I have always had a strange relationship with sports.

I have never been a full on jock, playing sports all of the time, keeping up with my favorite teams relentlessly, any of that. I am still incredibly interested, but the weird obsessions I have rarely line up with anybody that I talk to.

I think that I like everything about sports except for the sport themselves (except for hockey, I will gladly watch any game of hockey willingly). The architecture of the stadiums, the uniforms, the logos, the quirky traditions of each team, the atmosphere, the broadcast graphics? I could not care less about a fourthy string Defensive End being taken off the PUP list or my team’s Designated Hitter’s OPS. . .

But the Cleveland Browns change their facemask color? I’m Intrigued. If a sports game lets me customize all of the teams? I’m in.

Gotta have some passions in life, and mine is design, sports branding to be specific. I look at Uniwatch damn near every day, gotta keep my ear to the ground, you know? I am normally not incredibly opinionated, but you get me talking about uniforms, I’m gone. I don’t really ever have any crazy arguments with my father, but the one feud that has been persisting for years now, is whether the Baltimore Ravens have good uniforms or not. I have been a staunch defender of the purple and black color scheme. I like how it contributes to the spooky vibe they have going on. My dad thinks it is bad, will often exaggerate to say that it sucks, and says that they need some contrast even though they do use contrasting colors when it truly matters, like the numbers, or the logo. He wants them to emphasize the gold in their color scheme. I think it used well now, just as an accent. The one time that it was used heavily, it was an absolute mess.This same sort of conflict will happen occasionally with other brands. If it goes on long enough, he will say that my eyes just don’t get it. I don’t understand this because he specifically commissions me to design all of the graphics for his fantasy football league. Maybe he just wants his league to look bad, I guess, we’ll never know.

Uniform design is the perfect niche interest for me, I do generally like sports, despite me saying otherwise earlier, and I obviously love design. It can actually play a huge part in how much I enjoy a sport, regardless of how enjoyable I find the sport itself. A game like disc golf is pretty fun, yet I have trouble getting interested because everyone just wears polo shirts with kinda boring, even bad looking design. So I am just not engaged. Hockey completely engages me while also being maybe the most fun sport inherently. There is such a large canvas to play with when it comes to designing a hockey uniform, helmet, long sleeves, no numbers on the front, pants, socks, gloves.

I have met people who have said that “uniforms don’t matter” , and, while I do think that the “look good, play good” saying may be a little overblown, the importance of a good-looking uniform to a sports franchise cannot be overstated. It is your identity, it is what everyone sees when they see you play. If you look bad, you will probably be bad. A franchise loses out on good prospects and success if they do not put effort into their uniform.