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This is the last uniform post that I'll post for a while because we're taking submissions. Uniform submissions. That's right. We've talked about design and why I didn't like some of the uniforms and why I liked some of the uniforms and everything else in between.
Before we get to submissions, I want to get to a couple of different things. First, as you all know, I'm fascinated by design. If I had a creative bone in my body, I think I'd be doing it. I love logos and making things look good, but I'm not good at creating anything. It's also the reason that I'm not a "real" writer for a living. I think one of my best qualities is recognizing things, for example when I read literature, I'm able to recognize literary techniques, enough to actually major in it in my undergrad. I feel the same way about design. So I was completely stoked to run across this video about how a guy just sits down and designs. It's beautiful.
Aaron Draplin Takes On a Logo Design Challenge from lynda.com on Vimeo.
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Oh, swoon. Just swoon. I know this isn't for everyone, watching someone work on a logo is probably boring to most people, but it's great to see the process of how it works and there is a part in the video where Aaron Draplin picks up these old books and I couldn't catch the name of the author, but he also picks up another corporate design book and makes the point that whatever you see the logo, it has to look great on a 18-wheeler trailer and it also has to look great on a shirt. That's my biggest gripe with the current Texas Tech logo is that you have to build in that bevel to the design and on something tiny, it's hard to work. On a large scale, the logo is great, 50 or 100 feet away looking on a helmet, it's not as easy to pick up on all of the detail. It's minor on my end, but that's where I think I'm coming from.
More than anything, I want Texas Tech to be recognizable. Oh, and in looking around Draplin's site, there's a terrific poster of Texas that you can totally purchase.
Back to uniforms. USA Today had an interview with the lead designer for Under Armour and it's fine and all, but this opening paragraph about the designer's motiviation for the first Maryland uniforms that were a bit out there, was, well, disappointing:
"That was a school that had a nice history in football but were no longer a conversation piece," Clement said. "They had a new coach (Randy Edsall), a new administration, and wanted to put themselves back on the map. So in discussions, we had talked about doing something that had never been done before. We knew it would create buzz."
The problem seems to be that there was an intent to create buzz, not create something meaningful and long-lasting. Something that's timeless. Clement just wanted to create a buzz and that's not good design.
With that out of the way, here's your chance to be showcased. I have no idea how to even go about asking folks for a uniform design, but here we go. We're going to have to do this as a community, which means that if anyone can help with a templae to use so folks can utilize their photoshop or GIMP, that would be great.
Want to just design a logo? Perfect. Want to design a new uniform? Great. How about a complete uniform set? Love it. You've got a month to think about it and figure it out. I'll take submissions and publish them here. If you've been thinking about it for a while, then feel free to post in the comments or go ahead and shoot me an email. And the reason why I'm giving myself a month is that if no one submits anything then you'll all forget that I submitted anything.
And this is intended to be fun. Something to fill the offseason (as if we need it). I don't think that UA or Texas Tech will actually take any of these seriously, but they might and that could be cool.