Essentially, yeah.
Which is why the shield and the block I can't coexist. They're just a good and bad version of the same thing, really.
Illinois Football Uniforms
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Essentially, yeah.
Which is why the shield and the block I can't coexist. They're just a good and bad version of the same thing, really.
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
Thanks for the additional information about the Cougar logo. Interesting.
wILL-INI
- Charlotte, NC
As I said, the Block I will NEVER be able to stand on its own. It needs more to be recognizable so people are going to continue to reach outside the branding standards to jazz it up. The state outline thing is awful, but that or something like it is going to end up as the primary logo. The center cannot hold.
See the light folks
NEVER? IMO it's the only thing we need.
Why can Mich / Minn / Purdey / Neb / Wisky / Rutgers get away with just a letter and we can't?
And for that matter Tennessee / UGA / Alabama / Miami / Cuse / Duke / Temple / Stanford / Arizona / Washington / Oregon.
All these school have JUST a letter represent them. I excluded the schools that use two-three (off the top of my head cant think of any that use 4) letters because then the list would essentially be everyone. That IS a college logo.
All that said, I will say I am too over the state outline. Especially there, the stain is way too bright and only takes away from the block-I. And this is coming from the person who "created" our use of the state.
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
Of those, Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota have very distinctive versions of the letter in question.
Rutgers is not "getting away with just a letter" - Rutgers' brand is hot garbage.
Nebraska isn't really pulling it off, either - Nebraska's real "N" is the comically simple helmet "N", I'm not sure the one you've got there is as recognizable, which is why they sometimes do this:
Only Michigan is getting it done with what I would deem a fairly straightforward single letter.
Well this gets into the conversation above, the shield IS "just a letter", in the same sense as the Wisconsin motion W, or the Minnesota M. It's a single letter logo that has enough to it to be recognizable across contexts. That Purdue logo has the same quality.
I would argue that the Nebraska, Michigan and Rutgers logos suffer from the same problem. Though those letters inherently have a bit more to them than an I.
Nebraska and Michigan are like many storied football powerhouses in that their uniforms, especially their helmets, are essentially a brand identity unto themselves, and are able to be used as such in a lot of contexts.
Maryland and Ohio State have what I would consider lame-o cop outs along the lines of our slant Illinois logo or putting the block I in front of the state outline. That is where we're headed, some additive element to give it just enough.
Wasn't that your thought process in creating that concept? That an unadorned I at a midfield scale just lacked a certain something? I'd be fascinated to hear your creative process on that, I could barely create what passed for art in elementary school.
As I said, the Block I will NEVER be able to stand on its own. It needs more to be recognizable so people are going to continue to reach outside the branding standards to jazz it up. The state outline thing is awful, but that or something like it is going to end up as the primary logo. The center cannot hold.
See the light folks
I disagree that the state outline will end up part of the primary logo. I see it as a court/field trend that has gotten bigger with the relatively new two-tone turf/woodstain fad. I absolutely hate it on the football field because it sticks out so horribly with the thick white lines. If they made it like a dark green shadow (similar to the basketball court stain) it would look much better. I am a huge fan of the shield but think that both can coexist if used smarter. Take the baseball uniforms for example. Block I on on the hat, shield on the sleeve. Arguably our sharpest uniforms of any sport. Last years football uniforms were good with the I on the helmet and shield on the neck.
The weird thing to me is that it seems like the majority of the non-revenue sports have embraced the shield while the 2 sports in the public eye have done the opposite. Not one shield anywhere on the basketball or football field. The Football uniforms have literally designed out any sign of the shield. If basketball goes the same route as football, the redesign was a complete fail. Our letter is a freaking I, the most boring letter possible, and our old logo and imagery has been completely removed. We finally use a little creativity and come up with a nice logo and it's not even used by the teams that people actually see.
wILL-INI
- Charlotte, NC
I think the shield doesnt work as "just a letter" here because the letter it is using is in the negative space. It's not the most prominent feature of its own logo, so I would draw issue there.
I do think its worth noting too that you think Michigan and Nebraska work because of successful football teams. I think our biggest problem is lack of consistent consistency. EVEN NOW. we freaking rebranded 4 years ago, and we've changed the football unis, basketball unis, soccer, hell we JUST got the baseball ones. how we use each logo too, see football helmet, and lack of shield.
We cant have successful years in unis because we change them so often. Now is that a case of not having a particularly strong brand to being with, I think you could say that. I think thats why im also so partial to our 08 throwbacks. Those looks classic as hell, and were a nod to our successful years.
Don't think of these letterforms as pulling it off. Think about it in terms of recognizably. You see a plan block N... BOOM Nebraska. Minnesota's, which i think is interesting falls into the "distinctive" category. Easy. Michigan too. But these brands have also been around for YEARS!!! They pull it off because they have solid, bold, with history behind them, looks. i think this is why the rebrand failed so fully in my mind, because it looked so trendy. So of course it was loved in the first week. But how is it now. Full of holes and already showing its age, which each new coaching change?
It's a completely "eye of the beholder" thing, but I disagree. It's an "I" to me.
Again I don't agree. Requires additional context.
Matt seemed to defend Michigan's block M, so I'll leave that for him, to me neither logo is any good. Michigan often uses a version with "Michigan" printed in front just like Nebraska does with their "Huskers" variant.
My point about those being storied football powerhouses is that their helmets have become essentially alternate logos, in a way that is not true of the helmets of mere mortal schools. That's especially so at Michigan, the Michigan football helmet is as iconic of a design as there is in all of sports. That's not replicable, by anybody or anything.
wILL-INI
- Charlotte, NC
My thought process of adding the state outline, at the time was about claiming the state. NW had had their dumb Chicagos Big Ten Team stuff, we had our "our state our team" and it was pre rebrand, so we just had the outlined I. It also started with the basketball court and my main thing of working in DIA was trying to bring some of that "consistent consistency" i was talking about. So when it came time for the football field to be updated, it just made sense.
It was less that I didnt think the I could stand on its own at midcourt/midfield, it was more how can we enhance the I at midcourt. The stain and contrast between it and wood we tweaked a lot to make sure it didnt over power the I. So less that it couldn't stand alone and more of, I wanted more people's eye drawn to the I in the middle. Gave it a stage to stand alone on.
NOW, I will also say, had I had a say in them redoing it with the new rebranded block I, I would have dropped the state outline. Case in point why i dont like it right now.
wILL-INI
- Charlotte, NC
- Absolutely. As is all design. Happy to disagree, haha
- I don't wnat to tell your wrong, but you really don't think Nebraska when see that N on the back of a beat up old Ford Taraus at the local Casey's? Nebraska is an interesting example of branding too, because their most recognizable placement of a logo (football helmet) they pull up some random font N? Traditions are stupid.
- Both of those schools have ditched those two logos. Michigan now wont let you put anything in front of their M. And Nebraska has moved away from the script husker in favor of these bold letter forms.
But that's precisely the point. They changed their branding standards to leave an unadorned anonymous letter as their sole logo. Prior editions of those logos thus remain in regular rotation, because just saying so doesn't make a bland lettermark into a recognizable logo.
While we’re at it. As if there wasn’t enough evidence of how horribly the athletic department has handled the rebrand, somehow a coach hired just this year is given clothing with a logo that hasn’t been used for 5 years. We are on to the second generation of rebranded uniforms, yet our newest hire is wearing the circle I from 5-10 years ago.
IlliniRocketFan
- Rochester, IL
I know this is just a dream, but how about.............
No face........just the feathers. I don't see how this would be disrespectful. We are still called the Fighting Illini. (Alarm clock rings...wake up)
No face........just the feathers. I don't see how this would be disrespectful. We are still called the Fighting Illini. (Alarm clock rings...wake up)
They got rid of a drum beat.. without words... TBH I'm surprised zig zags aren't racist.
At this point, we are either going to fully revert back to the chief, or keep heading 180 degrees away from it (obviously the latter). With the exception of the weird orange color helmet, the last iteration of jerseys was beyond fine. Basketball needs an upgrade way more than football did.
I love the chief logo as much as anyone but everyone needs to accept that it will/can never be used again. The closest thing is the zig zags on the hoops uniforms, arguably the worst design feature of any of the rebranded uniforms.
Also, That logo is way too busy with too many mismatched features.
Also, That logo is way too busy with too many mismatched features.
I know, it's incredible.
I would love to know how Smith came to be in possession of that specific article of clothing. I mean, it's possible he ordered it himself online, right? You can find all sorts of weird outdated Illini stuff from third-party retailers.
I've been wondering the same thing. My answer is that it was the only 4XL windbreaker in some random coach's office closet. Sitting in there since like the Tom Sims days collecting dust.
Remember even when Lovie started, he was wearing a lot of the old slant Illinois shirts. How does that happen? We spent how many millions and how many years rebranding? Then we make our biggest splash hire in the history of the program and his first practice, he's wearing a shirt from at least 2 years prior.
"Here's your 30 million dollar contract, and here's an old 2012 Nike practice t-shirt we found in the back closet."
I think we'll need to see a coach in an old sweat-stained Beckman visor to get full confirmation on my hand-me-down/old closet theory. (halfway expecting this)
very recognizable
Lol, explain
FinalFour88
- Charlotte, NC
I disagree that "I" is a more boring letter than M or N. Personally, I think it's a strong-looking letter (I mean, as letters of the alphabet go).
As for the shield, it's been four years and I still can't decide how much (or if) I like it. But I find myself continually drawn to it and wanting to look at. Not so much the block I. For me, the shield is a very flawed logo but one I can't stop looking at.
Totally agree, but here's where I would go with it
https://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forum/threads/illinois-football-uniforms.24442/page-10#post-1403763
Neidermeyer
- Faber College
I guess it could be worse...
Not sure of your point about Fighting Illini but if it is that it refers to a native american tribe I don't believe that is correct at least not originally. As far as I can tell, it refers to the men from the University of Illinois who fought and died in World War 1. This from the University Archives, "especially during a prize contest that was held. Out of this came the battle cry of the stadium campaign: "Build that stadium for fighting Illini." Since the stadium was built to honor alumni, staff, and students who who died during World War I, the term "Fighting Illini" was seemingly being linked to military service. At the same time, the term was broad enough to be of general applicability."
Interesting article which can be found here:
https://archives.library.illinois.edu/features/illini.php
How the term became linked to native american tribe is open to interpretation.
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Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
Found it! - now if someone with photoshop the shield in here somewhere - I think we're done.
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