A new look for...Derby Braves

It started with a throwaway comment in DC Towers, evolved into a fully blown argument, and ended with this - three teams, two re-designs, one winner.

Double Coverage writers Tom Snee and Thomas Piachaud attempt to take on re-designing the kits of the three teams - selected by you, the reader, on our Facebook page - most in need of a new look.

The rules are simple; each writer submits a kit design for each team, which has to be sympathetic to either the team's current colour palette or that of the team's university/athletic union. Other than that, it's pretty much a free for all.

The writers each submit their ideas along with a description of the "creative process", and a Facebook poll will decide the winning design.

First up, the Derby Braves.

Tom Snee

"Florida 2.0"

As the blowout, run-away winners of our poll, our dear readers believe Derby Braves are in serious need of a makeover. Orange and blue can be a sickly combination, but can be done tastefully  as hopefully I shall demonstrate (Ed: sure...).

First of all, the good news; Derby's helmets - white with an orange-over-blue stripe and a strong decal - are up there with the best in the league. I'll keep them as they are.

The rest however...not so much. My initial thought was to go down a similar angle to the Chicago Bears alternate jersey. The orange colouring and handsome typeface of the numbers sit well on the deep navy shirt, but the problem with Derby is that their AU's shade of blue is infinitely more garish.

Cruising through the comments on the poll, it seems Derby's own players prefer the Braves' white alternate jersey, and so I came to the design below, which has a real Florida Gators feel to it (Ed: You mean it copies the Florida Gators...).

As well as being practical (fewer clashes, 3G homefield meaning less mud), the jersey keeps some of the elements of the Bears alternate - sleeve stripes and traditional typeface - while adding some of Derby's favoured blue. The look is completed by the Braves' logo and that of Team Derby, with the university logo on the hip/upper thigh.

Derby's AU apparently have a rule that the team's jersey must be 70% orange, so the white look may have to be classed as the away shirt, but I still think it's a solid concept.

Thomas Piachaud

"All-Blue"

Let's face it, Derby's kit is kind of like stabbing yourself in the eye with a blunt chistle while someone hammers it in further. To be fair, their away kit isn't all that bad, but the home kit is still wretch worthy. I recall reading somewhere that someone mentioned they had to have a 70% orange kit by ruling from their AU, which if true, is a shame. 

As you can see from the design I went for a more blue feel, with orange only really being acceptable as a accent colour (yes Denver Broncos, I'm looking at you). I thought the rings on the arms give it somewhat of a Chicago Bear navy blue/luminous orange feel, with the numbers in orange with a white outline making them standout a little more.

Helmet-wise you could go the whole hog and go with a blue helmet, but you'll never get the same shades all the way through the club and has a chance it might go horribly wrong (I know this is a fantasy design but lets be realistic).

For the away kit, keep it simple,white, with blue and orange accents. You could go with white pants on either kit, but we all know how difficult those are to keep clean! I find it funny that the next kit we are asked to redesign is Huddersfield who also have the blue/orange combo, although those black lids.... really?