*Update* Raptors re-branding v.1 - Focus Group

[TorontoRapture]

Spoiler:

Toronto Royals!

I can work a design for that no problem. There would be a hard push for purple by some, since it is a royal colour.

[TripleMKE]

I've never been in favor of the name change to the Huskies. Raptors is an awesome name.

Now as for those jerseys? amazing. I think those jerseys with "Raptors" instead of "Huskies" would be really good.

so something like this...



except with "Raptors" across the chest.

[[]D [] [V] []D]

How bout mixing the Bearcats with the Louisville uniforms...

Dont know how to make the picture small (I really just dont want to go through all the trouble) so right click and view the whole picture.

[Roland Brice]

I've never been in favor of the name change to the Huskies. Raptors is an awesome name.

Now as for those jerseys? amazing. I think those jerseys with "Raptors" instead of "Huskies" would be really good.

so something like this...



except with "Raptors" across the chest.

These jersey's are hot in any colour, amazing job by Los Manos. I'd even say just swap Huskies for Raptors and maybe go with a little darker, richer red

[TorontoRapture]

How bout mixing the Bearcats with the Louisville uniforms...

Dont know how to make the picture small (I really just dont want to go through all the trouble) so right click and view the whole picture.

Maybe if the entire uniform look like these shorts, the Raptors can try and confuse the other teams like Zebras do with Lions. . I'm sure their crappy play last season already confused them enough though.

[Saul Goodman]

I've never been in favor of the name change to the Huskies. Raptors is an awesome name.

Now as for those jerseys? amazing. I think those jerseys with "Raptors" instead of "Huskies" would be really good.

so something like this...



except with "Raptors" across the chest.

Too Rockets for me

[TripleMKE]

Spoiler:

I've never been in favor of the name change to the Huskies. Raptors is an awesome name.

Now as for those jerseys? amazing. I think those jerseys with "Raptors" instead of "Huskies" would be really good.

so something like this...



except with "Raptors" across the chest.

These jersey's are hot in any colour, amazing job by Los Manos. I'd even say just swap Huskies for Raptors and maybe go with a little darker, richer red

They actually do look good in any colour...

[Roland Brice]

Those black ones are sweet too.

[Los Manos]

yeah triplemk23 I swapped colours out of curiosity too and thought they looked kinda cool but something doesn't sit right with me with those saying to just swap Raptors onto the uni's and we're good. I suppose that on the one hand you could argue that it's a homogenisation of the entire history of basketball in the city by using the belt loops etc... but really it would just be pure vanity. If Raptor fans want to keep the name and embrace our 90's roots to celebrate 20 years then really the entire look needs to reflect those original uni's - just toned down, modernised and simplified. Which is possible but it's a challenge. After that poll the other day it did highlight that twice as many fans want to keep Raptors over those who want a change, which is pretty conclusive.

I was always on the fence and still am so I think I'll try and give a Raptors re-brand a proper go too. I can only see one real path to making it work though if you want it to really connect with those passionate enough about the name to keep it is to embrace the roots. Otherwise it would be just another empty re-brand. There are nice elements to the original uni's and warm-ups, but overall I thought they were gaudy and too brash. But it might be interesting to take the nicer elements and tone it all down.

Do fans generally agree with that kind of thought process or really do they just like the name but want a total fresh start with regards to how the team looks? Neither is the sure way to do it but my personal thoughts are that to celebrate 20 years of the Raptors it needs to have a fairly strong link to the past. Let me know your thoughts.

[TorontoRapture]

Nice! The black and white looks fly.

Would look dope with the logo I edited on the shorts though...

[Los Manos]

yep the black alternates and green st pat's uni's do look damn nice.

[Roland Brice]

yeah triplemk23 I swapped colours out of curiosity too and thought they looked kinda cool but something doesn't sit right with me with those saying to just swap Raptors onto the uni's and we're good. I suppose that on the one hand you could argue that it's a homogenisation of the entire history of basketball in the city by using the belt loops etc... but really it would just be pure vanity. If Raptor fans want to keep the name and embrace our 90's roots to celebrate 20 years then really the entire look needs to reflect those original uni's - just toned down, modernised and simplified. Which is possible but it's a challenge. After that poll the other day it did highlight that twice as many fans want to keep Raptors over those who want a change, which is pretty conclusive.

I was always on the fence and still am so I think I'll try and give a Raptors re-brand a proper go too. I can only see one real path to making it work though if you want it to really connect with those passionate enough about the name to keep it is to embrace the roots. Otherwise it would be just another empty re-brand. There are nice elements to the original uni's and warm-ups, but overall I thought they were gaudy and too brash. But it might be interesting to take the nicer elements and tone it all down.

Do fans generally agree with that kind of thought process or really do they just like the name but want a total fresh start with regards to how the team looks? Neither is the sure way to do it but my personal thoughts are that to celebrate 20 years of the Raptors it needs to have a fairly strong link to the past. Let me know your thoughts.

Before I answer, I was wondering if you could swap these to a Raps theme just so we can see what it looks like.

As for the idea of completely re-branding the team or going in a completely direction with the uniform, I'd choose to keep the original theme we've had, but make it more simple, clean and classic. I look to a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Celtics or Pittsburgh Steelers who have had their uniforms for decades which makes it part of the DNA of the franchise. To change one of those teams uniforms now would be blasphemous; therefore only minor alterations are ever made. And all of those uniforms have lasted the test of time through simplicity.

For the Raptors to have a classic uniform we need to lose the huge Barney dinosaur, it's way too childish. I'm not sure where to go with it, but like I said simple, clean & classic. I'd probably keep the script font, colour combinations that we have now to remain Canada's theme, but use a lot more shades like black, white and grey than red. I feel like too much red puts us in the same realm of too many teams (Bulls, Heat, Clippers, etc).

[deeps6x]

yep the black alternates and green st pat's uni's do look damn nice.

Yes, the black and green are quite nice. Good job. If nothing else, at least you are getting fans of the team involved in ways that I wouldn't expect from management.

I hope they are listening to everyone's feedback on your excellent work.

[roundhead0]

The more people bring it up, the more I HATE "The Huskies" name. It's dull. There really isn't any tradition with it either--they had one failed season just after WWII. That's it.

And it would be so much worse if we did go with blue and white, since the team that ALREADY uses the name has a blue and white (and varying degrees of yellow) as their logo colour.

The logo you designed looks very retro to me. First thing I thought of was the 1950's, for reasons I can't pin down. Sorry, but the whole thing (name, colour, design) has a high school feel to it.

[breignchile]

I do not think they should change their name but the Maple Leaf/Ball logo is the best user-generated logo that I have seen posted. Well done.

[DUBmental]

Do fans generally agree with that kind of thought process or really do they just like the name but want a total fresh start with regards to how the team looks? Neither is the sure way to do it but my personal thoughts are that to celebrate 20 years of the Raptors it needs to have a fairly strong link to the past. Let me know your thoughts.

Plain and simple those jerseys are sick. Clean, Fresh, Classy. I really can't say enough good things about your design. I've never been so impressed with those exact jerseys. Aside from one thing. They gotta say RAPTORS!!! It is possible to make some up in that font and still look as sharp?


---To those making the jerseys in different colours. Somebody posted a pic of VC in two old style jerseys. One is a sweet grey. Can you switch these to those colours?

Thanks

[TheGoodDoctor]

Showing the colour variation has just cemented what an amazing job you've done.

This design for me wins (just put it back to Raptors) and it's perfect.

[Double Helix]

yeah triplemk23 I swapped colours out of curiosity too and thought they looked kinda cool but something doesn't sit right with me with those saying to just swap Raptors onto the uni's and we're good. I suppose that on the one hand you could argue that it's a homogenisation of the entire history of basketball in the city by using the belt loops etc... but really it would just be pure vanity. If Raptor fans want to keep the name and embrace our 90's roots to celebrate 20 years then really the entire look needs to reflect those original uni's - just toned down, modernised and simplified. Which is possible but it's a challenge. After that poll the other day it did highlight that twice as many fans want to keep Raptors over those who want a change, which is pretty conclusive.

I was always on the fence and still am so I think I'll try and give a Raptors re-brand a proper go too. I can only see one real path to making it work though if you want it to really connect with those passionate enough about the name to keep it is to embrace the roots. Otherwise it would be just another empty re-brand. There are nice elements to the original uni's and warm-ups, but overall I thought they were gaudy and too brash. But it might be interesting to take the nicer elements and tone it all down.

Do fans generally agree with that kind of thought process or really do they just like the name but want a total fresh start with regards to how the team looks? Neither is the sure way to do it but my personal thoughts are that to celebrate 20 years of the Raptors it needs to have a fairly strong link to the past. Let me know your thoughts.

The problem is that the original Raptors jersey has never been good. It's just taken on this " so bad it's good" comeback like Hall and Oates, neon green shades and acid washed jean jackets have. It's cool with the kids who didn't grow up with it and see it as ironic and vintage since it makes such a brash and bold statement. It's the "Don't have a cow man" of NBA jerseys.

I think that vintage shelf life will be short lived like ironic truckers caps and ribbed t-shirts with 70s designs are now. I'm not sure you want to go back there too much.

That said, it would be nice to take a design element somewhere in order to bridge the designs and pay homage to the 90s in some way but I just looked at them and, honestly, what are you going to take? The big logo on the front? I hope not. Logos on the front rarely work. The pin stripes? Not so sure about that. That 1990s word mark? Perhaps. I've seen some incorporate it (that slash design has it, I think) and I didn't hate the way it looked. I don't love that font but if you were to take one aspect I guess that could potentially work.

Honestly, I'd prefer a total refresh. I have an idea but I can't draw it so I'm going to try my best to describe it as I think it could be both innovative and stylish if somebody with skills could pull it off. I'll describe it in my next post.

[Nikan]

Raptors:
- although we have some successful years and some good memories but in the end Raptors really doesn't reflect Canada or Toronto

Raptors (Dromaeosaurs)

The first Dromaeosaurus remains were found by renowned fossil hunter Barnum Brown on the south bank of the Red Deer River in Alberta, Canada in 1914, the first such raptor-type dinosaur ever discovered! It was the first dromaeosaur to be discovered and its name was later used for the family, Dromaeosauridae.

Guess you do learn something new everything. Thanks for that and as well thank TorontoRapture for making this cool design. Do you think there are anyways to actually incorporate a landscape of the Canadian Shield? As in the bird's eye view of Canada, I believe it was called the Canadian Shield because from that view it almost looked like a Warrior's Shield. May be tough to find it though. Again thanks for the effort.

[Double Helix]

Here's my idea, Los Manos.

Toronto is the only city in the NBA that begins with a T. It's distinctive to us. The TO letters are as iconic to us all as NYC is to New Yorkers. Now, the thing that's interesting about the letters T and O is that they can be used to frame things. The lines of the letter T are perfect for framing words vertically or horizontally. The letter O can serve as a circular border as well.

Use the design of a large letter "T" (big enough to run horizontally across the entire chest and around back, and big enough vertically to run down all the way through the short) as a frame and visual border within the jersey just slightly offset to the left on the front. The horizontal line of the letter T would allow you to draw attention to and frame the name "R A P T O R S" across the upper chest and this horizontal line of the "T" shape would run all the way around the jersey to draw attention to the player's last name as well. There would also be a vertical line that ran down on the back, creating another large "T" with the line running down and through the shorts as well but it would drop on the opposite side.

Then, slightly offset to lower right of the T on the would be a large circle (red on the white jersey and white on the red jersey) and this circle would function as an "O." The player's numbers would be overlaid across that circle to the lower right of the T. On the back the circle or "O" wouldn't be present, allowing for just large numbering framed by the "T"

The TO wouldn't be obvious at first to all who looked at it. The lines horizontal and vertical would simply appear to be an asymmetrical style element (see Pacers jersey below for the closest such line framing words I can think of) almost acting like a frame (white on the red jersey, red on the white) for the R A P T O R S font across the chest and the circle would just look like a unique way to frame the jersey number. And upon closer inspection you would recognize the T and O. Also, the vertical line running throughout would almost serve as a partial homage to the vertical lines on Raptors jerseys of the past.

I hope I've described it well enough. I wish I could just draw it for you but I really think it could look both creative and Torontonian if you could pull it off. I'd love to see you try! It's your design idea if you want it!

To give a partial idea of the offset I'm imagining for the T have a look at this Indiana Pacers jersey. I hope seeing their jersey doesn't throw off my description too much because their design is very different than what I'm describing. I'm just showing this to give you an idea of a vertical line. Their vertical line is way offset to the left but for the "T" to be distinguishable I think you'd have to pull this line over more. Also, the name Raptors would probably look best going above the horizontal T line, rather than below it like they did. Conversely, you could also make the T thick enough that the word Raptors could actually be overlaid across the horizontal line of the T rather than above or below it.



Also, there would be no squiggly line running upward like there is on theirs at all. You'd have straight lines only forming the "T." Also, the numbers on the front wouldn't be quite as big as those Indiana numbers (most offset numbers aren't) and they would then fit within the large circle (or letter "O"). The back numbers could be big though.

Red/white/silver color palette. Choose your own favorite font. Honestly, I think you'd have a bold look that pays subtle homage to the past (vertical line) while still looking classic and clean and putting a hidden image in the front for the people of Toronto. TO is a symbol to us all and we are the only NBA city with that first letter.