Designing Austin FC Jersey Features

The Austin Anthem Story

So how does a Supporters Group for Austin FC wind-up working with the Club to design the sign-offs for the Club’s inaugural jerseys? Here’s some highlights of how it happened.

But before we get into how it started. Let’s review how they turned out.

Primary Jersey (The Uniform of Austin)

ATX EST. 2021

The Club worked with us to create a tag that uniquely and concisely speaks to Austin and the Club’s inaugural season.

The Neck Tape

Estamos Listos was featured as a rallying cry for the Club.

Secondary Jersey (The Legends Jersey)

The Neck Tape

The neck tape tells a story of Austin and supporter culture through icons instead of a slogan. It is modern, original, language-agnostic, creative, and felt “Austin.”

The Jock Tag

The Anthem grackle was featured as an ode to Austin Anthem’s status as the Club’s first supporters’ group. Our original drum was a design element celebrating its presence and popularity since the original Club expansion announcement.

“Working with the club to create the details of this jersey was really special opportunity, and I’m grateful to have had the chance to design part of club history. The aim for this kit was to represent the supporters and our city. The drum is the heart beat of supporters on match day. It is a symbol of passion and pride. The icon set we created incorporates Austin lifestyle and culture elements that are true to our core. It is a humbling thought to know both player and fan will wear this kit with pride because of all that it stands for.”
– Ryan Riggins

Now let’s hit the wayback machine on how this all came about…

March 2019

First, it’s important to understand the crazy-long lead times and the process involved in getting a jersey created for Major League Soccer. We started all of this in March of 2019 and saw what would be the finished product only a few months before the jerseys were actually released.

Back in March of 2019, I wound-up in a conversation with Austin FC President, Andy Loughnane, at an event — remember live events? He asks me if Austin Anthem would be interested collaborating on the “Sign-offs” for the jerseys. It needed to be a small group however due to making sure the “reveal” wasn’t leaked.

“Sign-offs” are the custom elements outside of the design of the jersey material itself: Neck tape, jock tag, and art between the shoulders above the players name.

April 2019

The whole thing is given a secret codename of “Project Laundry.” I assemble a small team. Next were some initial meetings to understand everything involved. First up, an inspiration document of themes and ideas. The contents ranged from local noises and sounds, smells, art, icons, fashion, attitudes, organizations, and challenges.

We start brainstorming and throwing out ideas.

May 2019

With a June deadline, we get some clearer criteria to move forward with — collaborate with the Club to develop the neck tape and jock tag elements.

We also get the specific files and dimensions needed for the art by adidas.

June 2019

We’re behind schedule because the Anthem team is trying to narrow down the ideas and get satisfied with the art. We also float a draft of the “grackle drum” concept to the Club. Honestly, we expected them to reject it as we couldn’t easily find a historical reference for MLS having the actual logo of a Supporters Group on a jersey.

They don’t say “no” at this point.

We also want to review our concepts in person to talk through the thinking, so we schedule time to discuss designs

• At this stage, we discussed an early version of the emoji neck tape that’s on the Secondary Jersey. We also crafted an early version of the jock tag that eventually ended up on the jersey.

Toward the end of June we presented our near-final concepts, resulting in the square jock tag below.

• Neck tape recommendations for the primary and secondary jerseys: A recommendation of the emojis for the neck tape and a list of others for consideration. A text slogan in Spanish for the other. Fun fact: The bat was almost our SG logo. Members on the org team were split on “bat” versus “grackle” when designing the Anthem look.

• A few versions of the “grackle drum.” We wanted adidas to have options due to questions around how detailed the jock tag could be. The final art on the jersey is a bit of various versions submitted.

At the end of June, we learn that the art was approved.

July to October 2019

Some clarification questions by the Club and League on the art, legal and copyright, but otherwise, the project moved into a phase where it was back in adidas’ hands.

Our part of the project wrapped up.

Then the waiting.

“It was such an honor to be a part of the jersey process with Austin FC. It leaves one with a sense of pride that the club has sought the true Austin since day 1 by listening to its supporters and fans. From the moment they released the logo, it’s been obvious they are building something that will be rooted for Austinites and Austinites only. Being able to play a hand in that will be something I’ll remember for the rest of my life and hope to tell my grandkids at an ATXFC match someday.”
– Brock Williams

Between Then and Now

In spring of 2020, we got a little bit of feedback about how the initial designs were going, but due to secrecy and COVID keeping everyone apart, actually seeing the work-in-progress meant physically seeing the graphics and samples.

In September of 2020, a small group finally got to see the finished jerseys — live and in person. Another exciting milestone moment.

“I’m grateful for all of the many, many milestones that I’ve been a part of with Austin FC and the Austin soccer community. This one is especially memorable. Having our work reflected in the historic, inaugural jerseys for the club and their representation of Austin Anthem and Austin FC supporters past, present, and future is a true honor and privilege.”
– Josh Babetski

Today and Tomorrow

Thanks for reading. We hope you love the jerseys as much as we enjoyed getting to be involved in creating them.

See you in the stands wearing your Austin FC jersey!

Stay Verde!

Josh Babetski is the Founder and President of Austin Anthem. He is now also a professional soccer jersey designer when asked.

Austin Anthem is the independent supporters group for Austin FC, the Major League Soccer club of Austin, Texas.