Super Bowl XLVIII Logo Contest

By Phil Hecken

Uni Watch got a note this week from reader Mason Fiske, who made a suggestion for a contest that’s slightly different from those you’re used to: design a LOGO (not a uniform). It’s actually something I’d been thinking about (although not necessarily turning into a contest) for some time now, but I like the way Mason thinks. Before we get any further, I’ll let him explain:

Since the NFL standardized the Super Bowl logo in 2010, I have always had this idea of creating a logo for each ‘big game’ since then that would live up to the uniqueness (location, team color, graphic era) of every prior logo to replace that hideous thing the league came up with. With life, it’s one of those things I never got around to… However, I think a great (but a bit late) contest for this month would be to submit new concepts for this year’s logo and pick a winner. Submissions could run until the league championship games, you will select a Top 4, 8, or 10 by the Pro Bowl, and the forum will vote and choose a winner to be announced on Super Bowl Sunday. What do you think?!

I’m not sure what the individual would win (besides bragging rights), but if the league noticed a response, maybe a change could happen… especially with Super Bowl L on the horizon.

Cheers and Happy New Year!
Now I can begin drinking…

Mason Fiske
– – –
Industrial Designer

Mason actually sent his suggestion to Paul, who thought I might like to run with it. So I will. But with a few tweaks.

Since this year’s Super Bowl XLVII logo is already set — and shockingly, it looks a LOT like the logo for Super Bowl XLV and Super Bowl XLVI (that was no coincidence) — lets skip this year’s game and move on to next year: Super Bowl XLVIII.

I’ll set up the contest rules in a bit — but first, a bit about the Super Bowl Logos. I’ve always enjoyed them, particularly when it seemed like care was given to their design. Back a few years ago, I asked reader Michael Malinowski if he’d like to do an overview of the logos used in the past, and he happily obliged (scroll down to “Logo-A-GoGo”). It’s a terrific overview of the history of Super Bowl logos, and sets the stage for this contest.

With the exception of the first couple games, and until 2010, Super Bowl logos had character. There were some good ones and some bad ones, (and some great and some terrible), but at least each tried to reflect the personality of the home city or state, to spin a bit of a yarn through color/design, and most also mimicked the time-period in which the logo was designed.

Since 2010, unfortunately, the “uniqueness” of the logo was lost due to the NFL’s “one-size-fits-all” branding approach. The past two (and current) logos are done in grayscale, with the Lombardi Trophy depicted in front of a graphic representation of the host city’s stadium. 2010 was JerryWorld, 2011 was Indy, and this year is the Super Dome. Identical all, except for the building and the numerals. It’s bland, and pretty terrible. Just google “Super Bowl logos” and you will find more than enough examples of the good, the bad and the ugly.

So that’s where the contest comes in. Even for the past two (and current) Super Bowls, the “host committee” has come up with a logo that would have been infinitely superior to the bland, standard NFL one. Here’s what Dallas had for 2011, this was for Indianapolis in 2012, and here’s a look at the one for New Orleans in 2013.

We’ve already gotten a look at what has been created for Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. I like that a lot. It’s got the snowflake (for the first outdoor ‘cold weather’ game), the bridge (symbolic of spanning New York & New Jersey) and even the initals of the two states that comprise the geographic region of the game. It’s a nice “start” (although that doesn’t mean any of those elements should be on the Uni Watch reader proposals) — just an idea to get you started. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments, maybe you’ll spur one of the designers in a direction he/she hadn’t thought of.

So, dear readers (and designers) — lets see what you can do. The rules for this contest will be simple:

• Deadline: Friday, January 11, 2013, 6:00 pm. That’s firm.

• Graphic: Please make the graphic as large as you can (at least 500 x 500 pixels — which is slightly less than the width of the splash photo in Uni Watch columns)

• Design: Pretty much anything you want, but don’t copy anyone else’s work (and don’t make it look like the “Host Committee” logo). Remember, it’s for Super Bowl XLVIII (so it should indicate that on the logo) and it’s being played in MetLife (I’m Still Calling It) Giants Stadium. That’s in the New York City Metro Area, and it will be the first outdoor, cold-weather game. You may or may not wish to include details like that in your submission.

• Format: With the exception of .psd (photoshop) documents, I can pretty much handle anything (if you do send me one that way, I’m going to ask that you can re-send it in another format). So .jpg, .bmp, .png extensions are all fine, and I can format .pdf’s fine. If you’re doing your original in photoshop, please convert it for me. Thanks. It doesn’t have to be computer-designed — hand drawings are fine as well.

• Description: 50 WORDS OR LESS — no exceptions. If you go over 50 words, I will cut the description off at 50 (don’t make me do that, K?). The design itself should speak for itself, so please do not get wordy. If you’re including an obscure reference and want to explain it, that’s fine, but stay within the 50 word limit.

• Prize(s): I haven’t decided, but the winner will definitely get something. I’ll see if I can beg Paul to award a UW membership or Comrade Marshall to award a choice of stirrups to the winner.

• Address and Subject Line: One Entry Per Person — please send your design (and 50 word description) to me: phil.hecken@gmail.com and put as the “SUBJECT” line: “Uni Watch Super Bowl XLVIII Logo Contest”

• Decision: I’ll post each entry (and description) next weekend, and then open it up to voting. We’ll have two rounds of voting, and then I’ll announce the winner and his/her design over Super Bowl XLVII weekend.

OK? OK!

Thanks again to Mason Fiske for the suggestion, and good luck to everyone. Based on past contests, I’m sure this one will really show off the true talent of the UW readership, and will undoubtedly result in a logo the NFL will simply have to consider for 2014!

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Colorize This!

Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.

It’s been about a month since the last “Colorize This!” so there are a few to get to today. A few new, a reader request completed, and some new requests this time around. Let’s get right into it:

. . .

We’ll begin today with Pete Woychick, who has a beautiful colorization request made last time by Larry Bodnovich:

Hi Phil””

Special thanks to LarryB for the nomination; this photo was a fun challenge. A few observations:

• Color vs Color game, though not an ideal one in terms of contrast. I used the modern color schemes for each school, but I have no idea if this is historically accurate. I toyed with making at least one of the team’s helmets painted leather, but I think maybe that innovation didn’t come along until later (?)
• Speaking of helmets, I like how the Georgetown players have smooth leather lids, while Bucknell has the “X-top” style. (“Buy local”?)
• Note the size of the ball-carrier’s hands””massive! According to Wikipedia, Earl Goodwin went 6’1″ 195 lbs, but I imagine that made him a relative giant in that era.
• I counted 16 or 17 players, all within an area of about 5 square yards. Without facemasks (and in some cases, helmets), it’s amazing that enough players survived to finish a game.
• The Bucknell guy in the background skulking off à la Carl Spackler cracks me up.

Cheers!
””Pete

. . .

Next up is colorizer-expert John Turney, who has done a special set — where he walks us through some of the stages of his colorization process. Dig:

I begin with grass and foreground, then the background and finish with the players. This is the beginning of the process. I have not yet added any filters. I do that after photo is complete. I though some might like to see the differences in same photo.

Same shot, backing up a bit, as you can see, still working on a large crowd.

Finished product, except for some details.

I put a 1970s Kodachome Blue filter on to brighten colors.

John Turney

. . .

Next up is newcomer Steve Vibert with a baseball colorization:

Phil,

I have a contribution for your “colorize this” segment.

I saw a picture of Hank Greenberg at Comiskey Park that I knew needed some help. I colorized catcher Tony Rensa first, then couldn’t help myself. Freakin’ crowd took me a week and a half! You’ll probably have to resize to format to your site.

Thanks for a great morning read every day,

Steve Vibert

. . .

Another newcomer today is Steve Wojtowicz, who has done a nice job with Casey at the bat:

Good morning. The attached picture (black and white version) was posted on MetsBlog.com so I took my shot at re-colorizing it. I am not 100% sure I like the way it came out but I am not sure why. It doesn’t look “realistic” enough to me. Please let me know what you think. Thanks for all you do and keep up the great work.

Steven Wojtowicz
Kendall Park, NJ

. . .

And we close the colorization segment today with George Chilvers, colorizer-extraordinaire, back from his hiatus (and who has two for us):

Phil,

One to dip my foot back in the water after my trip to sunnier climes and post-holidays :)

Rugby league around 1950 – Martin and Andy Ryan, brothers, before a Wigan and Warrington game. For uni-aficionados you’ll be delighted to note that the team colours were officially “cherry and white” for Wigan, and “primrose and blue” for Warrington. Fancy naming isn’t a new phenomenon.

Best wishes for 2013 to all Uniwatchers.
George

________

More Wigan rugby league.

This is a game played on 21 May 1949 between Wigan (in the cherry and white) and French champions Roanne. Crespo, the Roanne winger, kicks ahead as Radcliffe comes into tackle. Racing up for a pass is Barreteau the Roanne full back. The monochrome original is here.

George

. . .

And that ends the actual colorization segment, but there were actually THREE requests for photos to colorize. We’ll take them in order — perhaps some of you colorizers will want to take a crack at one or more of these (I won’t post the actual photo inline — just click the link to view):

Dan Vlietstra:

Look at all the opportunities for color, and all the faces!

I have never seen this Oklahoma State helmet either. 1953 vs. Arkansas.

PHOTO

Dan Vliestra

—

Nicole Haase:

I have two old Wisconsin hockey photos I’d love to see if folks with more talent than I can colorize.

The background is that the video package prior to every Wisconsin men’s hockey home game includes black and white images of Wisconsin men playing hockey outdoors. You’ll remember that this year Wisconsin is celebrating 50 years in the modern era – they have to clarify that because they had a history of hockey prior to this “modern era.”

I happen to have a friend who’s a librarian at the Wisconsin Historical Society who put me in touch with someone at the University photo archives who got me two of these pictures. I know the full team photo one is from 1929. The other photo features what appears the same uniform, so I’m guessing its the same time frame. (Look at the “googles”!)

Both pictures are attached and if anyone decides to colorize them and sends them back to you, I’d love to have the colorized images emailed back to me.

Thanks!

PHOTO 1 … PHOTO 2

—
Nicole Haase

—

Timothy Tryjankowski:

Love the work that you do.

I am trying to put the finishing touches on my “man cave” and would like to add a large photo of the AFL “hit heard round the world”

Is there any way to get/ask for someone to “colorize this” ?

Here is the black and white photo along with color video of the play..I was wondering if/how I could get the photo colorized”¦are there stores that do this..or a reader that I might contact ?? Thanks

PHOTO

and at the 51 second mark here.

Timothy A. Tryjankowski

. . .

Whew! That’s some set today. Thanks to all the colorizers, and the submitters. Great jobs by all!

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Uni Tweaks Concepts

We have another new set of tweaks, er…concepts today. After discussion with a number of readers, it’s probably more apropos to call most of the reader submissions “concepts” rather than tweaks. So that’s that.

So if you’ve concept for any sport, or just a tweak or wholesale revision, send them my way.

Please do try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per image — if you have three uniform concepts in one image, then obviously, you can go a little over, but no novels, OK? OK!. You guys have usually been good with keeping the descriptions pretty short, and I thank you for that.

Like the colorizations, I’m going to run these as inline pics — click on each one to enlarge.

And so, lets begin:

~~~

First up is Devon Kendall with an NHL (what?) concept, taken from the Jim Vilk/Mike Engle school of design:

Phil,

These “fauxback” jerseys and logos I’ve created for the Colorado Avalanche are inspired by a) the Colorado state flag and b) the Quebec Nordiques jerseys. I’m not too good with graphics programs, so you get my colored pencil doodles.

-Devon Kendall

. . .

Next up is Tom Bierbaum with a couple nice drawings of the LA Jags new uniforms:

Phil —

As always, thanks so much for your efforts on my single favorite feature of a great blog.

This is a concept for a possible L.A. Jaguars team in the NFL’s future, but I’d also certainly recommend it (with tweaks) to the Jacksonville squad. My starting point was adapting a UCLA color scheme and I’d love to see a fun Jags cartoon for a helmet logo. Opposing teams are concepts for the Broncos and Chiefs.

“Tenz”
Tom Bierbaum
Erie, Pa.

. . .

And we close with Andrew Poulson with a Nationals concept:

Phil:

I made this Nationals Uni on Veterans day and that was kind of my theme for the uniform.

Thanks,
Andrew P.

. . .

And that’s it for today. Back with more next time.

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No Skipper vs. Shipwreck today (yay!) since both guys had Ole Miss (who won 38-17) over Pittsburgh in a pretty good looking game. The pros played yesterday too, with the Texans and Bengals hooking up in probably the ugliest-looking game of the playoffs. Ugh. The night cap was a little better, with the Packers trouncing the Vikings. Two more games on tap today: Balto at Indy at 1:00 ET, and Seattle at Washington at 4:30. Enjoy.

Thanks to the colorizers and the concepters. Don’t forget to post any suggestions for a possible Super Bowl XLVIII logo down below, and if you have any questions about the contest, you can e-mail me at the same address (just indicate you have a question about the contest in the subject line). OK? OK! Start sending in your designs once they’re ready, but don’t miss the Friday deadline. Awesome.

Everyone have a great Sunday!

Peace.

. . .

“When I was a kid the Pittsburgh Pirates were the Oregon Ducks of the period. The various combinations of black/yellow/mismatched/matched/pinstripes/etc., was interesting and fun but I thought those uniforms looked…well…awful.”
— Jim Hamerlinck