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+---- Thread: *Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking (/showthread.php?tid=39389)
*Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - Michiganonymous - 05-19-2022
Color Rush is an event that I look forward to every season. It's a great opportunity to showcase the creativity and graphic design skills of ISFL league members, and seeing the Color Rush fields an alternate logos for every team is a lot of fun. But every year there are some teams that do it better than others. I'm here to tell you who nailed it, who mailed it (in), and who failed it. Well, no one actually failed, all of these designs were the product of someone's hard work and creativity, and I really respect that, but you know, Rule of Three. And while there were some designs that I liked more than others, I also recognize that teams' Color Rush designs often reflect something meaningful to the people in that locker room, and that I don't "get it" because it isn't meant for me.
ASFC Ranking
1. Arizona
Wow is this ever cool. I think monochrome is overused as a Color Rush theme (spoilers for farther down the ranking), but Arizona uses the black/white/grey look very effectively, without overdoing it. The extra-detailed mirrored "Outlaw" logos look amazing, and they're highlighted by the bold pop of red from the mask. I wish the logos would've been made larger to really show off some of that extra detail in comparison to the usual cartoon logo the Outlaws use. The "newspaper gray" used for the field calls to mind an Old West "Wanted" poster. Arizona didn't mess with their endzone much, which is good, because the star and beams of light from the Arizona state flag gives them a ready-made stylish look. Swapping the usual sand color for black isn't particularly original, but it looks phenomenal and really makes the red pop. Overall this isn't a particularly daring design, but it's really, really well done and looks awesome.
2. San Jose
Well, it made my eyes bleed, but... I kinda loved it anyway? The "early days of computing" theme featuring bright green-on-black was a great nod to San Jose's role as the "cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley." (Quote from Wikipedia) On my first viewing I didn't even notice the clever temporary rebrand as "Cybercats," which I love. The SaberCat logo looked absolutely sick (the good kind of sick!) in bright green-on-black. A couple of quibbles though: I love the idea behind the "motherboard" field design, but it was just too bright; the field ended up very busy and hard to look at. A more faded, less obvious circuit board pattern might've worked better. I also didn't care for the jagged endzone font, although I realize it was probably meant to convey the "-cats," given that the rest of the field was representing "Cyber-." I would've preferred to see an old-school computing font like the one they used for the yardline numbers. Alternatively, use the "claw" font for the whole field instead of having mismatched endzones and yardlines.
3. Honolulu
Sometimes less is more, and that's certainly the case with this Honolulu field. I love the intricate tribal designs featured at the 50 and in the endzones. They could've easily been overdone, to the point of being distracting, but thankfully they weren't. I loved the use of the hibiscus (Hawaii's state flower) as the logo, but I thought it could've been a little bigger, bolder, and more vibrant. I would've preferred a hibiscus red or Honolulu's traditional yellow alongside the light blue, rather than the pastel pink that we got. The overall vibe was more "Easter basket" than "tropical vacation."
4. Austin
This design is really well done, but monochrome as a Color Rush theme just feels a little tired. Teams that don't usually use black going with a black-on-darker black Color Rush theme seems to me like it's overdone. I know I praised Arizona's monochrome look earlier, but they highlighted their gray with red. Dark teal endzone lettering is the only splash of color to be found here, and it simply doesn't stand out. This particular design also feels completely disconnected from the Copperheads' normal branding. I can appreciate that they were going for a more general "Texas" theme, being based in that state's capital, but for me it didn't work. The alternate logo is nice enough, but I would've preferred to see a monochrome variation on their usual snake instead. My favorite design touch was incorporating the stadium address of "16 Copperhead Road," but it was strange to me that they put it on the 20s instead of, y'know, the 16s.
5. Orange County
Orange County's field was fine. The alt logo looked great, and the burnt orange didn't burn my retinas, but they didn't do anything with the endzone design, instead keeping the design from their regular field without even a color swap like Arizona did. It left me wanting more, which makes me rank the Otters behind the Copperheads on the basis of creativity.
6. New Orleans
I'm just not a fan of featuring locker room memes as Color Rush themes. (Forgive the rhyme scheme). Aside from the colors here there's just no connection to New Orleans, or to the "Second Line" branding either, apart from the silliness of "DOOT." I liked the teal field and the clean overall look, but I wasn't feeling the Greco-Roman theme, and "DOOT" just turned me off of it entirely.
7. New York
I am grinding my teeth at the level of smugness this organization must be feeling at Sarasota's expense. Monkey Ape team makes monkey ape-themed field? That's fine. But they themed their field after Sarasota's beloved ex-GM @Mojojojo to play against Sarasota! That's a straight-up taunt; that cannot be allowed to stand. But then, then the ASFC cellar-dwellers went and beat Sarasota on that Mojojojo-themed field, in a game that I, a Sarasota defensive back, will eternally embarrassed about. Forgive us, Mojo! We had a job to do and we failed. Am I ranking New York's field last place simply out of spite? You're g**d*** right I am!
And also it was kind of an ugly field.
Actual design notes: instead of leaning into the bright colors of the evil cartoon chimpanzee, the Silverbacks kept their normal Liberty Green and tried to pair it with an eggplant purple. It... did not work, in my opinion. The result was reminiscent of an old bruise. The alt logo was just a color swap and really should've included Mojojojo's iconic hat/turban/helmet thing. I really liked the level of creativity that New York showed, even if I didn't think it all quite worked. But, considering the game result, I'm obligated to send the Silverbacks and their cursed field straight to hell. The boiler room of hell. Aaaall the way down (in my rankings).
NSFC Ranking
1. Sarasota
Am I biased? No I'm not biased! (Narrator: He was, in fact, extremely biased.) The shadowed palm trees look fantastic without overwhelming the rest of the field. The endzones are beautiful. And can we talk about that logo?! I finally got something that I, personally, have been (only half-jokingly) clamoring for, which is a biologically accurate Sailfish logo! Look, I love the regular logo, it's one of my favorites in fact, but any marine biologist or sport fisherman will tell you, that's not a sailfish, it's a marlin! An exception to strict accuracy is made in the name of alliteration and general Logo Coolness, but come on, let Mr. Sailfish have an actual sail for one week at least! The sunglasses are cartoony, which normally I wouldn't care for, but given the whole laid-back tropical theme we have going on here, they just plain work. Is it only because the sail looks like a mohawk, which makes the sunglasses look punk rock? Maybe! My only complaint with the design ended up being that the cyan numbers were impossible to read on the pink dots during the actual game, but the contrast looks great otherwise.
2. Colorado
With some minor alterations, this design quite frankly needs to become Colorado's full-time home field, effective immediately. Replace the current blood-red monstrosity with this absolutely beautiful shadowed mountain design, please. Please, Colorado, we're all begging you. Bring back the ghastly red field for future Color Rush weeks if you really like it that much. The alternate logo here looks good, but had the impossible job of being better than the Yeti's excellent current logo. My gripe about this field is the bland "COLORADO" endzone. The Yeti silhouette and footprints in the "YETI" endzone are fantastic, and that makes the "COLORADO" end look unfinished by comparison. Incorporate Yeti tracks and a splash of Colorado State Flag blue in both endzones, slap the regular Colorado logo on that 50-yard line, and Colorado would go from the worst field in all of sim football to one of the very best, overnight.
3. Yellowknife
I couldn't get past the mismatched endzones, one blue-on-pink, one pink-on-blue. Make up your mind! My eyes just didn't like it. But overall this design is pretty solid. The fuschia pink glow in the Wraith logo's eyesockets looks every bit as cool as the usual spectral blue. It's unfortunate that three teams all independently decided on pink/blue for their color rush theme, but at least we all went with slightly different shades. Pastels in Honolulu, bright "Miami Vice" in Sarasota, and sort of a "darkened neon" here in Yellowknife. The endzone font is appropriately spoooooky, and it probably should've been used for the yardline numbers also. The shade of pink used for the numbers doesn't seem to match the pink used elsewhere, but that could just be an optical illusion. The shadowed Canadian flag looks very slick, and perhaps should be a permanent fixture for the ISFL's (currently!) lone Canadian team. I just wish the flag would've been the same size as the field though.
4. Chicago
Overall this field was too "meme-y" to get a high grade from me, but there were some creative aspects of it that I really liked. The distinctive Chicago flag stars, positioned across from the shadowed Chicago skyline looked fantastic. Replace the goofy "I hope" "We Win" with "Chicago" and/or "Butchers" and you have a great endzone design. Two boar's heads in each endzone I thought looked a little crowded; an asymmetrical design with just one logo (like Sarasota did) might've looked better. I also didn't like the mismatch between the boar's heads in the endzones and the central doggo logo. I guess doggos in the endzones would've been fine (if you're going meme, might as well go full meme), but the Bloody Boar logo on the 50 instead would've looked ferocious and cool.
5. Berlin
I love Berlin's field design, especially since they have the slickest-looking endzones in the entire league ISFL. But this is just their regular field! The only actual acknowledgement of Color Rush week was wearing yellow unis rather than their usual home red. I can understand not wanting to mess with perfection on the field design, but really, not even an alternate logo? Like Orange County in the ASFC, a lack of demonstrated creativity moves them down the rankings.
6. Baltimore
The field design is clean, and I have to applaud the incredible graphics work on the central logo. But what does Bluey have to do with anything? This would be a perfect field for Dallas Birddogs Color Rush week in the DSFL, but what's the connection to Baltimore? Is there a big Dallas-to-Baltimore pipeline that I'm forgetting about? Did someone just think "Baltimore Blueys" was fun to say? I mean, it is fun to say, but still. The whole thing just feels completely random, and that's why it ranks so low here.
7. Philadelphia
No. I didn't like anything about this. The idea is well-executed, but it wasn't a good idea in the first place. I'm sure Philly and their fans loved the field, but as the ugliest example of a "meme field," it belongs here at the bottom.
Overall Ranking
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
[New York
would be here if I ranked them on their actual design, but I didn't.]8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. A seagull sh*tting in your eye
15.
(Spite! Spiiiiiite.)Great work by everyone who designed a Color Rush field! Please do not be discouraged if I didn't like your work as much as some others! I'm just one guy with bad opinions!
My favorite outcome from this: I love that my personal Top 6 designs featured 3 teams from each conference! Neither conference has a monopoly on the graphical creativity in this league, and that's awesome.
(Author's note: All nasty remarks directed towards the New York Silverbacks or any other pieceofcrap friendly rival ISFL team are made strictly in jest and the spirit of affectionate roasting!)
1950 words
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - zaynzk - 05-19-2022
Our color Rush plan worked clear !!?!
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - .Laser - 05-19-2022
Nola actually is a tribute to the Las Vegas Legion, the team who was rebranded to become the Second Line. They took LVL's logo with the current team's own flair, the doot, as an emphasis mark and their own spin on it. It was my favorite of all the color rush themes this season personally
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - shadyshoelace - 05-19-2022
yeah @Bigred1580 wtf does bluey have to do with baltimore
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - Michiganonymous - 05-19-2022
(05-19-2022, 03:21 PM)Laser Wrote: Nola actually is a tribute to the Las Vegas Legion, the team who was rebranded to become the Second Line.
Well, that’s a Critical Research Failure by yours truly right there.
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - Sebster - 05-19-2022
I'm going to take this time to open you to expand your views instead of dunking on your obviously misguided opinion of pigl. There has been a small but growing cult revolving around the beloved drawing (done by @Menace0528 ) and we welcome all! pigl is a symbol of fun and I personally think deserves higher than "the worst". Here is an invite if you or anyone else wants to come check it out :pogl: https://discord.gg/7txKgHgc
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - Cody - 05-19-2022
![[Image: ep7av5B.png]](https://i.imgur.com/ep7av5B.png)
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - Luciddreams702 - 05-19-2022
@Michiganonymous Booo, Pigl Field was great. Just because you lack the refined taste to appreciate such a beautiful piece of art does not make it bad and definitely not the worst. This list is broken and needs to be fixed lmao ..
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - Twenty6 - 05-19-2022
Pigl is ubiquitous. Pigl is omniscient. Pigl is supreme. Pigl is life. Pigl is not a cult. Pigl.
RE: Color Rush Schemes -- The Definitive Ranking - Rusfan - 05-19-2022
Pigl is our lord and savior and we will give you one shot to apologize