Keepin' it Simple, FIFA

So I was watching 2014 World Cup highlights with my roommate this weekend. One thing I noticed was how FIFA's light/dark rule took some classic match ups away from us fans. If you aren't familiar, each team must have a uniform classified by light, and dark, and no light/light, or dark/dark match ups could happen. For example, Colombia had a "light" yellow kit, and a "dark" navy one.

The biggest issue I had was Spain vs the Netherlands. Spain had a red and white kit, and the Netherlands had an orange and navy one. Red/navy, and orange/white wouldn't clash, yet they did under the FIFA rules. These rules lead to companies making monochrome looks, like Germany's white shorts when they classically wear black.

So my friend Gus and I worked this out. Here is my FIFA Clash Kit Color Wheel. Basically, you wear your primary kit, UNLESS the following.

The two jersey colors touch, whether it is left/right/up/down or diagonal. No two teams can wear colors on the same ring, unless it's the middle ring with primary/secondary colors. Lastly, for teams with stripes, both colors would have to check out.

Believe me, the system is far from perfect, but I just needed to get the idea into a visual.

So that wheel lead me to think about classic looks. I was looking up old World Cup kits and was like "man, forget all these gradients and stripes, that's a really good look" over and over again. Clearly, kit manufacturers are gonna have their own thing like Adidas stripes and stuff, but I mean, it'd be great if there was a locked in traditional scheme all the classic teams were locked in to. No mixing, but a look that each team would wear 8/10 games. So here's 18 concepts I did in 2 hours and here they are!

Footy as Football - Liverpool

So the last team I have is Liverpool. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do the Liverbird. I thought about doing a Seahawks style logo, but ended up cutting it's head off. 

The team is name the Reds, but I chose a white helmet. On white, the red logo would look just like it does on the crest. I put the Hillsborough flames on the back of the helmet just for symbolic reasons too. The rest of the uniforms are red, like you'd see a Liverpool kit. My idea was a "red and white USC", so I used that template with white instead of red.

This is my last one, so thank you to everyone who followed!

Footy as Football - West Bromwich Albion

This one was one of the hardest I had. There's only so many ways to make a bird logo. I wanted to do a spread wing logo, and figured it'd be funny for a small song bird to look super mean. 

The color scheme with brown and tan would be unique, and would let me differentiate it from other teams. I really wanted put a lot of details into this one, so I threw numbers on the back of the helmet, a bird logo patch, and some Texas A&M stripes. The gold pants are the only one of it's kind in this series, and it only took till 19 to do it!

Footy as Football - Manchester United

For United, my goal was to make a mean looking devil. The devil on the crest is a nondescript blob, so I had to go from scratch. I played around, tweeted my result, then realized everything I did wrong while I was at class, and made this. My favorite part is the MU as the wrinkles on the forehead.

The uniforms are pretty bland, but I wanted them that way. I put a pitchfork on the helmet, horns on the jersey, and made everything on red black. Like the real team, the pants are white with black accents.

Footy as Football - Everton

I really wanted to put the tower on this, but it just wasnt working. 

I figured that I could make a boring E logo and carry on like they were the Colts. The helmets have wreaths as pride stickers on the back, something I haven't used yet. The uniforms are a mix of classic and modern. Plain white pants, and abnormal white stripes on the sleeves with the Broncos number font

Footy as Football - Stoke

Stoke is all about tradition and the fact they were formed in 1863, so I went super old school. I made a wishbone S, inspired by the bears. It was symmetric and felt like I could get away with it.

The uniforms are classic though. I thought a winged helmet would represent the traditional Stoke stripes in a way I hadn't yet. The uniforms are SUPER boring, but I felt like it was necessary on such a storied look. This one may not stand out like the others, but I thought that if any team could rock it, it would be Stoke.

Footy as Football - Crystal Palace

This one was inspired to be different from all the other birds I had done. I wanted to do something bold, but keep it simple, just so the logo stands out. I did this one immediately after I did Manchester City, so I couldn't take some cues. I went with a logo inspired by the Atlanta Hawks, But added more detail and made it an actual eagle. What's funny is the current Palace crest is super detailed and modern

Palace honestly have some of my favorite kits, so the color balance had to be there. I couldn't do a half kit, but I did my best to put as much blue and red as I could. The helmets and pants are red with the jerseys blue. Each is accented by yellow just to make sure you don't forget about it.

Footy as Football - Aston Villa

This has been approved by 2 different Villa fans!

So I was going to go with the lion head, but I needed to make it just the head, and add more definition. I completely redrew the head, and added some facial features. Keeping true to the crest, I put a star off to the northwest of the lion. I put a light blue outline on it so I could use the yellow JUST on the blue like the crest.

The uniform is different from the others, I went with a Patriots style uniform to reflect their kits and use checkers on the pants.

Footy as Football - Sunderland

Hot off the presses, here is Sunderland!

The worst team in the league are nicknamed the Black Cats. Their logo has two panthers on it, so it was a good indication of what kind of logo I should make. The biggest issue was all the dark shades of black, which really was hard to see at times.

The kits are a hodge podge of classic football designs, with some sleeve stripes and a simple helmet stripe, I did my best to both stay true to Sunderland, and different from the other red and white teams I made.

Update: Gave them black pants to separate from Southampton

Footy as Football - Manchester City

City is probably(by far) the best team in England right now.

So to separate from the other "Eagles" team, I went with the Citizens. But I still felt an eagle would be the best logo option. The one from the crest is gold with a black outlines, so I did my best to add some lighting and shading. My favorite part of the series has been doing all these animal logos I never have been able to with soccer logos.

With these City kits, I went with a little more balance than the current ones. The light blue is the main color, but I used a lot(a lot) of black and white. Something more gridiron football like, and less what City actually look like.

Update: Added a lot more black to darken the look

Footy as Football - Chelsea

The best team last year, may be the worst team this year, but I still support them!

So a lions head was obvious, and I just had to make it Chelsea like. So I went with a blue lion and a white outline to tie it to the lion on the crest now. I used some light blue which is also on the lion in the logo. Same with the red tongue. 

The kits are head to toe blue, much like the current look. I wanted some accent color, so I did some red stripes on the white cuffs and collar. The red continues to the stripes on the helmet and pants.

Footy as Football - Tottenham

I had this sketched out very early on in this series.

For spurs, I wanted to keep the rooster theme, but make a more dynamic looking logo. I went with a sharp foot with a spur on the leg. I thought the foot would look really nice on a white helmet, so I designed it with the helmet in mind. The script is the Atlanta Hawks (old?) script, and I use it throughout.

The jerseys mock the kits in real life. I went white on top, navy on the bottom. I even through in some yellow to resemble the kits they've been wearing. The sleeves also feature a sash looking stripe, to mirror their current kits.

Footy as Football - West Ham United

The future tenants of the London's Olympic stadium better put some goalposts in!

So this was one of the first logos I sketched for the series. I wanted to have a hand holding a hammer, specifically the ones on the West Ham crest. I know the hammers in the crest are longer, and not the same as one you'd buy from Home Depot, but this series is completely fake as it is. I really like the claret and light blue, so these shades are slightly different than the ones Aston Villa use. The uniforms mirror what West Ham's kits look like traditionally, and the colors feed off each other to balance it all out.

Footy as Football - Southampton

Every one's favorite south coast team is next. 

Southampton is known as the Saints, so this was an easy concept. I thought up a logo with an S and a halo. The logo would be really easy, and their crest has a halo, so it wouldn't be far off from the current look.

I tried their best to incorporate their white stripes into the set without actually doing white vertical stripes. The black gave me a lot to play with to balance the red and white. Thick black lines on numbers and wording really pops off the red.