My idea behind this blog was to cover sports from the point of view of my obsession. Not necessarily just to write about the big game, or the newest star, but to write about all the little nuances and things about sports outside of the games themselves that I love. If you've read any of my other posts you know probably my favorite thing in the world is logos and uniforms. It's a perfect combination of my favorite things outside of sports like graphic design, marketing, brand development, but in the world of sports.
For a long time I have designed my own logos for teams, or done simple updates to current ones. If there is a team who has a set I can't stand, I try to create one I like better. And if a team is known to have an update coming soon, I obsess between coming up with my own ideas, and trying to predict what I think the new brand will look like. So is the case with the Cleveland Browns. This is a team I have worked on for the past few years, because I've always liked them for some reason, but thought the uniforms could be so much better. Rumors have been going around for a little while that Cleveland will be next victim of a Nike revamp. That might be too harsh, because I love the Seahawks new set (maybe I am bias), and I think they did a great job with the Vikings updates as well. Sadly for Florida, all of Nike's damage has shown up there. The Dolphins got an incredibly boring update, and the Buccaneers and Jaguars now rock sets that might be ugly in the AFL. The rumors are now truth however, as the Browns will unveil a new Nike designed set in 2015.
So this is the perfect opportunity for me to share my Cleveland Browns concept that I have been working on. This is literally the first time I have shown any of my logo/uniform work to anyone outside of my parents when I was younger, or now a days my uninterested but supportive girlfriend. I've worked pretty hard on this one, because it kind of fit into all the criteria I want went it comes to updates ideas. They need one, but I like something about them already, and they are getting one. This is kind of a hybrid concept between what I would actually do, and what I think Nike WILL do. I will explain what I mean as I show you different parts of the concept.
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| New Logo |
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So this isn't super creative because this logo already exists. Currently the Browns are the only team in the NFL with no helmet logo. The orange helmet is their logo and their identity. It may be tough to let go of it, but if you want a new identity you have to ditch the old. That being said how do you come up with a logo for a team named after a guy's last name, and not a very pleasing color? This B football logo has been used by the Browns since 2003 and was the influence for my almost my entire concept. Standing alone it isn't much, but as part of the entire brand it actually fits very well. The only change I made was to the orange color. Instead of a burnt orange, it is now a bright orange, which I will explain more later. It's a drastic change from the simple orange helmet logo, but it still brings the Browns tradition so the fans would be able to adjust pretty easily. Plus, anything is better than the helmet logo.
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| New Typeset |
This part of my concept is more what I think Nike would do, than what I would do per say. I wanted to create an updated traditional look, because Cleveland is a very traditional style team. That being said, if there is one part Nike will go "modern" it will be the new typeset. The Browns currently have a simple block font, which is used still in the logo, but if there is any part of a team you can update and not throw fans off the bandwagon its the typeset. I normally love classic traditional in the NFL, but I actually kind of dig this pairing I made. I used the same colors, but the team name is now the color brown. I am going to make the brown a bigger focus, and the orange more of a cool accent color, which again I will explain more soon.
Now the best part, the uniforms. I'm going to give you a little background into the Browns, so I can better explain my decision making process. I love the orange helmet, I think the fact it's the logo and represents the entire brand it is stupid, but the helmet itself is awesome. Orange is favorite color, and the helmet reminds me of more classic college helmet. Hence the problem, they aren't a college team. Ironically, the Browns got their color scheme from Bowling Green State University, because in their first season of existence they shared practice fields. That's how creative teams used be. Paul Brown said what should I name the team? Well I own them, so how about Browns. What about colors? I'm just going to look around here, I got it we'll just use these guys colors. It's got brown, good enough. Also, the fact that the team is called the Browns, but is known for the color orange just bothers me. My other issue was Paul Browns future team, the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals are orange and black, and use their color scheme more appropriately given they are a tiger. They are in state rival, and I always thought it looked funny when they played each other. So, I decided to ditch the orange helmet, go with white and add the logo, welcome to the NFL Cleveland. Again, not ditching the orange completely just making it more of an accent color, and a brighter one too. Think the bright green in Seattle. The next thing most important to me was creating a consistent uniform. Currently the Browns have three different types of stripe patterns between their helmets, sleeves, and pants and it drives me insane. I have taken the stripe pattern from the logo and used it in the entire uniform. The white outside, brown middle, and orange center stripe is the same down the middle of the helmet, on the shoulders, and down the pant legs. I changed the Nike logos to orange because they will pop with the brighter color, and Nike doesn't shy away from making their logos stand out more. I added the new Browns typeset to the front of the jersey and the back of the helmet. I also put brownie the elf above the player's name on the back of the jersey. The new regime has been using him more and more, and I have a feeling he will be a part of their new brand image. The only thing I didn't touch that Nike probably will is the numbers. I have stayed with the standard style because I think it matches the helmet logo and traditional look best.
Then there was the road uniform. I debated doing brown pants for the road set, because with the helmet being white now having an all white set is kind of odd. But, back in 2006 the Browns used the brown pants to honor Jim Brown, and then wore them a couple more times and the fans were furious. They despise the brown pants, and I would be shocked if they ever return. The helmet obviously stays the same, because one of the things the NFL does to pretend they care about concussions is say players can only use the one custom fit helmet they have through the entire season. This has seriously damaged all the awesome throwbacks teams would wear. Anyway, so since the pants and helmet stay the same, the only thing to change was the jersey. At first I basically did a simple reverse of the home, but the stripe pattern had to be different on the sleeves and there was just way too much white. So to add more brown I basically transferred the entire sleeve from the home jersey onto the road white. Adding more brown, and making it so the stripes could stay the same. I also changed the collar to solid brown instead of matching white, to again break up all the white. I think this really brings across the idea of brown and white primary colors, with an orange accent. Other than that, the two uniforms aren't too different and achieved my main goal, which was a consistent look.
There it is, my Cleveland Browns concept/Nike prediction. There is something about the Browns I like, maybe it's because I'm partial to classic looks, or maybe even though I got rid of it, it's that orange helmet. Either way, I really hope Nike doesn't slaughter this look too badly. With Manziel there, you know we are going to see a lot of over coverage of this team, so I'd like the uniforms to at least look good, while Johnny Football self destructs. Had to throw in one dig at the guy. Seriously, I don't understand it, all that baggage for a non-NFL skill set.
Anyway, please let me know what you think, what changes you would make or what you would do completely different. Otherwise if you have any ideas or other teams you'd like to see me play with, let me know. As always thank you for reading and helping me deal with my addiction.
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