Good Thursday Morning, Uni Watchers! I hope everyone had a pleasant Wednesday.
You’ll recall in July, the University of Hawai’i and Uni Watch partnered on a contest to design a special edition uniform for the Rainbow Wahine Basketball Program. The winner will receive a cash prize of $1,500, roundtrip airfare for one to Honolulu and accommodations, for the basketball game slated for January 25, where the winning design will be worn and showcased to hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide.
We received over 100 entries, and UH Athletics Staff, Players and Administrators have now settled on their eight Finalists. I want to thank everyone who participated, and to congratulate the eight designers below, who have made the final cut. Although Uni Watch readers won’t be able to pick the Grand Prize Winner, I encourage all of you to share your thoughts on any (or all) of the final submissions.
It’s been my great pleasure to partner with the University of Hawai’i in “sponsoring” this contest, and I want to give special thanks to KC Smurthwaite, who has served as the point-person for this entire contest, and who originally approached Uni Watch with the idea to team up. Thanks, KC!
Before we get to the final submissions, several of those involved (including a couple contestants) wanted to say a few words about the contest.
“We are thrilled by all of the creative responses from our passionate fans and everyone who participated in this contest,” said Jim Stein, UH Assistant Athletics Director. “Your creativity and enthusiasm have made this a truly memorable experience. We’re excited to see the winning design proudly worn by our women’s basketball program for a big game during this upcoming season. Thank you to those who submitted designs and to everyone who engaged in this promotion.”
“I’m so excited to be considered as a finalist for this awesome contest,” said finalist Tyler Stevenson. “I had a blast trying to capture the ‘Aloha Spirit’ on my jersey by using the sunset motifs and official state symbols of the beautiful Aloha State!”
“It was so awesome seeing all the creative designs for the uniform we will eventually wear!” exclaimed MeiLani McBee, the team’s senior guard. “There were too many good ones, so it’s definitely going to be hard to pick a winner. But to whichever designer does win, just know we’ll love the uniform just as much as you loved creating it! I want to give a big mahalo to everyone who put in a design and can’t thank you all enough for the unconditional support for us. We look forward to seeing you all from the court with our new threads!”
“I am overwhelmed by the incredible level of interest the uniform design contest generated,” said Head Coach Laura Beeman. “All of the entries were amazing and had their own special twist of Aloha. Whichever uniform wins, it will be worn with pride and much appreciation. Mahalo to everyone who participated and made this such a special and unique contest!”
“It was awesome to have the opportunity to participate in the uni watch contest,” said finalist Elliott Strauss (“Southern Hockey Co.”). “I enjoyed the challenge of coming up with something creative for the Rainbow Wahine team, and I’m excited to see how the eventual winning design looks on the court! It’s also always nice to compete against other great designers. I would love to see more of these types of contests in the future!!”
Thanks!
If you’d like to see all the submissions, I will link to them as they appeared on UW last month.
To see the submissions of Part I, Click Here
To see the submissions of Part II, Click Here.
To see the submissions of Part III, Click Here.
To see the submissions of Part IV, Click Here.
To see the submissions of Part V, Click Here.
To see the submissions of Part VI, Click Here.
And now, without further ado, here are your eight finalists (in no particular order).
Please let us (and them) know your favorites in the comments below. While the decision won’t be in our hands, I’m sure they will give consideration to your thoughts and choices.
Once a Grand Prize Winner is selected, I’ll let you guys know.
I’d vote for TYLER STEVENSON, the only uniform that prompted me to comment during the previous rounds.
Here are my Hawaii favorites
1. JOSHUA SAUNDERS
2 .ISAAC DAGGETT
I would tweak Mr. Sanders’s design to add the ‘okina, and have it read “HAWAI’I.”
1986 FIFA World Cup Brazil vs France
Brazil 1 (3) – France 1 (4)
Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico
One noteworthy thing about the game:
It was also Michel Platini’s birthday. I remember the Spanish-language announcer mentioning it. (this was years before Andres Cantor).
#1: Matt. The runaway winner. The white script and numerals shadowed in green, along with the rainbow trim and palm fronds, make a black uniform look colorful and the whole thing just pops.
#2: Chad. I like the whimsy of having “Hawaii” inside the arched rainbow, as well as duplicating the rainbow on the shorts.
#3: Southern Hockey. Gradients don’t always work, but here it provides beautiful shades of green.
1. Southern Hockey
2. Matt Yamane
3. Chad Buley
I see the logic of a Chicago Polar Bears uniform, but the whole WFWS thing in the NFC North is just done to death.
1. Matt
2. Sawyer
3. Isaac
For what it’s worth, out of the 27 replies there currently are to the Bears’ all white uniform, 25 are in favour, one is against, and one didn’t indicate.
I added another no.
It’s a hard no from me on the all white Bears uniform concept.
Not sure its a yes or no question at this point. It is inevitable. And we’ll go through all the hype videos and storytelling for just 1 game a season.
Excited to be a finalist!
Congrats, you deserve it. For being all white, that is a great concept. You were my favorite. I know the family concept is heavily hit during NCAA tourney. This is perfect fit with that.
Thanks Scott! Really appreciate it.
1.Joshua
2.Chad
3.Isaac
Isaac Daggett would get my vote (if I had one) but there are some really nice ones in this final group.
Bears don’t need an all-white uni but if every player showed the three-stripe socks it wouldn’t be bad.
The orange helmets are bad enough. I hope Da Bears don’t do the “white helmet thing” just to be like all the other peer pressured teams. I can understand Nike and all their “alternate” jerseys to make more coin. But why all the push for teams to have a white helmet now? I don’t get it.
Daggett
1. Sawyer
2. Joshua
3. Isaac
Great selection of unis. if i had to pick my favorites, I’d say Issac’s and Chad’s are the two that stand out most. Bold and fun but simple designs without being too over the top.
I’ll give the Bears the white alternate if they kill the orange jersey and helmet option.
I say lean into the rainbow.
1. Chad
2. Isaac
3. Skyline
Sawyer’s is beautiful. Southern Hockey also really works.
No to the Polar Bears but as stated before me, if it is a trade off for orange helmets and jerseys I will say yes but not with vigor.
As for the 8 beautiful Hawaii final designs: in no particular order (as I like them all): Matt, Isaac and Southern Hockey (even if it is gradient, the design is really good) are the cream of the crop.
There are some really great options here. Well done to the eight finalists!
Great contest! These other designers crushed it!
I will take any of these designs over “professional” designs any day!
GTGFTU: 24 June, 2017, Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 5-2, both teams wearing 70s throwback uniforms. Interestingly, this uniform matchup happened twice—once before in 2014—so it can be determined as this date because of Josh Reddick (22).
These are all great; I have a hard time choosing a favorite from among five or six of them. But I do want to call out Joshua Saunders for special praise; that three-stripe rainbow is just such an effective graphic symbol for the concept of a more detailed rainbow. Excellent bit of design there.
I don’t get the hate that “all white” uniforms are getting here… people comment like they’re something NEW.
I’m 60 and when I played junior football for 6 years our helmets were white with a red decal, our jerseys were red, our pants were white, and we wore white socks over red stirrup socks.
We played a couple other teams that had all white with colored numbers and a helmet stripe (kinda Penn State-ish).
As for the Bears all white. I like it, but that’s totally just aesthetic preference as I have noe emotional connection to the team (other than crying at the end of “Brian’s Song.”
For me, if you traditionally have a white helmet/pants and your “away” jersey is white, I have no problem with that at all. But this whole nonsense of “making an all white uniform” for the sake of having an all white uniform is something I don’t understand. The same goes for the when teams have a special all black uniform or anthracite uniform. I get this is what the younger generation likes. Why, I have no idea.
Many wonderful designs – Isaac Daggett stands out the most. I love the addition of the surf board which I think would open up some really interesting NIL opportunities with companies like Pyzel or other surfboard manufacturers
1: Chad
2: Sawyer
3: Stevenson
Isaac Daggett!!
James Weigand…you had the best entry. Sorry to see that it’s not among the finalists.
link
Agree 100 percent. What a gorgeous design.
TYLERS
Chad’s but move the number in front a little higher.
1a. Southern Hockey Co.
1b. Isaac
3. Tyler
SHC and Isaac both do subtle design elements so well, love the tonal/gradient design of SHC, Isaac’s surfboard stripe is brilliant, and love the asymmetry of both.
Tyler’s is my favorite of the rainbow-centric designs.
All are excellent, and would be worthy winners.
All of these are amazing!
1. Sawyer
2. Matt
3. Joshua
Congrats to all!
1.Matt
2. Sawyer
Such a great contest and cool to see the many amazing designs!!
Congrats to the finalists. Hopefully this becomes an annual tradition.
I had never done a uni design before. It wa a lot of fun, and I have a new appreciation for how much thought goes into all the small details on any uniform
These all are very solid choices but a few seem to stand out for me. Matt Yamane and Chad Burley are going to have a good shot at being one of the winners. Maybe the players want to go more minimalist and I end up wrong here, but those two are strong.
Also, while I by no means am trying to come across wrong saying this in an ill manner, but I feel the ladies will appreciate something that reflects their team and not the mens team. A uniform that looks like a college uniform but with a hint of a more feminine appearance. Sawyer Busny is my dark horse for that reason. Simple, yet looks a bit more like a woman’s uni in design without going overboard with “girly” designs.
Great efforts all around regardless. Hopefully a few more schools dive into using UW for idea’s going forward. Makes me wish I knew how to do uniform designs on software because this is cool.