Illinois Football Uniforms

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#576      
I know I've said it before, but dropping the blue outline from the ILLINOIS helmet is a huge improvement from the late ILLINOIS era. It really just helps it pop in such a good way. I'm so glad we have all been able to see what the helmet looks like with a good uniform set.
 
#577      
And what I said is not contradictory. While having the entire state name is unique - it’s banal. No creativity to it at all and the original motivation was so people knew who we were. And this version of the full state name is a knockoff at that. So you have the full state name because we’re incapable of doing better, and then do it in a style that’s not uniquely ours anyhow.

I’d love to see what actual graphic artists think but it is the worst look in all of college football.
 
#578      
the word ILLINI on the helmet is much more unique than the state name .

i’m not crazy about the state outline at midfield either . the Block I by itself is best
i’m fine with the name Illinois in the endzones
 
#579      
All of these uniform/helmet logo likes/dislikes are fun. I honestly get everyone's perspective on....most... of the combos. :ROFLMAO:

But this is 10000000000googleplex% the absolute best our all orange has EVER looked and should absolutely be in the regular rotation. The level of orange, the flow of the shoulder and pants stripe are fantastic.

I will die on this hill. I will (fake)fight anyone/everyone who claims otherwise.

GW7WcupWgAAtDtI
Am with you, my brother. The entire package pops.
 
#580      
Hot take for this weekend ... bust out the Zook Era O/B/W combo and see if it sticks. I'm all for having a consistent look, but we have not really done that the last two years, alternating between orange and blue pants at home, blue and orange jerseys at home and white and orange pants on the road pretty much at random. Let's see what it looks like!

img_1157-jpeg.35815


And of course for Rutgers, do I even have to say it??

img_1155-jpeg.35813
 
#582      
And what I said is not contradictory. While having the entire state name is unique - it’s banal. No creativity to it at all and the original motivation was so people knew who we were. And this version of the full state name is a knockoff at that. So you have the full state name because we’re incapable of doing better, and then do it in a style that’s not uniquely ours anyhow.

I’d love to see what actual graphic artists think but it is the worst look in all of college football.
Not sure what else you’d want. Block I? Because no one else has just a letter on their helmet, that’d really set them apart. Numbers? No one’s ever done that before. What wouldn’t you consider banal?

If you’re hoping for something like the red grange uniforms permanently, I’ll just say that gimmick uniforms get old fast. Why do you think Oregon, who basically created that, never wears the same one twice?
 
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#584      
Has anyone ever brought up borrowing the band's Illini logo for the helmet? The one with the Block I on either end and is on the side of their cape? I've been recently wondering what it could look like on a helmet. I've noticed they have been using it more recently as a logo by putting it in graphics and even some of their merch. It could look terrible on a helmet, but if it looks good, it's a "word logo" like the arched Illini and Illinois helmets while also including our main logo and is unique to Illinois.

Referring to this if anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about.
MI_Thumb-73c8100dd6.jpg
 
#585      
Love ya man, but no you are not.
There’s a difference between wanting a consistent look and at least wanting to take a peak at other combos if we aren’t sticking with a tighter set. If we’re giving O/W/W the time of day, anything should be on the table. This is also a unique year with randomly throwing out different helmets each week and there possibly being good reasons to match a uniform combo with a helmet (e.g., O/B/B with the arched ILLINI helmet, which we of course didn’t do, lol).

If I actually had to give a “final answer” and not just throw out interesting ideas, we’d wear O/B/O at every home game, O/W/O at almost every road games and O/W/B for our biggest road game each year. Orange uniforms less than annually. While I like the O/B/B look aesthetically, I’d gladly sacrifice it to have a more consistent set.
 
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#587      
Has anyone ever brought up borrowing the band's Illini logo for the helmet? The one with the Block I on either end and is on the side of their cape? I've been recently wondering what it could look like on a helmet. I've noticed they have been using it more recently as a logo by putting it in graphics and even some of their merch. It could look terrible on a helmet, but if it looks good, it's a "word logo" like the arched Illini and Illinois helmets while also including our main logo and is unique to Illinois.

Referring to this if anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about.
View attachment 37268
If and only if it could be better stylized. Could some graphic design person make that look more like memorial stadium columns or really anything with that.

Illini curved in some way could and should be the helmet logo. Down with the boring old block I.
 
#591      
Has anyone ever brought up borrowing the band's Illini logo for the helmet? The one with the Block I on either end and is on the side of their cape? I've been recently wondering what it could look like on a helmet. I've noticed they have been using it more recently as a logo by putting it in graphics and even some of their merch. It could look terrible on a helmet, but if it looks good, it's a "word logo" like the arched Illini and Illinois helmets while also including our main logo and is unique to Illinois.

Referring to this if anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about.
View attachment 37268
no thanks

i don’t like it on the capes as is .
 
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#592      
Just a couple of random comments:

Penn State doesn’t have this debate. Their helmet is white with a single blue stripe. It’s not a throwback. They’ve been using it since forever. The uniform is so plain it’s unique. And it doesn’t change and fans like it for that.

Luke wants Orange helmets. It helps him find his receivers. ‘Nuff said. The quarterback has spoken.

Leave the Illinois flag alone. It’s the one her sons carried into battle in the Civil War. You want to replace that with the creation of some Chicago graphic designer? Look at the abomination Minnesota has now.

Leave the Illinois state outline on the field and on the court. We are the only school in the state that can justify using it. Illinois State perhaps, it as the elder institution, we get dibs. The directional schools, any of the other state schools, the private schools including Evanston’s Big Ten school, don’t have the geographical mandate.

Plus the profile is unmistakable and distinctive. What else are so immediately recognizable? Texas, of course. Idaho, Michigan, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, maybe Indiana. But of all of those, Illinois best fits its state monogram. It’s compact, with no extraneous bits like WV or MI. And it looks like a dagger. Keep the state outline.

I was thinking about something else but I have a life…
 
#593      
Leave the Illinois state outline on the field and on the court. We are the only school in the state that can justify using it. Illinois State perhaps, it as the elder institution, we get dibs. The directional schools, any of the other state schools, the private schools including Evanston’s Big Ten school, don’t have the geographical mandate.

Plus the profile is unmistakable and distinctive. What else are so immediately recognizable? Texas, of course. Idaho, Michigan, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, maybe Indiana. But of all of those, Illinois best fits its state monogram. It’s compact, with no extraneous bits like WV or MI. And it looks like a dagger. Keep the state outline.
I don't get why some people are so against the state outline on the field/court. I think it looked better before they redid the turf a couple years ago, but that's because they shrunk the Block I for whatever reason and has nothing to do with the outline itself. The only aspect that's up for debate IMO is how subtle the outline should be. The new basketball court is far more subtle than it used to be in contrast to the old court finish and what we've had for football since 2012. NIU recently updated their stadium turf and got rid of it. They had another subtle outline with it just being a darker shade of green rather than the line we have.
 
#595      
Leave the Illinois flag alone. It’s the one her sons carried into battle in the Civil War. You want to replace that with the creation of some Chicago graphic designer? Look at the abomination Minnesota has now.
For one, the current state flag was adopted in 1915 and then in the 60s they added the name of the state (which should rile up those of you who think having the state name on our helmets is a sign of insecurity). So was it carried into battle in the Civil War? No, not really, it may be inspired by that flag but has already become a different thing by now.

The new Minnesota flag is sooooo much better than the old one (which was even worse than our current one). Flags should be simple, distinctive designs with elements easily identified, even when the flag is flapping in the wind. If I have to squint to make out text, or little details, it's a bad flag.
 
#596      
For one, the current state flag was adopted in 1915 and then in the 60s they added the name of the state (which should rile up those of you who think having the state name on our helmets is a sign of insecurity). So was it carried into battle in the Civil War? No, not really, it may be inspired by that flag but has already become a different thing by now.

The new Minnesota flag is sooooo much better than the old one (which was even worse than our current one). Flags should be simple, distinctive designs with elements easily identified, even when the flag is flapping in the wind. If I have to squint to make out text, or little details, it's a bad flag.
I refer everyone to the 99% Invisible vexillology episode
 
#598      
If you think I’m an annoying pedant on football uniforms, you have committed a grave error by introducing vexillology to the conversation.


P.S. Wallace Rice Illinois centennial flag FTW
I'm here for it. Like it's a uniform discussion and symbols. It's supposed to be pedantic and opinion based. At least we actually talk about uniforms and what would make good ones.
 
#599      
If you think I’m an annoying pedant on football uniforms, you have committed a grave error by introducing vexillology to the conversation.


P.S. Wallace Rice Illinois centennial flag FTW
I know right??? I've been thinking of how I'm going to manage getting vexillology into a casual conversation, lol.
 
#600      
For one, the current state flag was adopted in 1915 and then in the 60s they added the name of the state (which should rile up those of you who think having the state name on our helmets is a sign of insecurity). So was it carried into battle in the Civil War? No, not really, it may be inspired by that flag but has already become a different thing by now.

The new Minnesota flag is sooooo much better than the old one (which was even worse than our current one). Flags should be simple, distinctive designs with elements easily identified, even when the flag is flapping in the wind. If I have to squint to make out text, or little details, it's a bad flag.
Living here in Minnesota, I can tell you from anecdotal evidence that literally 99% of the state HATES the new flag. People who never flew the flag before are now flying the old version. Municipalities are either still flying the old flag or have taken to flying their own flag in place of the state flag. (Of course this excludes the sh+* holes of Minneapolis and St Paul).
 
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