1 - QCS
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Nippon American Football League
Hey everyone! For the past month or so I've been working a project inspired by raysox's incredible British Gridiron League and I've finally gotten things to a point where I'd like to share. I'd love to get any feedback you all have on these designs before I make things official and post elsewhere, like on Behance and stuff.
The Nippon American Football League is a 12-team American Football league based in Japan. The teams have a mix of classic and modern aesthetics but I want them to all feel like something that could've appeared in USFL 2.0 or UFL. Any jersey elements you see are mix-and-match but I selected the best-looking combos for each jersey set. Without further ado, let's see the first team!
- QCS
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Re: Nippon American Football League
The Tokyo Samurai were the first team I came up with for the NAFL - I mean, of course a Japan-based league has a Samurai team. The Samurai contrast Tokyo's other team, which is aggressive and modern, by showing restraint and being a classic football look with a unique Japanese twist. The Samurai would play their home games at the Tokyo Dome, home of NPB's Yomiuri Giants.
The Samurai are decked out in red, navy blue, and gold, taking cues from the USFL's New Jersey Generals. Their helmet is obviously their most unique feature, forgoing the traditional logo for a horned design inspired by real samurai helmets with where a clan's symbol would be replaced by a T for Tokyo. Traditional striping is on the jerseys and pants, with red being swapped for white on the road jersey. On the front helmet bumpers, the Japanese kanji for samurai (δΎ) can be found. This is the only example of kanji showing up in the NAFL, as it's incredibly rare for a Japanese team to use it in their branding, instead opting for Latin characters.
There's team number one! I plan on posting a team a day as a way to distract myself over winter break. It's a shame they weren't finished earlier so I could do a 12 days of Christmas thing, but oh well. Tomorrow we head down south to the island of Kyushu!
Last edited by QCS (12/19/2024 8:28 pm)
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Thread Starter- Steelman
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Re: Nippon American Football League
Super cool to see a unique new concept series! I really like the league logo.
The Samarai are cool. They remind me a bit of those classic Buccaneers teams in the best way. I think the logo is really solid. The two bottom sides of the cape not being the same threw me a bit but it's growing on me. Still wonder if they were both red it would feel more connected. Regardless I dig it. I do wonder if the gold is just a tad too dark for the color scheme but it's really only prominently on the helmet logo so maybe it's not a problem. The NJ Generals had a brighter red to offset if I recall. It does have that older established 90's feel, so maybe it's perfect for what you're going for. I think the helmet design is super cool and unique! Definitely a cool team. Great start!
Can't wait to see more!
AHS Admin. Creator of the THL,Β PUCH,Β WHA: ReduxΒ and Retroliga.
- QCS
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Re: Nippon American Football League
Steelman wrote:
Super cool to see a unique new concept series! I really like the league logo.
The Samarai are cool. They remind me a bit of those classic Buccaneers teams in the best way. I think the logo is really solid. The two bottom sides of the cape not being the same threw me a bit but it's growing on me. Still wonder if they were both red it would feel more connected. Regardless I dig it. I do wonder if the gold is just a tad too dark for the color scheme but it's really only prominently on the helmet logo so maybe it's not a problem. The NJ Generals had a brighter red to offset if I recall. It does have that older established 90's feel, so maybe it's perfect for what you're going for. I think the helmet design is super cool and unique! Definitely a cool team. Great start!
Can't wait to see more!
Thanks a ton! The colors could probably use some tweaking - the primary monitor I work on is a really high-quality one, so I can end up making decisions that don't work as well on other screens. I'm pretty sure the red was selected to match the shade on the Japanese flag, but looking back I agree it should probably be a little brighter. I'll post updates after I share all 12 teams!
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Thread Starter- QCS
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Re: Nippon American Football League
For our next team, we head to the sunny shores of Kyushu and its largest city, Fukuoka. Fukuoka is home to the Hawks, who've been on an impressive run in NPB over the past decade. It's also the closest to a "tropical" destination on the four main islands. To that end, their NAFL team leans into that aesthetic, decked out in aquatic teal, sharkskin gray, and a sunshine yellow-orange gradient.
The Sharks' uniforms are the most modern in the NAFL. The most iconic feature is the sharkfin helmet, which is also replicated on the sleeve. There's also a stripe based on it on the pants. Collegiate-style large wordmarks are also here. The home uniform is monochrome anthracite and the away uniform is white with gray socks.
There's team number two! Feel free to leave any comments on the teams. Tomorrow we'll jump from the southernmost main island to the northernmost!
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Thread Starter- Steelman
- superadminguy
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Re: Nippon American Football League
The Sharks are definitely modern, sort of oddly minimalist despite the cool shark fin. It's a solid look. Why do I love a good gradient in my old age? That yellow-orange is nice. The Sharks sort of remind me of a cross between the new Texans set and the Jaguars, if they could ever get their ish together. My only quibble is I don't really like the back of the helmet, just feels like too much teal back there. Maybe if the wave crested at a lower point. I think the jersey number stokes might be a tad heavy compared to the rest of the design. But that's super minor stuff. The whole monochrome thing and word marks fit the modern vibes really well. They feel like a team my little brother would love, in the best way, so I think you nailed it.
I'm guessing you're just doing team identities, but I'm hooked now so more details would be cool later! Like field designs, stadium information, etc. Looking forward to the next one.
AHS Admin. Creator of the THL,Β PUCH,Β WHA: ReduxΒ and Retroliga.
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Re: Nippon American Football League
The Sharks are definitely modern, sort of oddly minimalist despite the cool shark fin. It's a solid look. Why do I love a good gradient in my old age? That yellow-orange is nice. The Sharks sort of remind me of a cross between the new Texans set and the Jaguars, if they could ever get their ish together. My only quibble is I don't really like the back of the helmet, just feels like too much teal back there. Maybe if the wave crested at a lower point. I think the jersey number stokes might be a tad heavy compared to the rest of the design. But that's super minor stuff. The whole monochrome thing and word marks fit the modern vibes really well. They feel like a team my little brother would love, in the best way, so I think you nailed it.
I'm guessing you're just doing team identities, but I'm hooked now so more details would be cool later! Like field designs, stadium information, etc. Looking forward to the next one.
I'm glad you like them! The Sharks are a team that I in real life wouldn't be a fan of, but I felt I needed to have that kind of team represented here, haha. Thanks for the notes! I agree, I'll definitely be making those tweaks when I revise them. And I actually meant to do field designs but I was so excited to post that they slipped my mind. I'll have that and more when I do revisions!
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Thread Starter- QCS
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Re: Nippon American Football League
The next team comes from the frozen island of Hokkaido and its largest city, Sapporo. The island is famous for its beautiful winters and Sapporo specifically hosts the annual Yuki Matsuri, or Snow Festival, where massive snow sculptures are constructed. It's a gorgeous tradition and something I have on my bucket list to see. The NAFL's Frost lean into this connection, their logo being a frozen snowflake in a wintery purple and powder blue combo. (If this logo looks familiar, that's because I've used it before for the Banff Blizzard, one of the AltHL's Junior teams.) Their wordmark is a hexagonal font, courtesy of IDM, who made it for the NDL's Chicago Frost.
The Frost's jerseys are fairly simple with a hint of modern flair. The main draw is the contrasting sleeves, adding a splash of color to otherwise simple jerseys. The pants and helmet stripe features a chevron-like design separating two colors, inspired by the points of the snowflake logo. Despite how I've presented it here, I imagine the white jerseys and pants would be paired together frequently.
That's team three! I really enjoy the wintery feel of the Frost and I think it fits Hokkaido quite well. Our next team will take us to the center of Japan!
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Thread Starter- Darknes
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Re: Nippon American Football League
I really like the first trio
Really like that Samurai helmet, and they seem to go hand in hand with the classic feel that you wanted.
Sharks, really unique look on that helmet, the orange really pops in all the applications.
The Frost, I like it..they'd probably be my team...but I am craving more of that Powder blue.
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Re: Nippon American Football League
Nagoya is Japan's industrial capital, home to large corporations like Toyota, Mitsubishi, and PPG. To that end, their football team leans heavily into that history, decking out in shades of gray and sporting an N with rivets as their logo. This logo was inspired by the Birmingham Iron, part of Joe Bosack's incredible work with the AAF. A stenciled wordmark completes the set.
The Steel's uniforms continue the riveted theme, with the helmet, sleeve, and pants stripe all sporting rivets. The stenciled font is used for the numbers as well (and let me know if you think the away jersey's are illegible, I couldn't decide as I was making it).
There's Nagoya! I knew their team was going to be heavy industry-themed, but it took a bit of a path to get there, including quite a while where they had a molten red-orange-yellow gradient. I love how beefy the logo is but I'm not quite as sold on the uniforms. Let me know what you think! The next team comes from Japan's most hallowed sporting venue!
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