Uniform design review: Jacksonville Jaguars

(Three NFL teams, the Dolphins, the Vikings, and the Jaguars, have introduced new uniforms for the 2013 season. Being a bit of a uniform junkie, I'm going to review them over the course of this week. Today: the Jacksonville Jaguars.)

Holy hell. Every idea on the board made it into the uniform. OK, where to start? It's clear to me that this is the result of a new owner, the Jaguars' Shad Khan, wanting to really put his mark on a team and be considered "innovative". Just look at his prominence in the Nike/Jaguar promo of the new uniform. He is front and center. I can almost imagine him in design meetings screaming "I need more cowbell! More! More! More!"

There are a lot of little individual parts of this uniform I like. The new logo is more detailed than the old one and it's perspective has been improved. A small upgrade. The logo is used on a shield shaped badge over the left shoulder, a nod to Jacksonville's military community. Yeah sure. Looks cool. The shoulders have a clear, shiny print that accents the matte finish of the jersey and looks sort of like tiger stripes. I dig the look, but I thought jaguars had spots? The pant leg has a floating color panel that sort of reminds me of a military rank bar thing. This I really like. The custom number font looks athletic, sharp, and aggressive. I like the numbers 1, 4, 5, and 9, but the 3 and especially the 7 look wonky to me.

Put it all together and what do you got? A lot, and I mean a LOT of stuff. Editing was needed here. If it were me, I would have eliminated the color contrasting shoulder and neck thingy, refined the 3 and 7 numbers, and had a different pattern other than tiger strips for the shiny bits on the shoulder.

BUT OK SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE HELMET???

My God, this is the worst uniform detail I can remember in a long time. Maybe ever. Matte black in the front, shiny gold in the back. It's like the world's shittiest mullet. If you took the logo off the helmet, this would still look odd. But then WITH the already more detailed logo?

The official story is that this is supposed to represent a jaguar hunting and emerging from the shadows. But that should mean that the black and the gold would be reversed, so the Jaguar head is emerging from the shadow, not diving into it. It's a dumb rationale.

Here's why I really don't like this gradient: The helmet is the most important element of the uniform. It's the jewel. Everything should be in support of making it be strong and memorable. Having a giant matte black / shiny gold gradient transition directly behind your logo is probably the worst thing you could do. There's nothing to focus on, just one big pile of hurt.

Bottom line: This is the Poochie of NFL uniforms.

Good:

• New logo
• Leg stripe
• Jag shield

Not good:

• The helmet
• The helmet
• Too many elements fighting each other
• The numbers 3 and 7
• The helmet

Uniform design review: Minnesota Vikings

(Three NFL teams, the Dolphins, the Vikings, and the Jaguars, have introduced new uniforms for the 2013 season. Being a bit of a uniform junkie, I'm going to review them over the course of this week. Today: the Minnesota Vikings.)

The Vikings last redesigned their uniforms in 2006, introducing a bunch of extraneous features. The horn shaped shoulder stripes were interesting, but the colored side panels and everything-outlined-in-yellow look overcomplicated the uniform.

The new look removes all of the cruft, distilling their uniform down to the essential elements without being merely a vintage rehash. The difference is like going from standard definition to HD. It's crystal clear that this is a classic Vikings uniform circa the 2010s.

The one polarizing element is the custom number font. While everyone seems to like the solid white numbers, the shape of the numbers (sort of a combo of block numbers with wispy serifs) is more of a personal preference. I like them. It has a neo-classic Norse thing going on.

Good:

• Eliminated all the noise from their last uniform
• Solid (non outlined) numbers
• Modern Norse-esque number font.
• Matte purple helmet
• Stripes on shoulders curve up to form the silhouette a viking warship. Could have been cheesy but it's well executed.

Not good:

• Black face guard (would have preferred purple)
• Purple topped socks with the purple pants

Uniform design review: Miami Dolphins

(Three NFL teams, the Dolphins, the Vikings, and the Jaguars, have introduced new uniforms for the 2013 season. Being a bit of a uniform junkie, I'm going to review them over the course of this week. Today: the Miami Dolphins.)

As a die-hard Buffalo Bills fan, Miami is my mortal enemy. In the 90s we constantly had to battle with Dan Marino and Brian Cox for AFC East supremacy. Before that the Dolphins kicked our butts pretty much continuously from 1970-1986. The Bills record vs the Dolphins during that time was 3-29. Three and friggin' twenty-nine. The Dolphins shut out the Bills during the decade of the 1970s. You read that right. The Bills were 0-20 versus the Dolphins for the entire 1970s.

To make matters worse, because the Bills were so bad for so long and the Dolphins were so good, there are actually a decent amount of Dolphin fans in Western NY. It's like Stockholm syndrome affected an entire region or something. Seeing an aqua colored Starter jacket on your way to school in subzero snow will make you bitter. So yeah, that's why I take part in burning a paper maché Dolphin every time they play. (Don't ask.)

But I'm also oddly invested in the Dolphins. I like that the Bills are the Rust Belt, blue collar town with a chip on it's shoulder and they are flashy, sun kissed, glamorous, too cool to care, world class city that we are not so secretly jealous off. I like hating them. I need them to continue being the Dolphins I love to hate.

So I am kind of bummed about these new uniforms. In a vacuum, there's nothing really wrong with them. Well, other than the completely lame "Miami" written on the butt of their pants. (Just put "Juicy" there instead and get it done and over with.) But other than that, if this were an expansion team with no history, it would be a good look.

It's just that they took away everything that made them unique. The Dolphin holding a football with a helmet with the letter M on it. The bright pops of orange are greatly reduced. The 70s retro Dolphin wordmark. All of those things are gone. These new uniforms look like they were designed for a pharmaceutical company. Tasteful, but a bit soulless.

I still hate the Dolphins, but maybe without the same affection.

Good:

• Brighter aqua color, more reminiscent of the 70s Dolphins.
• White facemasks (the old ones were aqua)

Not so good:

• "Miami" written on the butt
• New logo
• Loss of all the orange, especially on the helmet's center stripe
• New wordmark
• Aqua topped socks with the aqua pants

Starred

michaelkeaton.net - This is probably my favorite thing of 2013 so far. A gonzo webcomic (sort of) about Michael Keaton, but not by Michael Keaton. Just keep clicking the images to navigate forward. Should take you about thirty minutes to an hour to get through. So, so worth it.

Wood, Salt, and Wonder: The Renewable Future of 3D Printing - The biggest breakthroughs in 3D printing over the last twenty years has been cost reduction and CAD software. The next twenty will focus on materials and speed.

Grandma and Grandpa Buscemi - I won't ruin it for you.

So Fresh and So Clean: Splash Laundromat by Frederic Perers - Anything can be cool. The trick is seeing something no one else thinks much about and changing people's perceptions of it.

How Jenna Lyons Transformed J.Crew Into A Cult Brand - This is the pattern I see with any company I have deep respect for: A creative lead and a operations lead work harmoniously towards greatness. Jobs and Cook. Cook and Ive. Zuckerberg and Sandberg. Knight and Bowerman. Drexler and Lyons.

My lunch with Dieter Rams - "When he was asked about doing consumer research during his time at Braun, he simply said, 'Never. We wanted to change the world.'"

Sandro Desii Pasta - Great packaging.

Voronoi Bird Cage by Melody Rees

Mountain Lab: An Interview with Scott McGuire - One of the more insightful interviews I can remember of someone who is involved with day-to-day design and strategy.

PARKROYAL on Pickering/WOHA - Another reason to visit Singapore.

Startup Videos - Just what it sounds like: a collection of startup promo videos.

The 'Oblivion' Graphics - Beautiful movie UI by Bradley Munkowitz. Be sure to check out his work for Tron: Legacy as well.

Leslie Lewis Sigler - Simple still lifes. I need a couple of these.

Two-Track Mind - Look how cool this NY subway track geometry car is. Just look at it.

Today on the Ranch - I'm a big fan of Anna Bond, the creator of Rifle Paper Co. What she is able to do with color continuously floors me. This is a good write up of how she works with her palette. Definite must read.

Manhattan by Yutaka Sone

The Price of Wine - "They're overcharging for the water. Don't you get it?"

First Generation Stylus Caps - Now Just $15

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