I like our current uni's. But, I was just thinking.....I think Oregon does an awesome job of incorporating 'duck things' into their unis. (except their silly looking cartoon duck which I think sucks horribly - it's wearing a f***ing scarf for god's sake)
The turkey really is one of the most beautiful birds on the continent and I think it would be awesome if VT sought out some subtle (or not so subtle) designs that mimicked it's natural appearance. There are a tremendous amount of patterns and shapes to choose from. I wish I had a graphic design software installed on my comp so I could mock something up. (what?! Microsoft Paint isn't one of the best? Does anyone have any recommendations for free software while I'm at it?)
What do you think?
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No. I find Oregon's uniforms incredibly tacky. It's just my personal opinion, but I prefer the more classic collegiate styles.
I just hate it when nike comes in and redesigns college football uniforms like arena football uniforms.
I kind of like their mixing up of uniforms. Not all of them are winners but it's the state of football now. I don't think we need something new every single game but some change up for special occasions and such is good I think and add some excitement too. I think the kids these days like that stuff too. I mean Oregon and Nike have done a great job of branding Oregon football.
I wish VT hadn't retired the "fighting gobbler" symbol. That was awesome and sad to see that really the only time it was recently used was the bowl game v Rutgers where it was on the helmet right before they retired it. I think that one would be perfect IMO.
edit: found this helmet mix on the interwebs
Totally agree. Whoever made the decision to retire this and the old school TV logo to protect brand identity really doesn't seem to understand the concept of brands.
Totally with you on that. The TV logo is a lot cleaner look than the VT logo in my opinion.
I personally prefer the current "square root of one" logo over the old "T-in-the-V." I have a hoodie with the throwback logo on it, but to me it just doesn't say Virginia Tech like the current logo. Admittedly it's most likely because that's the logo we had the whole time I was at Tech, but our greatest successes came with that logo on our helmets as well.
I am a lover of the Fighting Gobbler logo. Bring it back!
I was in the minority as one that loved the hokie stone helmets. I think if the uni was set up to match the look a little more, it could be a big hit. I don't mind the logo changes interfering with the "brand" as long as it doesn't happen too much. There was a stretch there where I think we only used the current VT logo like once or twice in the whole year it seemed.
I really like the hokie stone helmets too. I'd like to see the team use them at least once or twice a year.
The stone-maroon-maroon that was worn @ Georgia Tech that year was one of my favorites.
I wasn't a big fan of the Hokie Stone helmets we were two seasons ago but this I can get behind
I can see that possibly looking good if executed correctly, but I really doubt we'll get our basic uniforms rebooted before Beamer retires.
I admire the innovation that Oregon uses in their uniforms, colors, etc. That doesn't mean I think we should try to copycat their origination. When the gobbler & TV logos were replaced 32 years ago, I liked what we did. We now have a timeless logo & style. If we would stick to it. Thankfully, Whit has made it clear that he sees the value of a consistent brand, and we will see that developed - finally - as effectively as we should have done for the last few decades already.
Ya know, Don, I often find your posts to be from the perspective of someone who thinks they know more than everyone else....somewhat pedantic (thank you very much, Peter Griffin). I asked if we should embrace the mascot, you put the words "copy cat" in my mouth and throw out an argument that doing this would certainly negatively impact the VT brand. Furthermore, you assert that Whit would never change uniforms for the brands sake....both being significant assumptions if you ask me.
So, how does one go about establishing a brand in college football? Is that by picking a uniform and never changing it? (we know first hand that's not true for the coaching staff? Amiright?) Oregon changes uniforms every week. Yet, they have a widely respected brand. How is that? Could updating the uniforms help re-establish an identity? Can a new logo, look, image, and 'management' reinvigorate a brand? We've got new management and that has showed some positive results....
You seem a little hypersensitive about this, but then, you'd probably say I was trying to analyze you, I suppose. I put no words in your mouth. I gave my opinion which you evidently did not like. I wonder, am I now 'reading your mind'? You certainly seem to be doing that to me. You go to some lengths in saying I posted things that I didn't really post, but obviously you are bothered by me for whatever reason, so that is a result.
It's a message board, people give opinions. If they differ, the world doesn't end.
You also state that I said Whit would 'never' change uniforms. Please link where I posted that. Oh, that's right, you can't do that because I didn't. That was you getting a little too hyped about my response to this topic. I did say that Whit wanted to maintain consistency in brand recognition, based on a quote from Whit earlier this year. I didn't make it up, Whit said it, so perhaps you should be angry there, too.
I could go on, but you obviously have an issue with me for some reason, and do not want to hear my opinion on this. As a result, I'll bid you a good evening.
I am not hypersensitive about this topic. I really am not. There are multiple people on here clearly and bluntly stating that they think this is a horrible idea. I am cool with that....what I am not cool with is how you postured yourself in this opinion. Having read a lot of your posts..... Don't guffaw at other posters ideas. Don't phrase your statements in such a way that indirectly indicates others opinions are invalid. You know? Contribute to the discussion rather than trying to be the expert on everything.
Instead of saying 'Thankfully Whit sees the value of a consistent brand' (which implies that whit agrees with you about our timeless look NOT changing, and that I do not see the value in brand identity). You could say something like. 'I would prefer not to change our look. I think it's great for brand identity. I hope Whit agrees with me!'
Instead of saying, 'i don't think we should copy cat Oregon' (which being your second sentence in the post, implies that this was at least in part, my suggestion). You could say, "I would be really disappointed if we ended up with uniforms that look like Oregons"
It's just my opinion and maybe you meant nothing ill by the way you chose to phrase some of your commentary, but it didn't come off that way.
I don't know... Should I be thankful that you monitor my posts so closely as to advise me on my 'tone'? And that I shouldn't think there are other topics you've not 'appreciated my take' on that might be influencing this? And that I am not mindful this is a message board open to various perspectives?
Again, have a good evening...
Regarding advisement of tone, sort of. It implied a few things in my direction that I didn't really appreciate. I didn't choose to address this for any other reason than for what I thought your commentary on THIS topic represented. We're all Hokies so whether or not Whit wants to attach a turkey fan to the ass of each of our football players, we're on the same team. See you around.
Speaking of attaching feathers.......Dudes, what if we had some sort of contraption incorporated into the uniforms that would allow the players to go into FULL STRUT after a sack or touchdown?!
I don't really care about this argument but couldn't pass the chance to use this......
I do love Joe Dirt-e.
I do remember Whit emphasizing that the team would have the VT logo on their helmets for each game. So he definitely seems to want that brand showing for each game. However, their are lots of different jersey, pants, and helmet looks that can go with that VT helmet logo. The military appreciation game against ECU and for the military bowl they went with a stars and stripes VT logo...so even the logo was altered.
Yes!
shrink wrapped in bourbon!
Just like my liver.
I think we need to freshen up our look and go a little more cutting edge with our unis. Right now we have momentum with the program and the overwhelming feeling is that everything is fresh and new from the coaches to the AD to the recruiting to the fan experience. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if our look matched that kind of mindset about looking forward instead of back.
I agree. I wish we'd come out with something that popped.
In saying this, do you have a comparable example of what you'd like to see (I realize "cutting edge" might mean there shouldn't really be anything comparable, but I digress)? The current unis have never bothered me but if what Ohhero said below is true and the template is going the way of the dodo forcing us to use the extended stripes then yeah, it's got to go. I'm usually in the "less is more" camp, I think a lot of the modern jerseys try too hard and come up looking a bit ridiculous.
If I did, I wouldn't be working at the job I am now, that's for sure... lol
That being said, I like a lot of what Nike is putting out nowadays. That set that Miami wore last year, I actually really liked. I could have done without how they went a little weird with the helmets with the sublimated ibis and the blown up U, but overall, it was a pretty good look. Even the new FSU look grew on me as the season progressed.
In actuality, outside of the Oregon set, and what they're doing in the NFL, Nike really hasn't gone all that crazy with anyone recently. Their redesigns have largely been about cleaning things up a bit while keeping things a bit funky. I like that. I like that these new looks are essentially modern classics, where they retain a lot of the look of a traditional set, while mixing in enough design elements (like the sublimated ibis on the sleeves and horizontal shoulder striping for Miami, or the pattern on the sleeve and collar for FSU) to make them look fresh. If you ask me, the 2004-2007 uniforms we had did this, and the 2008-2010 uniforms went a little too far towards the modern.
If we had a redesign with results that were as good as Miami, I'd be really happy. Really like what they did. Still not a big fan of the FSU changes, but they aren't the worst ever either.
Btw, for free software, try gimp. http://www.gimp.org/
RUN!!!
I don't like most of Oregon's unis, mainly the shoulder wings, but I understand the appeal. I do love the cartoon duck though, I think it's one of the best cartoon mascots in college sports. Our look now is our traditional look, I like it but I think it could be improved, but I'm more of a traditionalist so it shouldn't be something crazy. What we should do is change the helmets and put that white/orange/white stripe down the middle. And we should have two alternate helmets per year. White or Hokie Stone helmet with a VT logo or just use a different logo: TV, Fighting Gobbler which are both still really popular. I think our look can be too bland sometimes and variety is good as long as we don't overdo it like we used to
No. No. No.
Times a eleventy gazillion.
I really hope we go back to the 98-03 era uniforms. Watching old film from the Vick days, those unis just looked so good. Simple, but really sharp with the dark maroon. I even liked the orange numbers on the shoulders. That, to me, was always our best look. Maybe add a few more modern touches here and there if necessary, but I really wish we could return to that and stick with it. I really don't like coming out with a different look altogether each week as we seemingly have done the past few years.
I agree with VTJ12. If you were to flip to a game on TV back then, if Tech was on, you would immediately recognize them. Also, most of Tech's most successful years were with simple uniforms. I would like to see them keep the basic maroon helmets they've worn since 1998 and return to the uniforms from 1998-2003. The orange numbers on the sleeve were the perfect touch of orange to let you know it was Virginia Tech playing and not Texas A&M or some other school with maroon as a dominant color.
I also loved the simplicity of the pants back then. There were no stripes. Just white, except in 1998 and 2003 when Tech would wear maroon pants. I would like to see the plain maroon pants twice a season, once for a home game (all maroon everything) and once for an away game, preferrably both big games.
I would like to see the orange jerseys, helmets, and pants eliminated completely, as they seem to be of bad luck. Tech played pretty awful in them against Western Kentucky back in 2008, lost to UNC in 2009, got killed by Stanford in 2010, didn't play too well against Marshall, BC, or UNC in 2011, almost lost to Georgia Tech at home on Labor Day night and UVA at home in 2012, lost to Cincinnati in 2012, lost to Duke at home in 2013, and I'm sure we'll never forget Wake Forest last season.
I'm a bit of a uniform junkie, or lack thereof considering the simplicity of my wishes, if you couldn't tell.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: I think we have some of the coolest unis in college football. As some stated above, I just wish we used the TV logo more than the VT one and I wish we wore the orange jerseys more than once a year. Probably in the minority here but whatever. I think our uniforms are fresh, even the way they are now. Plus we change the design of our uniforms about every 5 years it seems to me, so they'll probably be switching them up again sometime soon anyways.
The actual school colors are Chicago maroon and burnt orange, which actually very rarely show up in merchandise or unis. The dark Chicago maroon with just enough burnt (not blaze) orange to accent it would be a very ominous look indeed. I would be very interested to see these "true" colors on a mock up if somebody out there has the creative mind to do so.
I'll also throw in that there was a uni we used when MV2 was here that had orange accented up the sides and down the legs. We also used those weird sleeves that I could live without. However. this jersey had some potential, but was quickly replaced with the retro look we have today after it was met with praise. That combo could be rejuvenated, but I didn't really like the number style.
The black combo used for Boise was great for a "once in a while" change-up.
The reason we don't use the actual burnt orange in our uniforms is because our own merchandizing department realized that the color scheme we do use is better on the eyes than our official colors. While we're keeping score, we also don't use Chicago Maroon, as that shade has far more red in it than the uniforms we wear, which shade closer to a reddish purple than anything.
We've been using the blaze orange and cranberry/wine color scheme do long that they are essentially our official athletic colors, especially considering they have been developed and signed off on by our own officials. Its actually quite difficult to find apparel in our official Chicago maroon and burnt orange scheme anymore.
I like the burnt look, but it probably would look best with the deep dark maroon.
I have a hoodie in the official burnt orange, and it just looks really faded compared to the rest of my tech stuff. It really just doesn't translate well to an athletic scheme because it just ends up looking a bit washed out. The orange we do use pops and shows well in all forms of media, which is important to creating a recognizable brand, which we have done well. Our official color is very similar, if not identical to Texas, which on its own is a very washed out shade.
If you look on the shoulder of KJ's Jersey a few comments below, that is very close to official (or at least it is on my own replica jersey). The next generation Jersey, Randall's years, went to more of a blaze orange. Texas is a shade more washed out than us and Auburn. I don't hate the blaze orange as an accent, but the more of it you use, the better I like the burnt out orange. I think a lot of it comes down to Nike. I don't think they stock every color in the collegiate landscape.
Shit, NIKE doesn't even stock all colors of the NFL, which they are contractually obligated to outfit, which is why the Eagles didn't wear green until I believe week 7 this year.
That being said, I have one of those Lee Suggs era jerseys (mine is a #25 KJ) hanging in my closet right now. I also have one of the next gen jerseys (its a #4 Eddie Royal) hanging in there as well. The shade of orange in both is the exact same, and is identical to what we wear now. In fact, they made an orange variant of the Suggs era unis at the time, which shows they were using the color we all have grown to know and love:
Honestly, had they done the numbers in white with a maroon border, I probably would have bought one.
And this isn't a Nike thing. We were using the same shade of orange in the Druckenmiller days back when we were outfitted by Starter and Wilson...
Mine could easily be faded from wear.
Was curious and did some research. We share our official maroon with Harvard and orange with Auburn. Texas also uses a burnt orange but is a slight different shade on the pms system. Hope there are other dorks like me that find this interesting.
We wear it better.
Where are you finding that? Harvard's site says their official crimson is PMS 187. Our maroon is PMS 208.
If our maroon is PMS 208, we don't use Chicago maroon. UofC uses PMS 202.
A lot of universities use various names for certain colors, but the PMS code is the definitive shade. The definition of "Chicago maroon" may vary depending on who is using it. There's also conflicting information (so it seems) in some places. For instance, Auburn uses "burnt orange" with the same PMS code as ours, but their RGB specification for the web is different than ours. So technically we use the same orange...but we don't?
True enough, and "burnt orange" is a pretty generic moniker. But "Chicago maroon" is actually named after the University of Chicago, so in that particular instance I'd say you'd have to be the same Pantone code to claim the name.
Granted, I'm splitting hairs.
Interesting. I wonder how they diverged.
I can't seem to relocate where I read it, but I remember it saying Harvard used it as a secondary color to their crimson. It had to be true too, because I read it on the Internet.
I looked up burnt orange on wikipedia and it says it is not a standard color. Therefore, I take that to mean that different shades of orange can be considered burnt orange by different people. Apparently, besides VT and UT, Auburn also has burnt orange as an official school color.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnt_orange#Burnt_orange
EDIT: I see now that someone beat me to pointing out Auburn.
maybe I am in minority but I really don't like the old TV logo at all. it doesn't scream Virginia Tech to me. and wasn't it modeled after some other school, like TAMU? or am I not remembering that correctly.
I really have zero issue with Oregon's ever changing uniforms. As BruceSmiff said above it has never hurt their brand, if anything it has only improved their brand awareness. but i think if you are going to change so often like that you need to really be able to keep up. look at Maryland, there uniforms are a mess and can't come close to Oregon's.
i personally thought their all whites in the championship was really beautiful. Maybe it didn't have the school colors but it proved that there is more to a school than colors. i liked the duck wings. The mascot is as much a part of the school as the colors so i see no reason why it can't be the focus on a uniform as well, and i thought they did that well.
however, unless one of us opens a global sports apparel company VT is NEVER going to be able to keep up with Oregon and they shouldn't try. that being said i think the whole brand thing in regards to uniforms is getting overdone. most important to our brand is getting to and winning big games. that's the single most important factor to why VT got nationally recognized. you think the average person that knows only passing info knows our logo and school colors? no way. they know Virginia Tech, they know Hokies and they k.ow it's that school with a Turkey.
all that being said i love the maroon heavy schemes with either all maroon or white pants, with orange highlights the best. but black, gray, hokie stone, etc is cool a few times a year.
They're just so beautiful
I'd say this is a major vote against #allmarooneverything. I don't want to have PTSD from the UM game this year every time we suit up in all maroon. Maroon jerseys and helmets with white pants is the way to go if you ask me...
only way to beat superstition is to never back down from it. I say go all maroon for Miami every year. I mean, this is football, it's put up or shut up. And we shouldn't be backing down from UM on anything.
and yet most of the time when people oppose orange jerseys, they cite bad losses in the past as one of the reasons. Don't get me wrong, I like maroon and think orange should only serve as an accent. I just think maroon and white look better, but then again, I think we should aim for more of a classic look than most people seem to want.
point taken about orange jerseys, but I'm definitely not in that crowd. My reason for not liking orange jerseys is simple. I have an irrational dislike of Clemson and Syracuse.
That's not irrational.
Agreed, I really don't like the T in the V logo. Severely dislike it, actually.
The V Square Root of T logo is the one I came to recognize in my 2000-2005 timeframe in Blacksburg, and the old school fighting gobbler never should have been retired, the T in the V should be the one to go.
I don't care much about Oregon's uniforms, as long as that strategy of doing whatever Nike says isn't what we do moving forward. I also do not like the current standard uniform with the shoulder stripes, I think our uniforms have gone downhill since Kevin Jones and RMFW wore their styles.
There are a few 'concept' uniforms I'd support,
one being the Hokie Stone helmets (as long as they're executed more effectively next time),
the fighting gobbler on the helmets (like the mock up shown upthread, not with the bright orange bird like we did....whenever we did it),
and I'd be interested in seeing what a turkey concept would look like on the uniform (someone mentioned Oregon's wings on their jerseys so something in that vein, where we imitate the actual bird, not some damn foghorn leghorn on the helmet, although I may be in the far minority in thinking that the turkey track helmets were just fine).
Next time we do a military appreciation uniform, I think it should look like what the corps of cadets wears, not orange camo.
I am with you 100%. The "stacked TV" logo looks like Tennessee or Texas, and I'm sorry, without any sense of depth, that says "TV," not "VT." I understand and appreciate its origins, but it is not a good logo for VT.
I am envisioning something like Oregon does, with subtle Fighting Gobbler wins on the shoulders of the jersey, where the numbers are. That could be cool. I don't have the skill to do a mock-up, but I think some subtle accents would be awesome.
yes! This is exactly what I was thinking. would be phucking cool to own the turkey a bit more. I think if there is any lesson from Oregon is that the mascot can take part in the uniform.
We could totally own it with the bird motif and go with helmets inspired by the Philadelphia Eagles with feathered turkey wings on the sides and a VT logo on the back.
As for people pining for the Vick era unis, no thanks. Been there, done that. Would rather our next look be an evolutionary step forward instead of a giant step backwards.
If we were going turkey feathers wouldn't we go fan tail on the back of the helmets? I think you made a joke about this earlier, but that'd be an interesting look
The fact that it is referred to as the "TV logo" proves the point as to why that is a bad logo.
For the Corps of Cadets idea...it would be hard to not look like penn state but it definitely could be done. I think it would be tight if our QB had a maroon towel to go along with that look. Maybe throw some sgt stripes on the side of the shoulder. Crossing rifle design on the hips - not to be confused with sabres.
I agree, it may be difficult to distinguish from PSU, but if we go with the full chest cross like these, I think they'd be distinct enough. Plus, the helmets would have a badge on them, modeled after these hats, which would look cool
I just don't understand why the military appreciation uniform would be anything but in respect to the corps. Plus, if we wore them against LOLUVA (whose colors are blue, white, and orange) we would be forcing them to go with orange jerseys. Talk about adding insult to impending injury
I absolutely hated the orange digital camo look. That was atrocious. I think the mulit-cam with the black VT logo on the helmet was the best one we've done. Plus its the actual camo that guys wear down range and what the new army uniform is going to look like. The past 8 years or so of wearing blue-grey digital monstrosity (army unifom) has been an embarrassment to armies across the globe.
So HOAT has said it:
So it shall be done.
The wings on the shoulder idea with this is a nice add. I'm not so sure about the tail on the back of the helmet.
I much preferred it when our logo put the P in the V
I think as long as we get a new uniform look for this fall I'll be happy with that.
My favorite jersey Oregon has worn in recent memory is the all green with the throw back ducks on it that the had against FSU. It is a much cleaner look than most of their other jersey combinations. I also like the solid color uniform sets like that #AllMaroonEverything.
Just to throw in my two cents, I'm with Illinois Hokie, fernleyhokie, and HOAT in that I never really liked the TV logo. I love the square root of one logo because it's the logo VT used when I was in school and is the logo that coincided with our rise in national popularity.
That said, I think the throwback jerseys should be worn with the throwback TV logo and more modern jerseys should be worn with the modern square root of one logo with no helmet stripes. If we want to continue the throwback jersey look but keep the square root of one logo, then the helmet should have thick stripes to continue the throwback theme.
As for the topic of branding, people seem to bring up Oregon or Maryland. I agree with pretty much everything fernleyhokie said about Oregon. Their brand is lots of uniform and helmet combinations, but their is one key distinction between Oregon and Maryland that makes Oregons approach much more successful in terms of branding. Oregon's helmet will always have at least one "O" on it no matter what the design is (they may have broken this rule when they wore the green and yellow throwbacks). Maryland doesn't always incorporate their "M", but goes for the flag pattern which doesn't work as well. When we used the foghorn leghorn or turkey tracks helmets, we didn't include our "logo" whether it be the TV or VT. This is where a lot of schools fail. Without your "logo" your team isn't as identifiable. When you turn on a game, no matter what Oregon is wearing, you will see the "O" and know that it's them. Other teams, including our own cannot always say that. Think of it this way, if someone is wearing an article of clothing made by Nike, you will know almost immediately because of the Swoosh logo. It's no coincidence that Nike carried this over to Oregon unis and helmets with the "O" because Nike knows branding. Every alternate we have should have the square root of one logo on it somewhere. I just wish we could incorporate the sharp feathers without looking like copycats (copybirds?).
So I'm going to disagree a little bit with the Maryland/UA branding point that you and someone else above make. I'm from NOVA and I don't like Maryland as a state, but the whole idea with putting their ugly flag on everything they do is state pride. And I don't think I've met anyone from Maryland that doesn't like it. They love that flag, which is very unique, and they like how the premier university in the state is using those colors. I think UA is trying to brand the flag the way Nike branded the O. They want you to see the Maryland flag and think UMD. The reason Oregon's branding has worked so well is 1) They've been really good for a while now and 2) Their new look thing has been going on 10+ years longer than UMD's. While many people are fans of Oregon's flair (I'm not one of them) and Nike wants you to be, UA doesn't really care if you like it or not they just want you to notice it.
i was the "someone else" above. I actually wasn't talking about what was on the uniform actually. I have no issue with them using the flag and I get the state pride thing. But the uniform designs almost entirely are a disappointment to me. they look messy, poorly designed and executed. Unlike Oregon.
so while Oregon gets a reputation of having A LOT of uniforms i think overall their uniforms are well liked. (maybe i am wrong) While Maryland's attempt to copy that has fallen way short. That's not to say they can't do it, or shouldn't. They just need to seriously up their game.
Just win games and name and brand recognition will come , regardless of uniform combinations .
From a 247Sports interview a few days ago with '15 VT commit Jahque Alleyne. So yes, I do think that kids like a little flare in their uniform from time to time.
Also, I think this applies here:
NO ORANGE!!!!!!! I like dominant maroon in football, and orange in basketball. Orange is just a great basketball color, especially when the student section is all decked out in orange.
Nike has discontinued the template that the current uniforms are built on. So there will be some sort of re-design this year. At minimum, they will use the template that LSU or Ole Miss uses (with the wider flywire collar and longer shoulder stripes).
I really do not like this style of uniform
Agreed. Makes us look like your local adult softball league
The shoulder stripes are my favorite uniform since I started at VT in 97. There's something about them that just kind of seems classic to me. But I think now would be a good time for a redesign, to give a visual cue to associate with the "rebirth" of Hokies football.
So basically this:
And this...
Yeah.... gonna have to pass on that. No thanks
I miss this look. I really like how they decided to embrace the turkey and incorporated it into the uniform. To me, it screamed Virginia Tech like no other uniform that we've had since.