Tim Beckman explains "Only Orange" - The Illinois uniforms/helmet thread

[Jeffers_10]

It's hard to really tell, but it appears the helmet finish could be matte on these..maybe indicating we are going to consider full-time matte helmets, regardless of color?

Interesting.

[Jeffers_10]

Originally Posted by AngryOrange

I posted this somewhere else in this thread, but this is the image I would want us to use going forward


It is an insignia of the 84th division in WWI - the Lincoln Division in WWI. Nice tie back to the Fighting Illini name as well as Lincoln.

I don't dislike it, but if it is something the university isn't already using, or has used heavily in the past, they won't use it. It would be really hard to pull that out and try to establish that it has been part of the tradition of the U of I for however long when no one has really seen it.

Had you not just explained what it was, I wouldn't have known, and I'm 21 years old. Typical college age. Not really the way you want to go in terms of a re-brand.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by AngryOrange

I posted this somewhere else in this thread, but this is the image I would want us to use going forward


It is an insignia of the 84th division in WWI - the Lincoln Division in WWI. Nice tie back to the Fighting Illini name as well as Lincoln.

Probably won't happen because the tomahawks will offend someone and it's a big too "old" of a logo.

[Ransom Stoddard]

Originally Posted by AngryOrange

I posted this somewhere else in this thread, but this is the image I would want us to use going forward


It is an insignia of the 84th division in WWI - the Lincoln Division in WWI. Nice tie back to the Fighting Illini name as well as Lincoln.

That has me thoroughly unexcited. It looks like a merit badge.

[EMAWetc]

Hello fellow Illini fans,

I come from the land of Manhattan, Kansas and will be attending UIUC for several years in order to further my educational pursuits. Going to the University that gave us Bruce Weber will be difficult to swallow, but will be made easier if there is some sexy, crazy football uniforms.

You see, I grew up following the Bill Snyder FootballCats, where the coach is v. old & the uniforms never change. Which is one of the few things that sucked about EMAW'ing-out over the years. Anyways, I'm completely unfamiliar with UIUC's sports and Big 10 sports in general.

On my regular K-State board, we have a huge long thread with a lot of awesome uni renderings and stuff, similar to the ones found here. But it's always a huge tease because, like I said, Snydes is such a unrelenting, stubborn jerk about his Dallas Cowboy ripoff jerseys. So my question is, am I going to get to watch my new favorite non-EMAW team football team in some of these ridiculously awesome jerseys, or am I again, confined to blandness?

[Jeffers_10]

Originally Posted by EMAWetc

Hello fellow Illini fans,

I come from the land of Manhattan, Kansas and will be attending UIUC for several years in order to further my educational pursuits. Going to the University that gave us Bruce Weber will be difficult to swallow, but will be made easier if there is some sexy, crazy football uniforms.

You see, I grew up following the Bill Snyder FootballCats, where the coach is v. old & the uniforms never change. Which is one of the few things that sucked about EMAW'ing-out over the years. Anyways, I'm completely unfamiliar with UIUC's sports and Big 10 sports in general.

On my regular K-State board, we have a huge long thread with a lot of awesome uni renderings and stuff, similar to the ones found here. But it's always a huge tease because, like I said, Snydes is such a unrelenting, stubborn jerk about his Dallas Cowboy ripoff jerseys. So my question is, am I going to get to watch my new favorite non-EMAW team football team in some of these ridiculously awesome jerseys, or am I again, confined to blandness?

Gonna have to wait until 2013. Earliest anything will happen at this point.

[Illini125]

The "ILLINOIS. OUR STATE. OUR TEAM." campaign will be incorporated into a large-scale brand evaluation program that the DIA will partner with Nike beginning in 2013. The 18-month collaboration will result in an updated brand identity including new football uniforms for 2014.

http://www.fightingillini.com/genrel/080312aak.html

Gotta wait 1 more year than we thought.

[illiniparkie]

Originally Posted by Illini125

Gotta wait 1 more year than we thought.

Take THAT, Northwestern.

[Fighting Billini]

Originally Posted by Illini125

Gotta wait 1 more year than we thought.

Okay. That's in line with what I recently told, that the rebranding process would be starting shortly. See, Groundhogday.

[Future Walk-On]

CAN'T WAIT for pimped out new unis

[mattcoldagelli]

That WWI insignia would make for a wicked pride sticker.

[Illini Inn Mug Club Prez]

Originally Posted by Illini125

Gotta wait 1 more year than we thought.

This is disappointing.

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by Fighting Billini

Okay. That's in line with what I recently told, that the rebranding process would be starting shortly. See, Groundhogday.

Yes. And very disappointing. One would have thought that they could have initiated the rebranding process soon enough to have uniforms by 2013.

[TimeToGetIll]

Originally Posted by AngryOrange

I posted this somewhere else in this thread, but this is the image I would want us to use going forward


It is an insignia of the 84th division in WWI - the Lincoln Division in WWI. Nice tie back to the Fighting Illini name as well as Lincoln.

I think that would be awesome as a secondary logo/patch but i doubt they would go back to anything that would invite protest, which i think this would.

too bad because it would be cool.
reminiscent of the blackhawks shoulder patch/secondary logo - i gues that makes sense, since it seems the 84th styled after lincoln's company in the black hawk war

[Illini Inn Mug Club Prez]

Every time I turn around another team is coming out with a new uni (see below Wisco/Braska), and we could not have gotten anything different this year, a new helmet, a throwback uni for the Northwestern game, anything...This is outright ridiculous. How do we expect to attract top talent when our unis look like they are from 1996 and the majority of our merchandise has the same old tired early 1990s branding to it that high school seniors wouldnt be caught dead wearing.

http://www.lostlettermen.com/badgers...re-old-school/

All these changes that other BigTen teams are making to their uni (below), ranging from full outright changes of their uni, to minor tweaks, and our athletic dept cant come up with one change to our onfield look. Rebuilding a program requires attention to every aspect of the program, not just the win loss record for this season. Kids dont play for money in college (well most players dont) they play for pride, and how proud can you be when your unis look like a joke.

http://btn.com/2012/07/27/clothes-ca...-days-edition/

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by Illini Inn Mug Club Prez

Every time I turn around another team is coming out with a new uni (see below Wisco/Braska), and we could not have gotten anything different this year, a new helmet, a throwback uni for the Northwestern game, anything...This is outright ridiculous. How do we expect to attract top talent when our unis look like they are from 1996 and the majority of our merchandise has the same old tired early 1990s branding to it that high school seniors wouldnt be caught dead wearing.

http://www.lostlettermen.com/badgers...re-old-school/

All these changes that other BigTen teams are making to their uni (below), ranging from full outright changes of their uni, to minor tweaks, and our athletic dept cant come up with one change to our onfield look. Rebuilding a program requires attention to every aspect of the program, not just the win loss record for this season. Kids dont play for money in college (well most players dont) they play for pride, and how proud can you be when your unis look like a joke.

http://btn.com/2012/07/27/clothes-ca...-days-edition/

Relax, one extra year isn't going to kill the program. The athletic department is making a ton of changes right now.

[Illini Inn Mug Club Prez]

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

Relax, one extra year isn't going to kill the program. The athletic department is making a ton of changes right now.

We couldnt have went with a throwback uni for the NU game, that would have been too taxing for the athletic dept. Because if thats the case then they need to hire a few people. Our football program is the 30th most profitable sports program in college sports (see below link), I think they have the cash to bring a couple people on to orchestrate delivering a throwback uni. All I'm saying is with the pics going around of the possible new helmets being shown to recruits, and the block I helmet pics, to get absolutely nothing this season and next season is a giant let down.

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2...rgest-profits/

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by Illini Inn Mug Club Prez

We couldnt have went with a throwback uni for the NU game, that would have been too taxing for the athletic dept. Because if thats the case then they need to hire a few people. Our football program is the 30th most profitable sports program in college sports (see below link), I think they have the cash to bring a couple people on to orchestrate delivering a throwback uni. All I'm saying is with the pics going around of the possible new helmets being shown to recruits, and the block I helmet pics, to get absolutely nothing this season and next season is a giant let down.

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2...rgest-profits/

ok perhaps, but it's one extra season...it's not like it's a decade.

[Hoppy2105]

To other designers or people in the know:

Is there such a thing as rebranding for the long haul? What I mean is, could MT and the athletic department be asking Nike/whoever else is doing this to define Illinois sports for the next 10 to 20 years?

Sure, it can be done quickly. A quick uniform change like Oregon or Maryland are examples of ones that happen, are talked about, then forgotten for the next change (whether or not they are good or bad). These are quick "rebrandings." Once we've established our identity maybe we can do this.

But what I want to know is can there be such a thing as them saying "Guys, take your time, do it right, we are about to go BIGTIME with Illinois Football/athletics and we want to look good for the next couple decades."

If that is the case, it could be reasons for the lengthy amount of time. Either that or there is no such thing as what I just talked about and they are just taking awhile.

[Oskee Mayer]

Originally Posted by Ransom Stoddard

That has me thoroughly unexcited. It looks like a merit badge.

For girl scouts.

[PeoriaChief]

Originally Posted by Hoppy2105

To other designers or people in the know:

Is there such a thing as rebranding for the long haul? What I mean is, could MT and the athletic department be asking Nike/whoever else is doing this to define Illinois sports for the next 10 to 20 years?

Sure, it can be done quickly. A quick uniform change like Oregon or Maryland are examples of ones that happen, are talked about, then forgotten for the next change (whether or not they are good or bad). These are quick "rebrandings." Once we've established our identity maybe we can do this.

But what I want to know is can there be such a thing as them saying "Guys, take your time, do it right, we are about to go BIGTIME with Illinois Football/athletics and we want to look good for the next couple decades."

If that is the case, it could be reasons for the lengthy amount of time. Either that or there is no such thing as what I just talked about and they are just taking awhile.

This a Nike rebranding similar to Arizona St and MSU and the process takes 18 months.

[IlliniKat91]

Originally Posted by Illini Inn Mug Club Prez

We couldnt have went with a throwback uni for the NU game, that would have been too taxing for the athletic dept. Because if thats the case then they need to hire a few people. Our football program is the 30th most profitable sports program in college sports (see below link), I think they have the cash to bring a couple people on to orchestrate delivering a throwback uni. All I'm saying is with the pics going around of the possible new helmets being shown to recruits, and the block I helmet pics, to get absolutely nothing this season and next season is a giant let down.

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2...rgest-profits/

Originally Posted by PeoriaChief

This a Nike rebranding similar to Arizona St and MSU and the process takes 18 months.

I get the frustration, but I'd rather they take their time with it and do it right, than rush something and put out a crappy/mediocre uniform. I'm not impressed with the new Wisconsin and Nebraska uniforms, and the ones from Northwestern left me kinda, "Eh." (I can't stand the racing stripe on them.) Better to take time now than to constantly have to rebrand the team because they effed up the first time, or were distracted by other changes.

Measure twice, cut once, as they say.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by IlliniKat91

I get the frustration, but I'd rather they take their time with it and do it right, than rush something and put out a crappy/mediocre uniform. I'm not impressed with the new Wisconsin and Nebraska uniforms, and the ones from Northwestern left me kinda, "Eh." (I can't stand the racing stripe on them.) Better to take time now than to constantly have to rebrand the team because they effed up the first time, or were distracted by other changes.

Measure twice, cut once, as they say.

I agree about the other 3 unis. None of them really look all that good to me at all.

[Illini Inn Mug Club Prez]

The Wisconsin and Nebraska unis are just for their one game against each other. Just like Michigan and ND did unis that were specific to their game last year. Teams have been doing these one-off unis for a few years now (started with the Nike Pro Combat unis). I am not saying that we rush into a uniform change, although I do feel that they have obviously been working on it for a while and that they should be able to have something ready for 2013, I am just saying that with so many other schools doing one-off Pro Combat (or throwback) unis it would be nice if our program stopped living in 1990 and did the same. For Pete's sake if your going to make the fanbase wait two more seasons for updated uniforms at least have the decency to throw us a bone and do some type of one-off uni this season and next.

I also think that if we leave the whole rebranding solely up to Nike that we will end up with something ridiculous looking like Arizona State. The new uni issue just seems like a no-brainer to me. It seemed like 70-75% of the people who saw the Will-INI design liked it. It just seems like a perfect fit for our program for numerous reasons.

[PeoriaChief]

Originally Posted by Illini Inn Mug Club Prez

The Wisconsin and Nebraska unis are just for their one game against each other. Just like Michigan and ND did unis that were specific to their game last year. Teams have been doing these one-off unis for a few years now (started with the Nike Pro Combat unis). I am not saying that we rush into a uniform change, although I do feel that they have obviously been working on it for a while and that they should be able to have something ready for 2013, I am just saying that with so many other schools doing one-off Pro Combat (or throwback) unis it would be nice if our program stopped living in 1990 and did the same. For Pete's sake if your going to make the fanbase wait two more seasons for updated uniforms at least have the decency to throw us a bone and do some type of one-off uni this season and next.

I also think that if we leave the whole rebranding solely up to Nike that we will end up with something ridiculous looking like Arizona State. The new uni issue just seems like a no-brainer to me. It seemed like 70-75% of the people who saw the Will-INI design liked it. It just seems like a perfect fit for our program for numerous reasons.

IMO Arizona State's rebrand turned out hard (cool, sweet, awesome, stylish.)