Illinois Football Uniforms

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#127      
BZuppke
I think the block I is the best we can do. I do agree the arched Illini was a great helmet but it is dated. It looks like the 70s/80s. I’m a slant Illinois hater and always will be. We got rid of the arched Illini and went plain orange in Mackovic’s first year because we didn’t know what to do, then stole the Giants look because after an entire year we couldn’t come up with anything original. It’s part of our history some say - so is Gunther/Thomas and CDP.
 
#128      
the juiceman cometh
BZuppke said:
I think the block I is the best we can do. I do agree the arched Illini was a great helmet but it is dated. It looks like the 70s/80s. I’m a slant Illinois hater and always will be. We got rid of the arched Illini and went plain orange in Mackovic’s first year because we didn’t know what to do, then stole the Giants look because after an entire year we couldn’t come up with anything original. It’s part of our history some say - so is Gunther/Thomas and CDP.
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Block I is also not original.

I think the best course of action is to stop caring about what is "original" and just go with what looks good.

Slant and script Illinois both look better than Block I.
 
#129      
altgeld88
the juiceman cometh said:
Block I is also not original.

I think the best course of action is to stop caring about what is "original" and just go with what looks good.

Slant and script Illinois both look better than Block I.
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#130      
BZuppke
I bet you like all orange uniforms too 🤮

Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. I agree the block I is not unique, but it looks solid Big Ten and at home with traditional blue jerseys and orange pants is a very sharp look.
 
#132      
Bucktown
BZuppke said:
I bet you like all orange uniforms too 🤮

Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. I agree the block I is not unique, but it looks solid Big Ten and at home with traditional blue jerseys and orange pants is a very sharp look.
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Agree. It is also our brand and has been for years. The Block I is the most Illinois of all other logos or marks. Every broadcast, score scroll, etc. uses the Block I. It is far more unique than the script--everyone is using script now. Just yesterday Iowa State had "cyclones" in script on their helmets. Except for the fact that it is a letter on a helmet, it is actually relatively unique. There are 4 states that start with I. Iowa State and Indiana have used a block I version. Iowa State has always written STATE across theirs. Indiana has periodically used a thinner version than ours, but have mostly used the nested UI. We own the Block I. Few others uses it because we own it. We reduce our years of brand equity with the constant fiddling with the helmet design.
 
#133      
Toews
If we wore these helmets a lot or even once next season I’d be willing to discuss the nature of the script and if it should be involved with football etc. Im not even sure where I’d land on the discussion. But these are probably cool one-off helmets for a bowl game that is more for fun than anything so I don’t think the discussion really needs to happen now.
 
#134      
the juiceman cometh
Bucktown said:
Agree. It is also our brand and has been for years. The Block I is the most Illinois of all other logos or marks. Every broadcast, score scroll, etc. uses the Block I. It is far more unique than the script--everyone is using script now. Just yesterday Iowa State had "cyclones" in script on their helmets. Except for the fact that it is a letter on a helmet, it is actually relatively unique. There are 4 states that start with I. Iowa State and Indiana have used a block I version. Iowa State has always written STATE across theirs. Indiana has periodically used a thinner version than ours, but have mostly used the nested UI. We own the Block I. Few others uses it because we own it. We reduce our years of brand equity with the constant fiddling with the helmet design.
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I always love the justification of the Block I as unique simply because of the many schools that use single block letter, we are the only one that uses an unadorned I. As if using the same font on a different letter is an entirely different universe.

By that logic the slant Illinois is also unique, as the Giants never wrote "Illinois" on their helmets.

Syracuse started using their Block S, in the same font and same colors, before we ever used the Block I. If the slant Illinois is a Giants copy, the Block I is a Syracuse copy (and there's a good chance someone else used it before Syracuse too).
 
#135      
Bucktown
the juiceman cometh said:
I always love the justification of the Block I as unique simply because of the many schools that use single block letter, we are the only one that uses an unadorned I. As if using the same font on a different letter is an entirely different universe.

By that logic the slant Illinois is also unique, as the Giants never wrote "Illinois" on their helmets.

Syracuse started using their Block S, in the same font and same colors, before we ever used the Block I. If the slant Illinois is a Giants copy, the Block I is a Syracuse copy (and there's a good chance someone else used it before Syracuse too).
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That is kind of the point. If you a see a helmet with an S in the same font and color you are not thinking it is Illinois. If you see a Block I you think the University of Illinois. If we had been using the slant 'Illinois' for over 125 years instead of 23 like the Block I, it would have equity. The slant Illinois is kind of like the kingfisher. Both have been created out of thin air.
 
#136      
RabidDawgClassic
Bucktown said:
That is kind of the point. If you a see a helmet with an S in the same font and color you are not thinking it is Illinois. If you see a Block I you think the University of Illinois. If we had been using the slant 'Illinois' for over 125 years instead of 23 like the Block I, it would have equity. The slant Illinois is kind of like the kingfisher. Both have been created out of thin air.
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To be fair though, everything, at one point, is created out of thin air, so to speak. I mean “hey, whatta we wanna do at halftime?” “I dunno… maybe a dancing Indian? 🤷🏼‍♂️”
 
#138      
Bucktown
RabidDawgClassic said:
To be fair though, everything, at one point, is created out of thin air, so to speak. I mean “hey, whatta we wanna do at halftime?” “I dunno… maybe a dancing Indian? 🤷🏼‍♂️”
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Chief Illiniwek was created because it was representative of the Illinois Confederation of Native American tribes which was the source of the name of the territory, state and university. Sure it wasn't particularly authentic, but at least it has a foundation in something real. And because of that it sustained itself for 80+ years.
 
#139      
the juiceman cometh
Bucktown said:
That is kind of the point. If you a see a helmet with an S in the same font and color you are not thinking it is Illinois. If you see a Block I you think the University of Illinois. If we had been using the slant 'Illinois' for over 125 years instead of 23 like the Block I, it would have equity. The slant Illinois is kind of like the kingfisher. Both have been created out of thin air.
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So when you see the word "Illinois" in the slant underline for, do you think you're watching the NY Giants?
 
#141      
BZuppke
TentakilRex said:
The irony is that Illini wasn't the only orange team with slanted letters on their helmet at the time....

Picture


They even wore again it in 2024.
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Which shows how dated it is. I would add that everyone knows they’re watching Illinois but that was the very banal reason they adopted it: ‘People don’t know we’re Illinois so we have to bludgeon them over the head with a copy cat banal full word Illinois’. Reminds me of Ron Turner’s one time slogan: ‘Why not Illinois?’ Ugh. Horrible marketing slogan. How about being clever and relevant instead. Act like you’ve been there. Draw on our positive history and tradition.
 
#142      
DERV64
The block I is boring....I'm kind of tired of every team just using a single letter as a logo.
 
#143      
IlliniCaboose
This isn't 1970 anymore, there's a score bug on the screen at all times that tell you who is playing. This made up scenario of a non college football fan stopping while channel surfing (most people don't even do that anymore) and being confused about which teams are playing has never made any sense to me.
Wear every looks best, don't worry about someone who will never buy illinois merch, tickets, or donate money wondering what team is playing because they don't have a boring letter on their helmet.
 
#144      
Bucktown
IlliniCaboose said:
This isn't 1970 anymore, there's a score bug on the screen at all times that tell you who is playing. This made up scenario of a non college football fan stopping while channel surfing (most people don't even do that anymore) and being confused about which teams are playing has never made any sense to me.
Wear every looks best, don't worry about someone who will never buy illinois merch, tickets, or donate money wondering what team is playing because they don't have a boring letter on their helmet.
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The principals of branding are the same today as they were in the 1970’s. Apple is the most valuable brand in the world because it is vigilant about consistency up and down its entire product line. Penn State has the most ‘boring’ uniform combo but has a remarkably strong brand.
 
#145      
the juiceman cometh
BZuppke said:
Which shows how dated it is. I would add that everyone knows they’re watching Illinois but that was the very banal reason they adopted it: ‘People don’t know we’re Illinois so we have to bludgeon them over the head with a copy cat banal full word Illinois’. Reminds me of Ron Turner’s one time slogan: ‘Why not Illinois?’ Ugh. Horrible marketing slogan. How about being clever and relevant instead. Act like you’ve been there. Draw on our positive history and tradition.
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Another slant Illinois hater classic that makes no sense. Do you also get upset that the basketball jersey displays the word Illinois? Do Longhorn fans bemoan the word Texas being prominentlyrics emblazoned across the front of their jersey? I can't believe Jordan would don a jersey that says "North Carolina" on it. What a loser. If we should be ashamed of having to tell people who we are, perhaps we should eschew the block I too. Maybe even our school colors. If we just go plain black and white with no logos or defining features and people still know who we are then maybe we can finally let this inferiority complex go.

And its funny you keep talking about "drawing on our history and tradition" in favor of the Block I, which as far as I can tell first graced a helmet more than 20 years after the slant Illinois. We were also wearing the slant Illinois last time we won 10 games - how's that for "positive history and tradition?"
 
#146      
skyIdub
Lol man some of you are boring! I imagine you like ketchup on your eggs and order your steak well done and smother it with A1.

The script is fantastic.

This helmet/logo buffet we’ve had this year is as close to Oregon Duck-like uniform-a-palooza as we will ever get.
Do it every year forever.

This years all orange is the best it’s ever looked!

If we ever did the white helmet again, it 100% should sport the script.
 
#147      
mattcoldagelli
I personally enjoy the fact that the Venn diagram of

- “Slant Illinois is stupid and I’ll always hate it that they did it so we couldn’t be confused for anyone else on TV” and

- “I hate anything that looks even remotely like another school because how will people recognize us as Illinois?”

is a perfect circle
 
#148      
Illiniwacker
skyIdub said:
Lol man some of you are boring! I imagine you like ketchup on your eggs and order your steak well done and smother it with A1.

The script is fantastic.

This helmet/logo buffet we’ve had this year is as close to Oregon Duck-like uniform-a-palooza as we will ever get.
Do it every year forever.

This years all orange is the best it’s ever looked!

If we ever did the white helmet again, it 100% should sport the script.
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Agree 1000%. Alternating helmet designs is cool
 
#149      
Fighter of the Nightman
Hot take … the whole “insecure” angle regarding slant ILLINOIS doesn’t really work for the helmet. However, it IS a valid reason to hate the old RG Era Block I with slant ILLINOIS across it. The Block I should stand on its own, and putting our school name in unsylized font across it looked busy and, yes, insecure.
 
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