs laden with history. It's "Old vs. New," "Tradition versus Innovation." However you want to put it. Just leave the war analogies at home.

Three Stripes and You're Out

Spring is here, and so is football–at least in a limited capacity. The NFL Draft and colleges' spring games have afforded fans across the country with the illusion that September is only one month away. In that spirit, today will be spent examining some Adidas advertising by way of Uniwatch for college football. The ads feature Adidas' new super-light 'adizero 5 Star' football cleat, as well as their Tech-Fit uniform template.

Now before we really get into things, I'd like to offer this disclaimer: I don't intend to turn this into a smear campaign against Adidas. I've said it in the past that The Three Stripes seem to be behind the ball a bit when it comes to football, particularly when compared to Nike, and the meteoric rise of UnderArmour. Now what does 'behind-the-ball' really mean? In my eyes it means a failure to consistently put out products that are as good–if not better than your competitors. And in my eyes, Adidas just hasn't done that. It doesn't mean they everything they put out is absolute shit; they've done some great work, but it's about doing it across the board. 

The first thing that I noticed was the cut of these new Tech-Fit jerseys. Likely a response to Nike's own "shrink wrap fitted" uniforms, Adidas has finally made the switch to uniforms that provide a more compact, streamlined fit. Overall, I'd say it's definitely a positive for Adidas; some of these look really good. The Tech-Fit jerseys give the uniforms just an overall cleaner look. Aside from the fit, the other things I noticed right away were the sleeves–or lack thereof and the unusual collar design. The sleeve-above-the-arm look is popular among skill players and linemen, and I wonder if Adidas took that into consideration when designing the uniforms. On some, truncated sleeves will look fine, but I doubt it will look as good at other positions like quarterback. Although the collar looks unusual, particularly when highlighted by contrasting trim like on Indiana's uniforms, you don't really notice it on uniforms like Kansas where it's not made obvious. Even though it doesn't look that great, this is probably an instance of function over form; the new collars look like they make sense for the way a player's shoulder pads fit under the jersey and around the neck. 

As for the uniforms themselves, the Tech-fit template seems to be the only cosmetic change for most, like Tennessee, Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin, whose uniforms remain unchanged otherwise.  Louisville, who sees significant change in their uniforms, isn't a huge improvement–if at all. Their uniforms attempt something I'll talk about frequently: the attempt to marry the new with the old–implementing modern elements in a traditional style or setting. Sometimes, the results can be great, as in the case of the Vancouver Canucks, slightly updating a traditional logo and uniform with a modern look. Unfortunately, this combination of tradition and innovation more often than not results with rather mediocre designs.

Louisville's uniforms aren't horrendous, they're really not that bad; they just don't seem improve upon the previous incarnation–and that's the problem. I realize that black is one of their colors, but its use seems too heavy to me; it weighs down the design. It reminds me just a little too much of this, especially the heavy shadow on the numbers. Probably would have looked good in the mid to late 90's. The other thing that bothers me is wordmark across the chest, "Louisville," is too big to fit above the numbers as an accent like this, but it seems a little too small if they were going for something more prominent like this. It looks like its just sort of floating somewhere in between.

The other two major issues I noticed came from FIU and NC State. It could simply be a product of the lighting or photo processing but FIU's helmets don't seem to quite match their uniforms, and if you're going to go with the monochrome look, you'd better get that right. In general, I'm not really a huge fan of monochrome look, and for NC State in particular, it just makes them look like a high school team. I would go with white pants, or at the very least some sort of pants striping to break up the solid color a bit. And another thing, ditch the black. Stanford did, and now they have one of the sharpest uniforms in college football. 

Finally, we'll examine an instance of almost-perfect: Indiana. While I can't speak for their performance on the field, Adidas' offering for IU is a good one, and an improvement over last year. They've dropped the contrasting paneling on the pants in favor of a more traditional double stripe, which adds some continuity to the uniform. They've also toned down the HOOSIERS block script across the chest, which is an improvement over last year, which looked cluttered with the large lettering, shoulder stripes and collar trim. Can't quite tell from the ad, but hopefully they've gotten rid of those ridiculous PowerWeb pants too. PowerWeb, for those less-informed, is a series of TPU bands implemented onto the surface of a uniform to, as Adidas claims, 'augment and support' the muscles and movements of the athlete, maybe something like kinesio tape. At any rate, it looks awful. My only real gripe with this uniform is the collar trim: it just stains the traditional look of the uniform, and creates an odd-looking neckline. Other than that, this uniform nails it, and is a nice improvement over their ho-hum uniforms of the past.

The Tech-Fit template is definitely a move in the right direction for Adidas, and it will be interesting to see just how comprehensive this change is for the schools they outfit. Will it just be these flagship schools–or will smaller schools be updated as well? For the layman the changes may pass by unnoticed, but with the popularity of Nike's Pro-Combat line, it's time for Adidas to step up to the plate.