King+Sons Design :: blog

College football team colors

Eric — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:19:16 +0000

The top four teams in this week’s AP poll have uniforms that use only one team color and white. There are other teams that do this (Michigan State’s dark green and white comes to mind), but most teams use a combination of two (Scarlet & Gray, Maize & Blue, Garnet & Gold, etc.) Since many teams also add black as yet another uniform color (usually in stripes), here’s a toast to the top teams and the purity of one color and white.

1. Texas Longhorns, Burnt Orange (Pantone 159)
A beautiful design system with an “ownable color” (in brandspeak) and a great symbol (Longhorn on helmet).

2. Alabama Crimson Tide, Crimson (Pantone 201)
Props for having the color in their team name and for the unique typography (player numbers) on the helmets.

3. Penn State Nittany Lions, Dark Blue (Pantone 282)
With their “White Out” at home games they just might “own” white in college football–so why not have the team wear their white (away) uniforms for some of those games?

4. Oklahoma Sooners, Crimson (Pantone 201)
Same color as Alabama. Official colors are “crimson and cream; white is an acceptable alternative for cream and more commonly used.”

Flip-flopping the candidates’ logos

Eric — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:05:21 +0000

Here’s what happens when the logos and fonts are switched for the candidates…

“WHAT?! The symbol of hope and change being used for old McCain? He’d be the oldest president ever at 72! 72 years, people! This design is a mockery! A travesty!”

“WHAT?! A military look for two guys with no military experience? The last time a major party nominated a ticket with no military experience was 68 years ago! 68 years, people! This design is a mockery! A travesty!”

Original sign as pulled from here. The serif font seems to be a stroked version of Requiem while the sans serif is Gotham. A designer ponders the Obama name font switch from Perpetua upper and lower case to Requiem small caps. More design observations here.

Original sign as pulled from here. The font is Optima Black, known for having “sorta” serifs. The star symbol appears to be from Wingdings 2. Placing the McCain lockup on packaging. More design observations here.

Vintage “Bucky Badger” logo t-shirt

Eric — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:03:52 +0000

In honor of the start of a new college football season, here’s a t-shirt I bought in 1988 as a co-op student living and working in Madison. It’s interesting because the logo is unfinished (is it showing the revisions made during the trademark licensing program of 1988?) and because it has non-photo blue (!) grid lines. As a designer, I’ve never seen another sports logo shirt like it. Very cool.

Opening Ceremonies!

Eric — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:16:29 +0000

Wow, it’s finally here–the launch of my full website. THANK YOU to everyone who has offered encouragement to me over the past many months. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Speaking of Opening Ceremonies, it seems that the British Embassy still issues passports with the name “Peking”. So, here’s an alternate “Anglicized” Olympic logo. Gill Sans, of course.

Patronus logo

Eric — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:15:15 +0000

Here’s a logo I designed for a friend’s racing sailboat. Ah, beautiful Trajan

From Harry Potter, where the Patronus charm conjures an incarnation of one’s most positive feelings. “Expecto Patronum!” (Latin for “I await a protector”) is related to “pater” (father)–which fits in very well with my friend’s father-son sailing connections.

Phil Keaggy logo contest

Eric — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:10:20 +0000

I stumbled upon a logo contest at philkeaggy.com in June, but the entries were all due the next day. So, I cranked out a concept–and won a free CD! I didn’t get the top spot, but was in the top five.

“Aspirational! Heaven! The Cross!”

And yeah, I’m familiar with his work…

King-Bugatti airplane engine

Eric — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:14:21 +0000

Very, very cool. I stumbled upon this here.

Funny; my dad’s name is Charles, too…

jkflute.com

Eric — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:55:00 +0000

Just launched a simple one-page site for my wife.

Thanks to Earth Songs Tile for letting us use their Celtic pattern that I found online; when we get our kitchen done, we plan on ordering some of their tiles.

Sweden comes to Ohio

Eric — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:00:24 +0000

The epic adventure is here.

Steve Sjogren business cards

Eric — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:04:46 +0000

I originally did this as a joke for Steve Sjogren, but he loved it and wanted cards printed up. And yes, he has cleaned a whole lot of toilets.