Columbus Eagles: Player-Designed

Soccer shirts are a really unique confluence where design and function collide – sometimes its catastrophic and sometimes, in this case, the results are downright soccer-couture. Columbus Eagles are a WPSL side, founded in 2014, who came out of the gates wearing Adidas and showing a fun eagle logo which, nobody would bat an eye at. Who knew that just four years later it would be redesigned, and that it would come out even better! Columbus rocked brand new kits in 2019 as well, and we wanted to get the lowdown on their design and the motivation behind the soaring rebrand. Mark Wise, Owner & CEO, was happy to answer a few questions and he was kind enough to put us in touch with graphic designer Larissa Najjar, as well as Chief Operating Officer Grant Burkhardt – I hope you love good content, because this episode of Uniformity is chock-full.

Your new club crest designed by Larrissa Najjar is strong and simple - what inspired the rebrand and how important is it to you to give your players non-soccer professional experience, whenever possible?

The rebrand was entirely Larissa and Grant Burkhardt's idea. Larissa being a graphic artist and Grant is my brand manager (among many other roles). They wanted something that was fresh and in line with our target audience. We love to bring our players into the back office whenever they want to. They come from various business fields and their experience along with their soccer IQ is great for any club.

Not only has Najjar nailed the new crest, but she was also tasked with custom designing your 2019 kits - what led the club to pursuing a custom kit and how popular has it been? Have there been enough sales to help with operational costs?

Again, Larissa and Grant proposed the custom kits. I think the idea was if we want to grow into a professional club, we need to look and act like a professional club. The custom kits were an instant hit. Many positive comments and a large increase of sales over the previous year of jerseys. The volume is still not enough to help offset operational costs, but we will see how that goes this year.

In the US, there are a handful of apparel providers who work with grassroots clubs, but I've never seen anybody work with Diadora. Why them? Would you recommend them to other clubs?

Diadora was (they have been replaced this year with Erris) our uniform and equipment supplier for a couple of years. They gave us a good discount and a link from their web-page. When we wanted to do a custom jersey, they quoted a price that we could not afford. So, we went with another label for the custom jerseys. We kept our Diadora sponsorship by adding the Diadora logo on the jersey tops, but the design was all ours and the production was sub-contracted.

Some clubs offer new kits every year, some go every-other year; how long will these beauties grace the pitch and are there already new designs in the pipeline?

Right now we have plans to re-use the design for 2020. After that, who knows? Custom designs are much more difficult to deal with, but very much appreciated. We will have to see how much our fan-base grows in the next year.

Thanks for making a men's cut of this gem, I bought one! But what made you think to do so? Was there already a demand and has it sold well enough that you'll continue to have quantities available to “kitnerds” like myself?

The kits were designed to be comfortable for our players (after all they were designed by a player). However, you don't want to limit your potential customer base to just women, right? I think there should always be both options.

Do you feel any effects of marketing apparel and merchandise in an MLS market? Have you carved out your niche? Or are Columbus soccer fans generally supportive of both clubs and maybe it's actually beneficial? What do we have to look forward to in 2020?

I think Columbus soccer fans support soccer in general. We are much too small a footprint to be any competition to the MLS market. We definitely are working on a membership campaign for 2020. I want to double our average attendance from last year (paid seats, not free tickets). Kit's will have slight alterations to the design. Custom kits will need to be pre-ordered this year so expect that push early in 2020. Other than that, you will have to wait and see! Creative ideas are always flowing here!

Former player, Larrissa Najjar, professionally a graphic designer, not only redesigned the club’s crest, but also designed 2019’s gorgeous Columbus Eagles kits

We had a few extra questions for the Ohio Statue University grad, Larissa Najjarr, who earned her Master of Landscape Architecture and lent a huge hand in the designs of both the rebrand of Columbus Eagles, as well as the beautiful kits they rocked in 2019.

What other projects, soccer or otherwise, have you worked on? Is your work for Columbus a one-off or do you hope to leverage that into more opportunities?

The Columbus Eagles project is the first soccer-specific design project I have worked on. It was so much fun because I have played soccer for my entire life. Grant and I worked closely on the project and found we share the same design sensibilities and passion for bringing communities together with design and soccer. We both believe that women's soccer can be an amazing gathering point for building community and effecting change, so we are working together to build a company of our own that will hopefully provide great designs to the women's soccer community and also empower teams to give back to other communities.

Other than these projects, I work in illustration and design. I love the opportunity to work on any sort of creative project, built environment or digital.

How important is it to have clubs, like Columbus, around for women to extend their soccer careers or even get a foot in the door for non-athletic opportunities? What's next for you?

I have found that when a player from the Columbus Eagles must move away from the Columbus area (for work or school) and therefore can no longer play for the club, they always say they will miss three things: their friends, their family, the Eagles. I think having teams like the Eagles is so important for communities and the women playing. The Eagles in particular is really cool because we encourage players to take an active role in building the business using their professional skills. I am a good example of this. I played for the Eagles for several years but had to retire from soccer because of ankle injuries. After I retired, I started working on rebranding the club almost right away. It certainly helped the transition to not playing much easier.

What's next? The project I mentioned above that Grant and I are launching is next! We also hope to release a new design for the Eagles before next season. As I said, soccer is a really important piece of my life, so I hope we get many more opportunities to rebrand clubs to empower their players and get communities excited about their teams.

- Joshua Duder

For more information about the Columbus Eagles: https://www.columbuseaglesfc.com/wp/

To pick up one of these beautiful shirts: https://www.columbuseaglesfc.com/wp/shop-home/

Black Bear FC

We often talk about the soccer map expanding and with new clubs popping up everywhere, from Alaska to Florida, there’s proof everywhere. One region that seems to be on a massive upswing is the South. Previously seen as American football country, the soccer game is exploding all over states previously seen as soccer deserts. One of those states is Alabama and one of those clubs is Black Bear FC. We spoke with Gavin Owens about the growth of his club and their new Icarus-designed kits.

Black Bear FC hit our radar several months ago, mostly because of a classy and simple logo. The image of a roaring bear, a white outline on a black background, set within a red circle, pops in all the right ways. The starkness of the design makes it a unique and inspiring badge. It was designed by Jessica Do for the club, and the choice of the bear was not by accident. Gavin points out that “The name Black Bear FC comes from Alabama's official state animal, the black bear. I wanted the name to represent Alabama but didn't want to tie in Birmingham's industrial past. I hoped to bring a different kind of brand to our potential fans rather than imitate what a lot of businesses, and sports teams, are already doing.”

With a slick badge that already stood out, Gavin had ideas about what he wanted for the shirt design. “rom the beginning, I knew I wanted a classic collar and a black base with red/white accents. From there, Icarus FC did the rest and designed the beautiful kit you see today. The sleeves and shorts feature a white stripe with red paw prints. The back of the collar reads, ‘EST. 2019.’ All in all, we couldn't be happier with the end product.”

The shirt is a model of what a lower league club can look like working with a designer who tailors the work to please the client. It’s the kind of kit you can wear to almost any event or setting. It’s classy and simple, but with an air of understated sophistication. With the success of the original black kit, will there be an alternate white? Next year for sure. As of now, we will just wear the black kit in a local league that doesn't require an away kit.”

Black Bear FC kicked off for the first time recently, playing against NPSL Georgia Revolution’s Reserves. And while the new side lost 4-0, Gavin emphasizes the positives of the match. “The experience was something we'll never forget. Despite a change in the venue a day before and our biggest vendor having to back out, we still had about 70 people come support. The game was for a local charity as well called Hope To Homeless Outreach. We received lots of donations and were able to raise enough money to fund another outreach event (aka: filling bags with everyday essentials and handing them out at the homeless shelters in downtown Birmingham). We were also able to have three local vendors, all three owners are either still in college or just graduated, which was really awesome to see.” Looking forward Black Bear is looking to host more community-themed events before either playing in a local 7v7 or 11v11 league.

They say that you have to dress the part and Black Bear FC has certainly nailed that aspect of their rollout. The club will be rolling out more merchandise in the near future, which will be in line with their current aesthetic. As far as the current kit, you can pick that up by contacting the club via twitter. The kits are $45 and will be available to preorder until August 13th.

- Dan Vaughn

Club Toledo: Far From "Regional"

When you think soccer in Ohio, you’d travel several layers down before you’d find Club Toledo, who play in the Northwest Ohio Champions League. That doesn’t mean they haven’t made waves in their level however. Jacob Mercer, club owner is quick to point that out. “We are back-to-back league champions and are looking to expand our operations and compete on a more regional level. For example, later this summer, we are hoping to take a squad down to Fort Wayne, IN to play in the USASA Region 2 Tournament of Champions. We've also kept a close eye on the Amateur Cup this year, and hope to be able to participate in 2020.”

Previous kits for the club.

However, playing at that level in a state which has exploded in soccer clubs (and even leagues!) in the last couple of years can leave Club Toledo being overlooked by casual fans. With catching more eyes in mind, Mercer partnered with Icarus FC to produce some spectacular new kits. “I have been following Icarus over the past year and they consistently put out great custom jerseys. When I contacted Robby, he was really responsive and was willing to work with any ideas that I had.”

Prior to working Icarus, Mercer had allowed financial factors to be the primary driver in his choice of kits. “The past two years, I had tried to find the most affordable jersey that matched our colors.” Any operator in the lower leagues understands this quandary - money is tight, you’ve got to make every cent stretch as far as possible. But that desire to save cash was resulting in complaints from players. “I've had these jerseys for two years, and the guys have complained that they aren't the best material in terms of breathability. This is particularly important because most of our season is mid-day on Sunday's from June-September.“

One of the best parts of working with Robby is his constant desire to create functional kits, designed in line with the hometown of the club (yes, Icarus sponsors this column, but look over his work, we’re not lying). ”I think he and I shared the desire to make sure the jerseys had some sort of connection back to our community as well. Our team colors are white, black, and red. The white represents the Glass City, the black is for the Black Swamp area, and red is for the state of Ohio.” Some of the Toledo-specific details are not obvious to the casual onlooker. “One last nod to the City of Toledo, we included the "Laborare est Orare" from the seal of the City as our jocktag underneath the neckline on the back of the jersey. We have that in our crest, and thought it was fitting. The phrase loosely translates, "To work is to pray", which I think does a great job highlighting the working spirit of the City of Toledo.”

Mercer is just as thrilled with the primary design component on the front of the kit - the sash. “I love jerseys with this design feature, with iconic teams such as Peru's national team, River Plate, Vasco da Gama, etc jumping to mind. People unfamiliar with NW Ohio, will not know that the Maumee River cuts through the area in the same direction, so I thought it was fitting to represent that on our jerseys.”

These kits are a great reminder that having a great design for a kit doesn’t mean you have to be some big-money operation. The cost of design, with the right designer, doesn’t have to dictate the quality of the result. Club Toledo is a club in a regional league, playing well in their level, and now have a kit that reflects a higher standard than a stock kit that so many regional clubs settle for.