Why The Atlanta Falcons Have The NFL’s Best Uniform
The Falcons are currently wearing, what I believe, is one of the very best football uniforms ever designed.
If you’re unfamiliar with the world of football uniform aesthetics, I can assure you that sentence will cause many a reader to question if they read it correctly and my sanity.
And that’s what makes this particular topic interesting to me; because most fans of sports design will tell you the “Dirty Bird” uniform is actually one of the very worst in the NFL. I’ve seen it described as a “clown suit”, a “dumpster fire”, and a “hot mess”.
I see this uniform not only as the most beautiful, attractive, and bad ass modern design in the league, but also as visual perfection — an A+. A grade I would not give to any other NFL team.
There is no official rule book or scale to critique these things, so naturally I had to develop my own. Based on the things I feel make a great uniform design, I created an A-to-F scale (or 1-to-5 star if you like) to assist in critiquing uni designs — the criteria for an A is this:
A — Exceptional. Design that is unique to the team and/or perfectly captures their culture/brand. May be a traditional design, but no mistaking for competitors. Technical craftsmanship is without flaws. Consistency and unity among every element and across every jersey cut and helmet design.
If I’m being charitable about it, I could grade 6 other NFL teams with an A. But, that would require overlooking the sleeve stripe hacking of the Packers, Steelers, and 49ers, omitting the poorly drawn Raiders logo, letting go of the tangents of the Bears’ GSH sleeve monogram, and passing by the inconsistent tailoring of the Colts’ jersey stripes.
And if I were to mark each of those teams with an Exceptional grade, Atlanta would still be my personal favorite due to it’s modern boldness, great color, and clean lines.
But sticking to my own system, no matter how pedantic it may or may not be, it is the foundation on which i make these grades. The flaws in the other teams are there. Many people will judge a uniform on the basis of “if they just changed X it would be great”. While that may be true, it’s not critiquing the design fairly. You must critique based on what it is, not what it could be; the process is already complete and what we are left with is one uni to rule them all: The Atlanta Falcons.
The theme of this uniform is “speed and movement”, a perfect direction for a team whose mascot is the fastest bird on the planet. It was designed when then Falcons QB Michael Vick was running wild on defenses and I believe it was created with his athletic characteristics in mind. From Primary logo, to word mark, to jersey and pants, the consistency, taste, rhythm, and unity is the archetype for this niche of design. The lines and shapes found in the logo are found in the numbers, in the pants stripes, the jersey stripes — a perfect blend of sharp corners and rounded edges.
The use of space is also important. It is one of the very few NFL uniforms where sock stripes are not required. The large spaces on the helmet created by the lack of stripes and a matching face mask and shell color are balanced by the large blank spaces in the pants and socks. The details never go too small using perfectly proportioned areas of color in the jersey sleeves and thick numbers with bold drop shadows.
Where many jerseys implement a sleeve design that runs into the seams of the shoulder/torso with an awkward cut-off, The Falcons’ design uses piping to seal off the sleeve design, then runs down the side of the body creating a slimmer, more athletic looking profile for the player. Perhaps most importantly, the sleeve design doesn’t change between any of the different jersey cuts. Every player is wearing the same design.
Even the black cleats compliment the look and provides a well balanced lower body color application and as every black cleat does, visually separating the leg from foot so the players don’t look like they’re wearing giant white boots.
If you’re looking for some “magic” and something that makes the uniform special without being out of place, the silver in the logos do just that. It’s a little touch of color that prevents the design from ever becoming boring and finds itself used in other identity touch points like apparel and marketing.
Writing this, I was looking for reasons to not like the design; to find something out of place; to see where I was wrong. At this time, my love for the entire identity and confidence in this design has only grown stronger. While we all understand the subjectivity of taste and personal preferences and realize this uniform could be different, I do not believe it could be objectively better. I hope it never changes.
