Hoops

It's time to talk about the 36ers brand

The away uniforms might be the worst the league's seen since...actually, probably only Sydney's new one this year. Never mind.

So hardly any advantage for being a member at all.

Those Wildcats ones are very average. I don't think the increased visibility reflects well on the sponsors - makes them look awkward. All are too big. The alcohol one is the best of the lot though - as a stroke instead of boxed, it would look busier since the shape would be more complicated.

Apparel sponsor smaller. NBL logo small on one side, another sponsor equivalent side on the other. Maybe primary front sponsor under the team/city name rather than above.

ECU logo on the Cats uniform is huge and way too busy. Surely they have a version of that logo without Australia and University?

Ricky is correct,

Some sponsors expect their reverse / mono logos to be used, others stipulate the white bumper sticker look.

Not having them on retail would be great, but removing them would mean a reduction in how much the sponsors pay.

If it's a good looking uniform, i'd love teams to stick with uniforms for more than one season to create a bit of history and familiarity, but whilst fans keep buying the new look each year i cant see teams not changing.

Ricky, just a 36ers uniform suggestion. Sorry to confuse you. I'll try and work it all out tomorrow. Thank you though.

Hi Ricky, really appreciate your response but i'm not quite sure i follow what you mean sorry.

I'm actually trying to put forward this design on behalf of someone else who isn't a hoops regular. Just for anyone who's open to new suggestions.

The Wildcats away jerseys used to be good; they'd just have the sponsor logo on a white background and it worked. Then for no reason whatsoever they added a black rectangle around it. They've since gone to black, which fixes the issue, but it was a bizarre decision.

That's not what's actually suggested in the bullet point from which that quote was taken, however.

That's a false dichotomy. There are ways to accommodate advertising on jerseys without them being excessive.

A few of my mates who are very casual Sixers fans all say they would love a Randle jersey but they don't want to wear a bumper sticker on their chest as well.

My fellow Hoops friends, how do we go about uploading images ? I have a design i'd like to share.

Guys email your ideas to the 36ers:

admin@adelaide36ers.com

A cosmetic item? Funny then that NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, EPL, AFL clubs are constantly (pretty much yearly) trying to tweak and fix and update their logos and uniforms.

This is all related. If you can't see why the NBL is looked down upon for many reasons, including this "cosmetic" one, then you don't know what you're talking about.

These are some things that I think would make the jerseys not only look better but also sell more.

1. Make them very SA centric without ripping off the Crows.
Keeping the royal blue is a must as is the white numbers but a sharp red and yellow stripe down the side of the jersey would look great and very recognizable to SA people.

2. Don't sell the jersey with sponsors on it.
This has been a major reason why I haven't bought a jersey in the past few years. A few of my mates who are very casual Sixers fans all say they would love a Randle jersey but they don't want to wear a bumper sticker on their chest as well.

3. Keep the same jersey for 3-4 seasons.
Another reason why not many buy NBL jerseys is that they change every year. Meaning they're only 'cool' for that season. A lot more people would make the commitment to buy a jersey if they knew it wouldn't be outdated in 12 months.

Keeping name players around e.g Randle, Ervin would be a great step in selling merchandise by keeping recognisable names associated with the 36ers.

36ers stink.

Mosquito fleet for 2017 is a lock.

I figured it was just common knowledge the 36ers uniforms and logos were painfully boring.

Project Thirty Four needs to be employed by the NBL as a whole. Some of his designs used by some state league sides (in various states), his NBL rebranding versions and even his NBA rebranding versions are all really good or in most cases, great.

Why he hasn't been at least talked to and asked to submit designs, I truly don't understand.

PLayers are taking all the money not enough left in the tank to rebrand.

@tom Love that logo!

You're not being dramatic at all. The 36ers really need to repackage their whole branding including jerseys. The current logo is of high school media class quality and this is the first thing that needs to be changed.

Ricky, that guy should definitely be contacted by the club. Fans with that kind of talent shouldn't be wasted. My profile pic on here is his version if the 36ers logo :)

1. Am I being dramatic or is this a legitimate point?

It's a legitimate point. The logo and uniforms have to be appealing and they haven't been for the past 10 years at least. Thankfully I have been advised that the uniforms the team wore in Darwin will not be the official uniforms and the same is true for the uniforms we've seen thus far in Brisbane.

As for logo, scrap it. It is ugly as shit.


2. Do you believe Adelaide will persist with the current design for the medium term?

They probably will persist with the current logo. I think if there were another one we would have seen it by now.


3. Do you think the logo/front/branding should be changed asap?

Yes. The uniforms are set to be updated but I think we will have to keep seeing that second-rate logo.


4. What kind of alternate design would you prefer?

Anything

5. Do we look at an ode to the past if we did re-design?

Yes

6. What should the 36ers keep in mind if they do attempt a re-brand?

Simplicity is key but actually put money into a decent designer.

No, I agree that it's really poor. The graphics and merchandise just end up looking cheap, and all the social media images follow suit. I think they should at least experiment with demoting one of either red or yellow to simplify things. And stop acting like there is zero marketing strategy and it's all completely reactive.

The sport and club are competing against heavyweight alternatives who have much more polished branding and I can only imagine how undecided prospective fans react to something looking much less professional than what they see from AFL, Big Bash, etc.

I've said many times that I think LK's design arm have done a great job with the NBL improvements and presumably they also handle Melbourne and Brisbane. I'd at least be seeing how they could help. If they're too expensive, there are loads of local graphic designers who wouldn't stand for what's being put out now.

Came across this interesting article the other day about how US pro sports teams are increasingly using mobile technology to reach fans: linky.

(Love the anecdote about 'Student Flush' at the end)

Yes, there's a difference in size/scale of there compared to here, but how much of this could the Sixers/NBL borrow from?