Last weekend NFIDM competed in Warrior Dash, a 5K race of grueling obstacle courses including mud pits, swamp crawlin’, fire pits, net climbing, log dodging, beer drinkin’, mud dancin’, and thrill seeking! This, of course, required jerseys. We might not have won anything, but we were certainly the best looking team on the course.
On the heart of the jersey you will see a small seal. I had been toying with the idea of developing a fun seal or "coat of arms" for company sporting apparel and general use, and these jerseys provided the perfect excuse to spend more than a few fleeting moments on it.
I began sketching with nothing specific in mind, but after a few concepts we decided to stick with our real :nf logo in the center rather than developing a new type treatment. This is often what my first-phase logo sketches look like.
Medieval coats of arms commonly featured birds, crowns, sunbursts or other small items on the top, called "crests." For fun, I used a fish balancing a nickel on its head. The first version didn't succeed as well on a jersey, since we were going for a neo-retro application of the seal, so I designed a circular version.
Even after making our seal, featuring our original Nickelfish IDM logo as the primary logo was still the goal. European soccer jerseys feature the team's primary sponsor where American team names usually go, with the club's seal on the heart.
The soccer jersey provided the perfect solution for us: just treat our company name like a primary sponsor, and it doubles as team name like American jerseys.
The templates we received from the manufacturer, Gaia, were very easy to use and allowed us a fair bit of flexibility, as you are able to assign every pantone value on the jersey, down to the thread, and design how the artwork will fit on all sizes for both men and women.
I am very pleased with the way they turned out. If you are competing in Warrior Dash, club sports for school, or an intramural ultimate tournament, make sure you stand out.