Vincent Amoroso
Senior Thesis Spring 2020
Maine College of Art Graphic Design
Copyright Š 2020 Vincent Amoroso All rights reserved by the author. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. All artwork, design, and writing by Vincent Amoroso
A series of uniforms reconnecting modern-day professional sports teams to their blue-collar heritages
PT. 01 PT. 02 PT. 03 PT. 04 PT. 05 PT. 06
An Introduction 01
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards 05
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs 25
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications 57
Behind the Work 81
What Comes Next? 91
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Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Chapter
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PT. 01
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
An Introduction
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AN INTRODUCTION
T
his thesis work embodies many of my design interests, influences, and habits. The work pulls from a shared space between pop culture, street culture, and blue-collar work. Operating around the concept of “industrial athlete” — a nickname given to blue-collar laborers due to the physicality of their profession. With my thesis
work I set out to dissect, explore, and rethink this term “industrial athlete” through the exploration of typography and graphics used on the uniforms of both laborers and professional athletes. Through combining my interests in fashion, apparel graphics, blue-collar labor, and professional sports, I wanted to recontextualize and intersect the uniforms of these two different professions to see how they can effectively mold together into a single form — a uni-form. This thesis work includes the design of five hybrid uniforms and abbreviated identities for five different professional sports teams — the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Detroit Pistons, the Portland Timbers, and the Edmonton Oilers. There is also a sixth uniform and identity created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic — a more durable, performance-ready, and fashion-forward uniform-and-mask design for medical professionals, as well as a “team” badge that brings forward the idea that medical professionals around the world are working together, pursuing victory. All of these uniforms and identities are accompanied with construction-like orange markings and annotations presenting the design and thought process throughout.
PT. 02
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
RESEARCH, IDEATING, & MOODBOARDS
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Prior to this stage, there were a couple weeks of exploration — diving deeper into the different sport franchises and the relationships between professional sports and blue-collar labor.
This same process was followed for every selected team.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
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Oregon Lumber Industry Moodboard
Hand-lettered wordmarks
Hats over helmets Plaid collared shirt
Denim pants
Suspenders and heavy work shirt with asymmetrical buttons
Double breast pockets
Half-button shirt closure
Soccer Moodboard
Vincent Amoroso
Elastic collar with split color around back of neck and single color front League patch on right sleeve with different color sleeve cuff
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
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Custom details in collar Name top of back, center with numbers under name centered and sponsor bottom centered
Knee-height socks with team logo on front and stripes in team colors
Additional league patch on left sleeve
Details, like side stripes, running from top through shorts
Club badge left chest with uniform maker and additional patch right chest
Sponsor center front Fold-over collar, button or elastic closure Team badge on right thigh with uniform maker and number on left thigh
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Pittsburgh Steel Industry Moodboard
Reflective tape around bottom of pants Traditional collared shirt with double breast pockets
Specialized goggles Accent color liner Logo center back
Two-piece uniform Hardhats
Reflective tape around arm
Reflective tape over shoulders Full zip/button closure
Secondary color back panel and reflective tape across upper back and around arms
Football Moodboard
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Team logo side of helmet League badge left thigh and secondary color stripes down side of leg
Number on shoulders
Number on front of helmet with stripe running front to back
Numbers knocked out of circle
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
Patch on left shoulder and elastic cuffs to fit around shoulder pads Numbers center front with team logo on left
Number on upper right chest
Secondary color stripe details on sleeves
V-cut collar with secondary color detailing
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Knee height socks with thigh pads
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Detroit Automotive Industry Moodboard
Custom script word-mark Name patch on right chest and company patch left chest
Heavy long-sleeve collared work-shirt
Traditional short-sleeve coveralls
Traditional button collar shirt
Coveralls with back pockets for gloves and tools Heavy apron for protection
Basketball Moodboard
Vincent Amoroso
Team name center across chest with number centered below
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
League badge top center back with name and number centered below
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
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Tri-color elastic ribbing around neck and arm holes
Team logo bottom front of left leg
Oversized logo front center +stylized type
League badge left chest Stripes running from top through shorts
Team logo on center front of wasteband with uniform maker left thigh and league badge right thigh
Stylized v-neck collar
Uniform maker on right chest and sponsor left chest
Canadian Oil Industry Moodboard
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Graphic center back
Name patch on right chest with company patch left chest and hi-vis stripes over shoulders Hard hat with side logos
Reflective stripe around forearm
Double breast pockets Hi-vis stripes around bottom of pant legs
Diagonal zip side pockets Hi-vis stripes on back
Reflective stripe across chest
Hockey Moodboard
Vincent Amoroso
League badge placed center front on collar with a lace closure below
Tri-color stripes around arms and bottom of body
Helmet with clear visor
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
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Name top center on back (sometimes boxed-in) with number and stripe centered below name
Pads under jersey
Special occasion patch on right chest with team role letter patch on left chest Shorts over leg sleeves, tri-color striped pattern
Number on shoulders Secondary color shoulder detail
Uniform maker on front right thigh
Team logo center front
Glove maker logo on wrist strap
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Milwaukee Brewing Industry Moodboard
Overalls and collared workshirt
Heavy collared workshirt
Full button closure and company patch left chest
Hand-lettered script word-mark Button-latch overalls layered over multiple workshirts
Baseball Moodboard
Vincent Amoroso
Team logo left arm with uniform maker below
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
Team word-mark logo centered across chest (over buttons) and off-center numbers below
Button closure, no collar
Pullover, no buttons
Primary color hat with team logo center front
Team logo left chest
Name centered top on back with number below
Asymmetric number right chest
Tri-color sleeve cuff
Secondary color piping detail down seam of button-closure panel
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Healthcare Industry Moodboard
Identification badge Mask and face shield
Various v-neck collar styles
Double breast pockets with zip closure
Medic badge on right chest and embroidered name on left chest with front zipper closure Badge on left upper arm Coveralls (long and short sleeve) with traditional leg cargo pockets
Traditional button collar
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Prior to their current state, and before annotations, the moodboards had twice as many pictures and even explored associated landscapes, stadiums, and vehicles.
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
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These uniforms would function more like an alternative outfit for special games, rather than as primary home or away uniforms.
It was important to understand all the necessary elements of workwear and what features are needed across different professions.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Research, Ideating, & Moodboards
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PT. 03
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
UNIFORM SKETCHES & FINAL DESIGNS
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This lists the elements of soccer and logging uniforms identified in the moodboards. These pull-outs were used to inform some of the design decisions, such as the pocket styles and the collar form.
Vincent Amoroso
Additional marks were made throughout the revisions, exploring and indicating placements for names, numbers, badges, and other revisions.
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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When implementing this convertible feature, it was important to consider the safety of the user and how to keep the removable pant leg feature quick and simple, while making it safe for slide-tackling.
Portland Timbers Uniform Re-design
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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Flat-lay stomach utility pocket and pouch resembling pockets from overalls. Features two smaller open pouches and a larger zip pocket. Seam taping runs around the pocket and the edges of the pouches Thick reflective synthetic seam taping between panels
Thin-cut button-less collar Reflective seam taping
Reflective seam taping Convertible short option. Heavy-duty plastic zippers run around the lower thigh, where the pant legs can be attached/detached depending on the preference of the wearer
Cargo pocket/double knee fronts with zip closure Adjustable drawstring cuff on pant legs
Work pockets with taped seams and reinforced taped openings for added durability for measuring tapes and other tools that go in-and-out
30 /91 This notes all the features of football and steel-worker uniforms identified in the moodboards. These elements were used to inform some of the design features like the final color palette and the use of reflective and hi-vis material.
Vincent Amoroso Some of the uniforms saw more major revisions than others after the first round of sketches. I wanted the uniforms to maintain both a blue-collar and athletic appearance, while being futuristic, techy, and a creative experiment, and pushed them until I felt they checked those boxes.
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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Pittsburgh Steelers Uniform Re-design
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Large elastic keeps the collar in shape when worn, and provides the proper stretch to pull the top over the head, and fit over pads Reflective pods on back of jersey
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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Unique split-sleeve paneling with taped seams
Unique shoulder paneling that creates a better, tighter fit around the shoulder and shoulder pads
Reflective pods on exterior of forearms and on sides of torso
Thin elastic cuff on sleeves
Standard open upper thigh pockets
Double-layer reinforced trim Cargo pocket with zip closure and taped
Reflective pod on exterior of pants Elastic cuff on pant legs
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These were the notable call-outs from the basketball and automotive-worker moodboards. The heavy aprons worn in the factories inspired the paneling of the redesigned uniform.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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Detroit Pistons Uniform Re-design
Vincent Amoroso
Tri-color thin elastic collar
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
Tri-color paneling at shoulder seam, replicating the elastic collar and cuffs
Half-zip top
Tri-color elastic sleeve cuffs
Hidden cargo pocket with safety orange zip opening Vertical standard open upper thigh pockets
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Tri-color elastic leg cuffs with custom cut-out
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Here is a list of the highlighted call-outs from the hockey and oil-worker moodboards. A lot of elements were recontextualized, given a facelift and reused in the uniform.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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Edmonton Oilers Uniform Re-design
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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Full-zip coverall construction with reinforced collar for additional padding and warmth plus a fabric flap running over the zipper Unique vertical zip-closure breast pockets with rounded corners and taped seams
Secondary color panel on back with reflective seam taping around
Unique zip-closure pockets with rounded corners and taped seams
Reflective taping running over shoulders and under arms, connecting to
Adjustable waist straps providing more customizable fit
Reflective pod on back of upper arm
Standard open upper thigh pockets Traditional open rear pocket with snap closure Reflective tape on back of thighs
Elastics located at knees to keep pants and pads secure
Thin elastic cuffs on sleeves
Adjustable drawstring cuff on pant legs
Unique vertical zip-closure front-thigh cargo pockets with rounded corners and taped seams
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This lists all the uniform details called-out on the baseball and brewery-worker moodboards. Unlike other professions and sports, neither of these uniforms had many defining features. The piping from baseball jerseys, and the beige simple workshirts of the brewery workers, influenced the core of this uniform design and inspired me to experiment with flowing panels.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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Milwaukee Brewers Uniform Re-design
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
Secondary color piping between panels Standard open upper thigh pockets
Slightly elasticized secondary color sleeve cuffs
Adjustable drawstring pant leg cuffs Cargo pockets on exterior of thighs with zip closure and taped seams around
Traditional open rear pockets with secondary color trim
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Feedback and ideas that came from meeting with an external group of peers. Ideas mostly relating to book and exhibition design, and other methods of presentation.
Vincent Amoroso
For a large part of this project I dabbled with the thought of designing equipment (socks, hats, helmets, gloves, pads, etc) alongside the uniforms, but due to time constraints and the necessary safety research required for designing equipment, these features were dropped for the current project.
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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Throughout the thought process and following various feedback, it became evident that the process of distilling, dissecting, and annotating was a great way to highlight and call attention to areas of this project as well as my process.
Following spring break, Coronavirus cut our semester short in many ways. This created many unique design challenges. It became important to consider new ways of creating a book, exhibition space, and final presentation without the studio. But most importantly, this became an opportunity to respond to the current events.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
My way of responding to the Coronavirus was to create an additional uniform for healthcare workers — a uniform designed to be more rugged, comfortable, adjustable, and stylish than current healthcare uniforms
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The design and inclusion of a specialized card pocket for identification cards was explored but ultimately dropped for the final uniform. The traditional method of a badge on a clip was found more effective for quick, easy access.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Designing a special face mask that operated in function with the uniform seemed like an important and inviting design challenge, so I created masks with a pocket to interchange filters and the ability to snap onto, and be removed from, the collar of the uniform top.
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
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World Healthcare Workers Uniform Re-design
Vincent Amoroso
Large elastic to keep collar secure and in shape when being worn, and provides stretch to get over head
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
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Elastics that go around the top of the head to secure the
Reinforced collar with snaps for mask
Adjustable straps and snaps at waist to customize fit of top
Uniform Sketches & Final Designs
Metal nose piece in the mask for additional adjustability, comfort, and proper fit
Standard open breast pocket
Elastics securing the base and snap-on portion of the mask to the portion covering the face Traditional cargo pockets with additional flap and snap closure on lower front of top Snap-adjustable secondary color pant leg cuffs
Traditional cargo pockets with additional flap and snap closure on exterior thigh
Snap-adjustable secondary color sleeve cuffs
Snaps on the mask allowing it to be secured to the collar of the uniform
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PT. 04
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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LOGOS, TYPOGRAPHY & FINAL APPLICATIONS
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Some logos, such as those for the Timbers and Healthcare Workers, went through numerous iterations and refinements to nail down, while other logos, like the Brewers, translated from first sketch to final in only a few steps.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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60 /91 All the logos were designed with single-color use in mind. For decades blue-collar industries and companies have leaned on the use of single-color logos and trademarks. These are often the simplest and cheapest logos to read and reproduce across media (on clothes, vehicles, letterheads, etc.).
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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Some logos were sketched by hand and others were sketched in Adobe Illustrator, depending on where I felt an idea could translate quickly and effectively.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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Portland Timbers Final Logo & Palette
To represent the lumber industry, this logo depicts a wood-cutting axe in a swinging motion with the trailing lines creating a “T” for the Timbers team name.
This color palette pulls from the uniforms of lumber industry workers as well as their environment — the woods.
This color swatch represents reflective material.
Portland Timbers Uniform Details
Vincent Amoroso
Player name (first initial + last name) centered on front
Team badge placed on upper left chest
MLS League badge on left sleeve
Team badge right thigh on utility pocket
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Player number left thigh on utility pocket
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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Typography across the upper back, paying homage to the timber industry that helped establish and define the city
Player number placed center back, centered on the middle panel. The typeface used throughout this uniform is BuenaParkJF, for its heavy line weight and nature-like illustrative serifs
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Pittsburgh Steelers Final Logo & Palette
To represent the steel industry, this logo features an I-Beam with the back end shaped into a “P” for Pittsburgh, and “Steelers” machine-cut across the front.
This color palette reflects various steel worker uniforms that were explored in the research phases of the project.
Pittsburgh Steelers Uniform Details
Vincent Amoroso
Player name (first initial + last name) centered on upper back in hi-vis safety orange
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
NFL league badge in hi-vis safety orange embroidered on elastic collar Team logo placed center front across chest in hi-vis safety orange
Player number centered on back under player name in hi-vis safety orange. The typeface used throughout this uniform is ParalucentStencil, for its monoweight build and industrial qualities
Player number on exterior of shoulders in reflective
Player number placed center front below team logo
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Detroit Pistons Final Logo & Palette
This logo speaks to the automotive industry through a boiled-down simplified form of a car piston with a “P� for Pistons. It utilizes a slight tilt to give it a greater sense of speed or movement than if it were square.
This color palette is drawn from the uniforms of automotive workers with the inclusion of a hi-vis orange for better uniform visibility and a vibrant pop of color.
Detroit Pistons Uniform Details
Player name (first initial + last name) placed on right chest, above player number. The typeface used throughout this uniform is Sail. As a clear script that isn’t overly embellished, it reflects the name patches of workers from that time
NBA league badge on upper left thigh just below wasteband
Vincent Amoroso
Team logo featured on left chest
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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NBA league badge centered on back just below collar
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Edmonton Oilers Final Logo & Palette
To represent the oil industry, this logo transforms an “O� for Oilers into a pipe with a droplet, representing the oil running through the pipes.
This color palette pulls from the various oil industry worker uniforms that were explored during the research phase of the project.
Edmonton Oilers Uniform Details
Vincent Amoroso
Player role indication (captain) if applicable Player number centered on back in panel
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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Player name (first initial + last name) placed on left ribs below team logo with NHL league badge centered below
Team logo placed on left chest, centered on top pocket in “pod”
Player name (first initial + last name) placed on center back below player number. The typeface used throughout this uniform is Erbaum, for its monoweight strokes, industrial aesthetics, and the rectangularity that reflects the “pods” throughout the uniform
Spelled out team name placed on right thigh on pocket at bottom of the “pod”
Player number left thigh on utility pocket at bottom of “pod”
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Milwaukee Brewers Final Logo & Palette
To capture the brewing industry, this logo depicts a “B” for Brewers in a sharp calligraphic style that mimics the world famous Miller Brewery in Milwaukee — one of the founding fathers of nationally distributed beer. The B is embellished with the flowering of wheat, a main ingredient in beer.
This color palette pulls from the uniforms of lumber industry workers as well as their environment — the woods.
Milwaukee Brewers Uniform Details
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
MLB league badge placed center front just under collar Team logo on chest center front.
Player number center front under team logo
Player number center back. The typeface used throughout this uniform is FairyTailJF. The sharp calligraphic features reflect that of the logo and many wordmarks used in the brewing industry
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
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World Healthcare Workers Final Logo & Palette
When creating a logo for healthcare workers, I found it important to include a global element, encompassing healthcare workers of all walks and locations. This logo depicts the line from a heart monitor morphing into a hand holding up a flashing, thriving globe with a cross in the center — a common symbol associated with health.
The various light blues, teals, and whites used throughout healthcare worker uniforms was boiled down into a simple two-color palette.
World Healthcare Workers Uniform Details
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Logos, Typography, & Final Applications
Logo on right chest with nurse’s name centered below. The typeface used for the name is Clicker, for its sans-serif clarity and its geometry and rounded ends that reflect elements of the logo
The Caduceus (the most associated symbol with medicine in the US) featured centered on left chest pocket
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PT. 05
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Behind the Work
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BEHIND THE WORK
F
or me, art and design is the outlet through which I can express and explore the extensive collection of ideas and influences that swim around in my mind. Throughout my personal practice, there are three major points of reference, influence, and interest: pop culture, street culture, and blue-collar labor. My ideal body of work
comes from a space where these three tropes intersect and interact — which occurs more often than one might think. My practice also utilizes and explores many different techniques, materials, methods, and a shift between two-dimensional and three-dimensional — all determined by whichever I feel is the most effective and best-suited processes for a particular project.
My inspirations of pop culture, street culture, and blue-collar labor stem from the developmental stages of
my artistic career. Prior to working as a designer, I was a farmer, gardener, and landscaper for several years. I was also (and still am) a skateboarder, street art enthusiast, and connoisseur of pop culture movements, such as sports, music, fashion, technology, film, and other shifting trends. This is where the combination of my three major interests began to permeate — it was the recontextualization of my interests within my everyday job. I began rethinking my interests in terms of the material I was working with — flowerbed basketball courts, coveralls as sports uniforms, house paint as a street art tool, concrete jewelry, and more. This interaction and transformative thought process continued after work when I would meet up with friends to skate in my work clothes. This is when I began to appreciate the durability and versatility of workwear. I was able to beat up these clothes all day, every day — at work, skating, and wearing them casually. This idea of creating clothing that could fulfill all of my work needs and personal interests became the pinnacle of my three interests interacting. I began sketching clothing that combined these different tropes. I reimagined workwear as everything from skate clothes and run-way fashion to sports uniforms. I designed the opposite as well; casual clothes reinvented as workwear — waxed denim jeans, waxed canvas dresses, and other daily garments redesigned to be waterproof, rugged, and peppered with tool pockets. I also explored ideas of innova-
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tion and invention, beyond just recontextualizing. For example, I designed hybrid shoes with modular outsoles so the wearer could shift between work boots, skate shoes, and trainers without having to remove or unlace the upper.
My exploration and ideation of this concept grew with every design. The more I thought about the shift between
what we view as elements of labor and what we view as elements of popular trends, the more I fell in love with the connections. I expanded my thinking beyond what I knew as blue-collar labor. I started exploring the tools and workwear of carpenters, road workers, concrete pourers, welders, and railroad workers. This opened up more doors towards forms, materials, tools, and environments that could in some way be redefined and remodeled to fit trending fashion, pop culture, and street culture. I began to notice that blue-collar work already had countless overlaps with both popular culture and street culture. Every development built by blue-collar laborers becomes a potential canvas for street art and skateboarding. Then, the pants the carpenters wore could become a fashion statement for skaters, the reflective vests of road workers become a stand-out in the wardrobe of rappers, and the company t-shirt for the concrete business finds new life as a sweet find for thrifters. The local skateparks are set by concrete pourers, along with the basketball courts behind them; and the arenas of popular sports teams and concerts are built by blue-collar workers. Laborers create the vehicles and infrastructure for some of the largest avenues of street and popular culture. But once their physical job is done, their presence remains — hence the trickling effect of the laborer’s clothing. While direct connections can be obvious and void of creativity, there remains untapped potential in the overlap, which is where I try to cultivate and center my ideas. From this exploration of intersections, I’ve developed a few larger, ongoing bodies of work. One of these is “SONOPARK”, an interactive concrete skatepark where movement generates unique music. This combines the labor of ramp building and concrete pouring, the street action of skateboarding, and the ever-popular trends of music production and technologically immersive environments.
Beyond what my work is about, the way I work and the way I interact with my workspace, or “studio,” is probably
a bit different than most artists and designers. When I first began creating, I never had a true studio space. Whether it was a bedroom, a basement, a living room, or a kitchen – at my mom’s house, my dad’s, or any of my friends’ – I was always creating in a minimal, portable, and easy-to-disassemble scenario. After years of this get-in and getout style “studio” set up, my practice is now incredibly mobile, concise, and finely organized. This has allowed me to recreate the same workspace in different settings — from school to my house to the workplace. This helps me successfully carry out the same thought process between locations. Because of this moving workspace, I’ve also learned to become incredibly resourceful and minimalistic. From a quick sketch on an envelope with a randomly found pen, rough notes on my phone, or quick mock-ups on my computer, I’m able to conceptualize and create in any environment and with any material (or lack thereof). While this style of working has its fair share of flaws, the popup studio practice has greatly influenced the way I work.
Vincent Amoroso
Uni-Form: Industrial Athlete
Behind the Work
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From PT. 01: An Introduction
Stemming from the resourcefulness gained from my constantly shifting workspace, I’m also very interested in
the sustainability and repurposing of materials in every medium. Whether or not the final product consists of sustainable materials is decided project-to-project, but my process and practice are always cluttered with found or sourced material. Used, recycled paper for sketching, old cardboard boxes for cutting stencils, recycled magazines and found objects for collages, vinyl records and sleeves as canvases for painting and screen printing, thrifted shirts for screen printing tests and final prints, and found house paints for gestural painting — these are just some of the many sustainable elements of the conceptual and sketching stages of my work. I aim to be as eco-conscious as possible during these early stages of my process to help balance out the potentially environmentally-harmful side effects the final form of my works may have.
My thesis embodies many of my design interests, influences, and habits. The work pulls from the aforemen-
tioned shared space between pop culture, street culture, and blue-collar work. Operating around the concept of “industrial athlete” — a nickname given to blue-collar laborers due to the physicality of their profession. With my thesis work I set out to dissect, explore, and rethink this term “industrial athlete” through the exploration of typography and graphics used on the uniforms of both laborers and professional athletes. Through combining my interests in fashion, apparel graphics, blue-collar labor, and professional sports, I wanted to recontextualize and intersect the uniforms of these two different professions to see how they can effectively mold together into a single form — a uni-form.
This thesis work includes the design of five hybrid uniforms and abbreviated identities for five different pro-
fessional sports teams — the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Detroit Pistons, the Portland Timbers, and the Edmonton Oilers. There is also a sixth uniform and identity created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic — a more durable, performance-ready, and fashion-forward uniform-and-mask design for medical professionals, as well as a “team” badge that brings forward the idea that medical professionals around the world are working together, pursuing victory. All of these uniforms and identities are accompanied with construction-like orange markings and annotations presenting the design and thought process throughout.
In a society where blue-collar professions are seeing “shortfalls in applicant pools,”1 I envisioned that this in-
tersecting work, if brought to a larger scale, could help draw attention and appreciation to blue-collar work and it’s shared history with professional sports. The medium of professional sports and their position in popular culture can be used as a gateway towards drawing greater attention and appreciation to the work of blue-collar laborers. “As the U.S. population has attained more education, the group of working-age individuals with a bachelor’s degree has
1
Kenneth Rapoza, “In 2019, Blue-Collar Workers Disappearing And In Hot Demand,” Forbes. Dec 16, 2018.
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grown, while the number of those without one has shrunk.”2 This can be viewed as the largest reason why blue-collar companies have seen a great decrease in workers and applicants over the past decade. While many of these people are interested in investing in themselves and hope to achieve a certain type of “dream job” — which pursuing a higher education may allow — members of my generation and younger are being ingrained with the idea that blue-collar work is below the rest. As one anonymous student notes: “My 16-year-old brother-in-law is studying business, law and philosophy. My father in-law was driving us home, and as we passed an industrial estate he pointed to the large plants and factories and said “remember, if you don’t work hard, that is where you’ll end up.”3
It’s evident that blue-collar labor, of any kind, is under-appreciated by many, and viewed as “grunt work.” This
idea that blue-collar work is lesser or easier than a job that requires additional years of schooling has polluted the minds of today’s working-age society. There is a push for higher education and jobs with a “higher status” in order to avoid working in a blue-collar profession. Some people that achieve higher management or other white-collar positions — possibly due to further education, or simply luck — tend to look down upon the laborers who have the most important jobs — keeping everything running at the ground level.
Today, as factory automation and job outsourcing rapidly grows, we are starting to see a new increase in the
appreciation and awareness for blue-collar work. In need to combat the changing times, compared to a few years ago, blue-collar workers are now much more likely to have a job they are satisfied with and experience rapid wage growth,4 which attracts more workers to the industry (many trucking companies now pay up to six-figure salaries).5 This thesis work piggybacks on the current rise in blue-collar appreciation by exploring professional sports and their surrounding culture as a medium to raise awareness. Through looking at uniforms, sports teams’ heritages, and the term “industrial athlete,” my thesis draws comparisons and creates connections that bring attention to the fundamental need for blue-collar labor, and the physicality and intensive nature of the work. Founded on blue-collar labor — and with one of the largest followings in the country — professional sports culture acts as the perfect method of delivery in an attempt to gain greater appreciation.
What many people don’t know is that a handful of the first professional sport franchises were built upon
blue-collar work. “A lot of US cities — and, by default, their sports teams — are thought of as, and consider themselves 2
IW Staff, “Blue-Collar Workers are now Scarcer than White-Collar Workers,” Industry Week. Dec 19, 2018.
3
Robert Burton, “Are blue collared jobs underrated?” Quora. Nov 28, 2016.
4
IW Staff, “Blue-Collar Workers are now Scarcer than White-Collar Workers,” Industry Week. Dec 19, 2018.
5
Kenneth Rapoza, “In 2019, Blue-Collar Workers Disappearing And In Hot Demand,” Forbes. Dec 16, 2018.
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to be, “blue-collar.”6 In fact, when the Packers and the Steelers played in Super Bowl XLV, it was referred to as “The Blue-Collar Bowl.”7 While some team names, and even some logos, remain as they did decades ago, the uniforms and connections between teams and their labor-centric conceivings have been split for decades. “The sports world’s blue-collar roots are real enough. The Green Bay Packers got their name from a meatpacking company that originally sponsored the team. The Detroit Pistons got theirs because their first owner ran a piston foundry. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ logo is based on the “Steelmark” originally used by the U.S. Steel factory in Pittsburgh. And before the days of multi-million-dollar contracts, pro athletes routinely worked regular jobs during the off-season—often in blue-collar trades—to make ends meet.”8
Since the shaping of these franchises, the connection between the teams and their heritage has grown fur-
ther and further apart, but recently, teams have begun reconnecting with their roots. In 2015, the Cleveland Browns unveiled a new set of uniforms in which the ‘topstitching’ on the jerseys exemplified Cleveland’s “hard-working, blue-collar demeanor”9 [fig.3]. That same year, the Milwaukee Bucks unveiled new uniforms with a blue stripe inside the collar, which was said to be “representative of the blue-collar work ethic of not only the Bucks, but also of the city and state that the team proudly represents.”10 And in 2017, the Pistons unveiled a new logo with a bolder, blue border that was “representative of the blue-collar work ethic of the city of Detroit.”11 All these efforts were done to “showcase the franchise’s proud heritage.”12 But until recent times, little-to-no connection between sports franchises and their blue-collar foundations had been made.
As a graphic and fashion designer, I question if these moves are bold enough to inform and grab the attention of
everyday sports fans, and everyday people. Does a thin blue stripe on the inside of a performance basketball jersey — an area completely hidden when worn — really call attention to a lineage of hard work? And is a bolder blue outline on a logo really going to start being read as an homage to blue-collar work? I see these attempts of reconnection as falling short of their potential. With my thesis I am taking similar concepts, but pushing them to a whole new realm. To use uniforms as the method of messaging, why is a literal “blue-collar” (or simply a blue stripe) the best that can
6
Kendall Baker, “Blue-Collar vs White-Collar,” Religion of Sports. Aug 20, 2018.
7
Dan McQuade, “The results are in: every single US sports team is blue-collar,” The Guardian. Mar 31, 2015.
8
Paul Lukas, “The Sports World’s Blue-Collar Cosplay,” The New Republic. Jan. 24, 2020.
9 Ibid 10 Ibid 11 Ibid 12
Alex Lasry, Bucks Vice President of Strategy and Operations. Press Conference, 2015.
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be done? Each field of labor — oilmen, miners, steelers, etc — have unique qualities to their uniforms that date back to the time of the inception of many of these teams. While never done before (at least from what my research tells me), the ultimate way of paying homage to blue-collar work through uniform design is to completely rethink and redesign a uniform that could function effectively both in a game and in the factory.
The idea of creating a fully functional hybrid uniform is by no means out of place on a timeline. This idea of
reconnecting sports with manual labor is not something that only sports franchises and their uniform designers (Nike, Adidas, etc.) have been playing around with. Contemporary artists and designers like Eric Emmanuel (of Eric Emmanuel Design) and John Margaritis (of New York Sunshine)fuse their affinity for basketball with artistic ability and artisanal craft,13 to create industrial-geared products.14 Other works, like Ai Weiwei’s “Safety Jackets Zipped the Other Way” explores the idea of using the physical items of blue-collar work as a way to express creativity and structure. This study and combination of workwear and sport simultaneously plays into current art and fashion, while making it franchise-focused helps to illuminate the blue-collar traditions and heritage of the picked teams, and sports as a whole. An appreciation for blue-collar labor and laborers is on the rise in a niche corner of contemporary art and fashion, and the idea of taking it large scale with professional sports could help that appreciation spread from a small in-group to American culture as a whole.
13
Keith Estiler, “A Look Inside John Margaritis’ “BROKEN TIME” Exhibition for Art Basel Miami 2018,” Hypebeast. Dec 10, 2018.
14
Ross Dywer, “New York Sunshine Builds Special Nike Air Force 1 For UNKNWN’s New Wynwood Store,” Hypebeast. Dec 4, 2019.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Baker, Kendall. “Blue-Collar vs White-Collar,” Religion of Sports. Aug 20, 2018. https://www.religionofsports.com/sportuality/blue-collar-vs-white-collar/ Burton, Robert. “Are blue collared jobs underrated?” Quora. Nov 28, 2016. https://www.quora.com/Are-blue-collared-jobs-underrated Dywer, Ross. “New York Sunshine Builds Special Nike Air Force 1 For UNKNWN’s New Wynwood Store,” Hypebeast. Dec 4, 2019. https://hypebeast.com/2019/12/new-york-sunshine-nike-air-force-1-unknwn-release-date-install-team Estiler, Keith. “A Look Inside John Margaritis’ “BROKEN TIME” Exhibition for Art Basel Miami 2018,” Hypebeast. Dec 10, 2018. https://hypebeast.com/2018/12/john-margaritis-new-york-sunshine-broken-time-exhibition-artbasel-2018-miami IW Staff. “Blue-Collar Workers are now Scarcer than White-Collar Workers,” Industry Week. Dec 19, 2018. https://www.industryweek.com/talent/article/22026866/bluecollar-workers-are-now-scarcer-than-whitecollar-workers Lukas, Paul. “The Sports World’s Blue-Collar Cosplay,” The New Republic. Jan. 24, 2020. https://newrepublic.com/article/156304/sports-teams-blue-collar-rhetoric-football-basketballworking-class-values Lasry, Alex. Bucks Vice President of Strategy and Operations. Press Conference, 2015. https://www.nba.com/bucks/release/bucks-unveil-new-home-and-road-uniforms/ McQuade, Dan. “The results are in: every single US sports team is blue-collar,” The Guardian. Mar 31, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/mar/31/the-results-are-in-every-single-ussports-team-is-blue-collar Rapoza, Kenneth. “In 2019, Blue-Collar Workers Disappearing And In Hot Demand,” Forbes. Dec 16, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2018/12/16/in-2019-blue-collar-workers-disappearing-and-in-hot-demand/#306cd316441b
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WHAT COMES NEXT?
W
hile this project thoroughly explores and explains the many features of the redesigned uniforms and logos, there is still a lot missing to make this project complete. To take this project further, and closer to a collection of reproducible products, material and textile studies would be done to ensure the com-
fort, durability, and mobility of the uniforms when worn. Understanding and identifying which materials to use in the construction of the uniforms will also affect color use, process of assemblage, and assemblage cost. Following an analysis of material and construction, the uniforms would be ready for prototyping and multiple phases of wear-testing — bringing the uniform to a final stage that guarantees the wearer will be able to successfully perform in it, and that the uniform will uphold during competition. Once the uniforms reach a final performance-ready stage, they will be rolled out to the public alongside a series of advertisements and lookbooks featuring photographs and a short film of the uniforms being worn by both the professional athletes during play, and by blue-collar workers on the job. These uniforms would then function as alternative, special-night game uniforms worn by the teams during a regulation match, during which special merchandise with the alternative logos would be distributed and sold. After successfully implementing these uniforms into the locker rooms of the professional sports franchises, then this project will be complete.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, Portland Maine, May 11, 2020 Major in Graphic Design. All artwork, design, and writing by Vincent Amoroso. All uniforms were hand painted with acrylic paint. All photographs are not mine, unknown photographers. Composed in URW DIN SemiCond Copyright Š 2020 Vincent Amoroso