I received a note the other day from Mark Miller, a long-time Uni Watch reader, which read…
Hey Phil-
Longtime UniWatch (sic) reader here and I sent these to Paul a long time ago but never got a response.
As a kid, I always used to make up my own teams, design the uniforms and branding, and make these “uni cards” for each (photocopied underlays of a “pitcher” that I could design over). During COVID, I found a bunch of them and started to wonder what they’d look like now. I’m a designer, so I wanted to create some new but classic looks.
I thought it would be fun to share with the readers as “hand-drawn charm” and “new-school tech” always seem to bring out feedback. Also, I liked the progression and am proud of both!
Let me know if this is of any interest to post. I have 6 more teams, but didn’t want to flood your inbox. Thanks.
Mark Miller
Mark sent along the first two of what turned out to be eight total concepts (plus his modern updates). I am a sucker for what we lovingly refer to as “refrigerator art” (I even had a few of my own, far worse, book report covers on my parents’ fridge growing up). I asked Mark if he could provide a short intro and then some descriptions of his concepts, and he willingly obliged. I think you’re going to enjoy these. Here’s Mark:
Revisiting Hand Drawn Uniform Concepts from my Youth
by Mark Miller
I’ve been a longtime reader of Uni Watch and always loved when people post new uni-design concepts to the site. As a kid I did the same, combining my love of drawing and sports into creating fictional teams with full uniform sets and identities. Around COVID time, I was going through some old stuff with my son and we found a set of these “fictional team” drawings I had done 30+ years ago. He thought they were pretty cool, and so did I!
Design is my profession now, so I began to think: “How would I design these uniforms now given what I’ve learned over the years plus adding some more modern tech?” So I got to sketching and came up with some basic rules. I wanted to keep the team names and cities. No relocations here. I also wanted to stick closely to the color scheme and general feel of the logos I created way back when. Here is the set of teams then, and now, I hope you enjoy them!
Atlanta Rolling Thunder:
This one I overhauled the color scheme (HA!). I always thought the name was cool, but the unis I did were drab. I remembered doing a “red and gold” version so I decided to go that route. I like the classic-pinstripe cream pants with the red and gold striped socks.
LA Rhinos:
I was always surprised that there were no “Rhino” team names. I imagined this team as being the “class” of the league, so classic looks and a custom script lettering. I drew the Rhino silhouette for the hats.
Miami Crocolators:
I remember reading about an animal that was a cross between an alligator and a crocodile, so the Crocolators were born. Obviously influenced by the color scheme of The U as well. I went with a Cubs/ Columbus Clippers setup with a chest mark and the “swinging Crocolator” cartoon on the shoulder.
New Orleans Nitro:
A very 90’s name, but I liked the alliteration. I went a little wild with this one, and once I drew the Fleur-de-lis with the lightning bolt bottom, I knew that it worked.
Malibu (Orange County) Typhoons:
Knowing that Malibu could not support a professional sports team, these are now known as the “Orange County Typhoons”. I wanted a SoCal+ beach vibe with this, so I combined a “Tequila Sunrise” with waves and a flowing script lettering. The “Whale” logo on the hat makes the “OC”.
Portland Dragons:
I went more “neon” here, combining a bit of Oregon Ducks and Oakland A’s vibe. Clean and bold. The “Dragon” shoulder mark has a rose-pattern in the head for the city.
San Diego Lazers:
Another 90’s uniform staple was baseball vests! I loved them then and I wanted to keep them here. San Diego just makes sense with a brighter aesthetic and purple as the dominant color. “Lazer-marks” on the pant stripe and the shoulder crest is “a laser carving out the state of California and ending at San Diego.”
Seattle Skyforce:
I think I got this name from an indoor soccer team at the time? I thought it was cool and definitely worked for Seattle. I added a traditional “Seattle” color scheme here.
Thanks, Mark! Fun article, and I love the childhood concepts.
Readers?
This are great. Rhinos seem like it would be a better football team name.
I was a huge Malibu Typhoons fan, broke my heart when they moved to Orange County.
I love these! The Crocolator C logo with the teeth is awesome!!
Thanks Phil, hope everyone enjoys these!
I’d love to have known what made your younger self go with those specific and various ballpark capacities.
I think a lot of the original concepts were terrific! What a fun project to revist.
I think just being aware of the differences between stadium sizes and how they helped shape the teams brand. I pictured Atlanta playing in a bandbox, and LA in a cavernous multi-stadium, etc.
Oh… you’re like me…
Awesome stuff Mark.
I would be curious how many Uni Watchers did this in their childhood. I would bet a solid, if not overwhelming, majority did.
Myself, I made up a minor basketball league in the 80’s (obviously before the D-League) where the teams were named synonymously with the parent NBA club. I don’t remember all of the teams, but I do remember the “announcement” of the expansion Tampa Blaze (Miami), Jacksonville Merlins (Orlando), Savannah Stingers (Charlotte), and Winnipeg Howlers (Minnesota).
I did a somewhat weird version, and a more normal version.
My prime years for this were around 2001 to 2007, so when I was 6 to 12 years old. The weird version is that I would create teams for various sports and then document their uniforms on spreadsheets (headings like “Away shirt”, “Away shorts”, “Away socks” with brief descriptions of colours used and designs). Only occasionally would I actually put in the effort to create something visual.
The more normal version was creating dozens of teams in the various sports games I had – FIFA 2001 and NHL Hitz 2002 were the best for this, as they allowed you to customize almost all aspects of the players and teams. Later on sports game developers decided to remove most of the customization features, so I often had to settle for taking over an existing team and adding my created players.
On top of fantasy teams comprised of completely made up players, I also created teams based on either my school or club teams I was playing for. Somewhat embarrassing is the fact that 95% of the people I created had no idea I was doing this, which was especially relevant for games like Madden and NHL where either the rosters were massive or I simply didn’t have enough friends who played the respective sport.
I redesigned the Orioles so many times in the late 80s. I wish I would have (or my mom would have) kept them!
These are phenomenal, Mark! This is so much fun! I designed uniforms for teams in my fictitious baseball and football leagues in my youth, too, and it’s always fun to see the uni concepts of other people who did the same thing. I love the touch of coming up with speculative stadiums and their capacities, too.
Your updated takes on the uniforms are great, too. It shows the evolution of your design sensibilities. One thing I’d be curious to see, though, is computer-aided renderings that are as close as possible those original designs from when you were a kid. It would be interesting to see how they would hold up as professional designs.
I didn’t do this in my childhood, but I did create a 32-team football league a couple years ago in response to a comment made on this site. I have team names and uni colors for every team except Chicago. For some reason I still haven’t been able to name the Chicago team. I wish I had the program and technical ability to actually design the unis for my teams.
I think a reader collaboration is in order!
Yes please!
Don’t let technical proficiency stop you! There are tons of printable templates and there is something charming about colored pencils!
Any suggestions from Uni Watch readers would be greatly appreciated.
I pulled out my NAFA (North American Football Association) project and had forgotten that I actually picked specific Pantone colors for each team AND came up with a dozen or so rules that are different from current NFL rules.
The Chicago Seven?
I used to do this, too. I grew up in a neighborhood called Riverdale, and developed my own team called the Rockets. The members were populated by my friends and acquaintances. My closest ones who didn’t think I was completely crazy even knew their uniform numbers I had assigned them (one of them still signs his emails and texts to me “# 6”). I was the manager, and wore # 23, which had been my Little League number.
I developed a series of uniforms for the team over the years, redesigning when a new MOB or other sports uniform element caught my eye. The color scheme was always primarily orange, with shades of red and yellow. Some of them were pretty good, I thought. I don’t have the drawings any more, but my mother had kept a lot of them but they were tossed.
Anyone else wondering if Tom Seaver was the inspiration for the template drawing? The form and face resemble a lefty Seaver, just a bit.
it was Danny Jackson, I copied from a baseball card
Ah, I see it… 1991 Upper Deck! Thank you, and really enjoyed seeing this entry
“Miami Crocolators” is the best name ever.
For me, the most crucial element is time. If I could quit my job and spend the whole day cranking out fictional teams, that would be my idea of heaven.
Same here.
This was a great article. Enjoyed seeing the drawings, concepts and team names. I did this as well back in the day when I was about 10-13 or 1977-1980. I created a football league called the NFA or National Football Association which I then merged with the NFL. There were 12 teams: Birmingham Barracudas, Orlando Screamers, Indianapolis Racers, Memphis Mountains, Richmond Wildcats, Rochester Cavaliers, Colorado Rockets, Phoenix Sidewinders, Tulsa Thunderbirds, Las Vegas Gamblers, Salt Lake City Trojans and Portland Storm. A couple of years ago I sent Phil all my work and drawings but it wasn’t shared. But a cool part of my past.
Mark, I guess it was always in your blood! I love hearing stories about childhood passions becoming adulthood realizations. In your case, I appreciate your professional interpretations of your earlier renderings. I especially like the color combos. The yellow in your Malibu pallet is so sharp.
BTW, I was never a card collector but I can definitely see Danny Jackson in your template. Year in, year out, he was always rumored to be traded to the Twins.
Those uniforms are amazing! I really like the use of that light yellow shade that you almost never see in baseball. The Typhoons might be my favorite, especially in their new Malibu incarnation (glad to see they didn’t change too much when they moved); how about putting the number above the name and then putting the name inside that swirl below it?
I love this!
Thanks for sharing AND thanks Phil for choosing to post/share on this site!
My opinion?
I really prefer the kid version for all but the Typhoons.
Super fun!
Oh, and my (now deceased) dad use to tell a joke story about the meanest animal:
A crocogator -crocodile head at one end… alligator head at the other.
How’d it go to the bathroom?
It didn’t.
That’s what makes it so mean!
I MUST HAVE ONE OF THOSE TYPHOONS JERSEYS.
This was a great read and brought a huge smile to my face. Thank you Mark! I actually had a good laugh at the “Crocodome”. What an interesting place that would be to play. Maybe crocs in a moat around the field?
BTW, I’m still calling them the Malibu Typhoons ;-)
Very nice article, great drawings and nice renditions of those drawings. My favorite uniform is Mailbu and my favorite teamname: the Crocogators! Go Crocs!
The New Orleans render gives off big NPB vibes. Probably because of how similar it looks to Hokkaido’s home jerseys