Smitty: I have to say, THANK GOD someone came up with something creative! This is the first design idea I can get on board with! Myself along with my old college roomie and UNT alum's. He's works as an Art director, and I work in Architecture, each of both graduated from School of Fine Arts. I cant tell you how many times each of us have cringed at the past helmet designs for UNT. We continually discuss coming up with thumbnails, sketches and the like, and see if we can somehow get them to University to consider. I say Kudos to this design Smitty, dont let this be a fantasy. YOU BURY everyone in the Athletic department's email with these! I'm going to get on my soapbox here for insignia design for all those read and understand. To ME, this is EXTREMELY important. I think alot of people in the UNT family dont care for past designs, but can never seems to answer WHY they dont care for it. I think the reason is this. To me the previous designs have absolutely nothing "collegiate" about them. I was literally fit to be tied with UNT came out with the version that had "North Texas" in "brush script" font. Seriously, it PISSED me off. I read an article in the paper as to WHY they chose this design. It was stated by someone at UNT that they wanted something to clearly identify the team, very easily. Basically, it's almost as if someone thought to themselves "how could this team be recognized if you happened to turn the channel on TV to a game with UNT playing?" So they came up with this theory that if we make the helmet as a billboard, that would solve the problem. To make matters worse, BRUSH SCRIPT FONT?????????? The last time I saw that font was on T-shirt in the 1970's and it said "Im with stupid" or "Who Farted?" In short, I thought that design of helment was embarressing, at best. The entire concept and theory behind it was ridiculous. The only improvement they attempted to make was the fonts. A small improvement, but very little. As for those fans that really want UNT to be recognized (and Im totally with you) you have to realize one main theory. CONSISTANCY. IF anyone at the unversity is reading this, listen up. A good design is key, but it will be the performance of the football program that GETS the insignia recognized over time. And any thing kept consistant over time will become "tradition" the very foundation college football thrives on. Let me give you a good example. Take a team like the Michagan Wolverinces. If you were to quiz college football fans and show them Michigan's helmet design, they would immediately recognize it. EVERYONE knows that helmet. And yet, if you asked they what is the history behind that design, I would wager that less than 10% would know the answer. (FYI, in case anyone is wondering, it dates back to the days of the old leather helmets. The individual pieces of leather had to be cut in odd shapes to allow the helmet to be round, much like a basketball. The players simply painted some of those leather pieces to create that design that still lives today). All they know is, "University of Michagan, damn good football teams for years". Are there any words on the Michigans helmet? No. Does there need to be UNT or North Texas on our helmets? Certainly not... Not saying it's a no no, just stating if you want your football team to be recognized, the first thing is have a good football team. The insignia should be consistant and will take care of itself if the team wins. Smitty, thanks again for the work you put into those, very nice job. I apologize for using your post to shout at UNT about previous designs, but I've wanted to say something for a very long time. Its good to know someone has a good eye out there. One Insignia, One Color, No Billboards, period...
