New Banner Designs at Crisler by Me (Feedback appreciated)

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

With Michigan just winning the B1G Championship, it brought to my mind of a project I was working on earlier in the year. I emailed Dave Brandon my new banner designs with me making points of why the banners at Crisler should be updated to fit in and have a fresh look with the new arena.

First off, with the University showing a commitment to Basketball with the beautiful new Crisler Center, the banners commemorating Michigan's championship teams should be freshened up. Dave Brandon is putting much emphasis on the Block M, so the current Block M should replace the current older-looking one that is on each banner at Crisler.

B1G Championship Banners:  The new banners I have made include the current B1G logo replacing the banners with the previous logo that had the hidden 11 in it. It would make more sense for Michigan to raise a conference championship banner with the actual logo of the conference on it. The year on the banners feature the the full season instead of just the end year. For example: 1986 Big Ten Champions is replaced with 1985-86 Big Ten Champions. It gives more clarity and gives it a more complete look.

NCAA National Championship Banner: The banner I designed features the current NCAA logo in Maize and Blue, replacing the former NCAA logo.

NCAA Final Four Banners: Like the NCAA Championship banner, the banners feature the current logo of the NCAA replacing the old one.

NIT Champions Banners: I took the actual NIT lettering from the NIT logo and put it in Maize and Blue replacing the NIT lettering in generic font.

Elite Eight Banners: Michigan does not display any Elite Eight banners up in Crisler, therefore this is just to see how people feel about it. An Elite Eight appearance is nothing to look down upon since you are one of the Top-8 teams that season. I know what you're thinking but only the 1992 Final Four was vacated from the 1991-92 season, so the 1992 Elite Eight did still happened according to the NCAA.

Sweet Sixteen Banner: This may be a little too far, even I am not too crazy about this one but I am just putting this up to get some feedback. Instead of having multiple banners for the Sweet Sixteen appearances, I took a page out of the large banners at Yost with the Frozen Four years on them. The 1992 Sweet Sixteen appearance still exists officially.

Vacated Banners: This is a longshot but if Jalen Rose's wishes are fulfilled in restoring the banners taken down in 2002, here is what they would look like. I'm not going to comment on these.

Honored 5: People don't realize that not all of the banners honoring players at Crisler are retired. In fact, #33 is the only one that is retired. Colton currently wears #45 and McClimans wears #22. Modeled the number banners to resemble the current jerseys the team wears with the block M at the top just like the jerseys. Cazzie's banner is white to signify that his number is the only one retired of the Honored 5. I would have put his number on a Maize banner, but the Maize uniforms weren't around when he played.

Feedback appreciated!

 

dahblue

March 5th, 2012 at 5:55 PM ^

Gotta tell ya...I expected some Ed Hardy-ized garbage (nothing personal...more so as I recall some of the "new uniform ideas" I've seen here), but these are all very nice and clean.  Well done.

Butterfield

March 5th, 2012 at 5:58 PM ^

No need to redesign anything IMO.  It's nice that each of the existing banners is reflective of the era in which they were originally won.  To me, "standardizing" the banners would be akin to wrapping the Law Quad with the facade of Ross School of Business.  Both buildings are absolutely beautiful and represent different eras at the University. 

justingoblue

March 5th, 2012 at 6:14 PM ^

but I agree with you. I meant I knew that wasn't the logo in '21, and asked if the banners had been redone recently at Crisler to reflect older logos. As in, does that photo still accurately reflect the design of the banners in Crisler?

Now that I read my post again, I wasn't clear enough. This ^^ was what I was going for, though.

Butterfield

March 5th, 2012 at 6:07 PM ^

Upon further thought, you are probably right.  If so, and if new banners will be designed, I'd like to see each banner reflect the era in which it was won, with the logos of Michigan, the B1G, and the NCAA each being the ones used at the time.  Just my two cents, I know a lot of people like a streamlined, standardized look.   

justingoblue

March 5th, 2012 at 6:13 PM ^

First, I think you're correct about what they'll do with regards to logo design. I also agree that two years looks much better than one. The graphics look good and I'm glad we get this type of content here.

My preference would be to go with the logo of the era, even as far back as 1921. It would be really cool to see that, just as a reference to the era in which the team competed and won. I can't speak to whether the Big Ten had a logo in 1921 (especially since the conference was technically known as the Conference of Faculty Representatives, and they probably took that seriously back in those days [as opposed to say, the 1970's]), though, so it's just an idea.

NYWolverine

March 5th, 2012 at 6:07 PM ^

Cool to see a more quantitative look at Michigan's tourney runs including Elite 8 and Sweet 16 appearances. Do any schools commemorate Elite 8 and Sweet 16 runs? I'm not in favor of giving out ribbons just because we participated. Banners are for champions.

Which is to say, for those who stay.

M Fanfare

March 5th, 2012 at 6:08 PM ^

While you're working on the "Honored 5" I should point out that Cazzie Russell's #33 is the only retired one of the five, so maybe have some way to make that one stand out?

I like the others, but I've noticed at  that when the B1G logo is displayed in a particular school's colors, they hollow out the B to make it stand out from the 1G (a few Big Ten schools have the logo on their uniforms, if you'd like to see examples). Just something to keep in mind.

Wolverine Devotee

March 5th, 2012 at 6:12 PM ^

I was thinking about keeping the four honored as white banners but refurbished. I'm considering putting Cazzie's as a Maize banner to really stand out. The only problem is, the Maize jerseys weren't around back then. Maybe I'll make his Blue.

Waveman

March 5th, 2012 at 6:13 PM ^

Standardizing with the current logo looks good, and the OP's versions are clean and sharp.  I LOVE the idea of having the logos from the respective time period, but I would guess we have banners that pre-date official conference or tournament logos. 

In either case, it's ridiculous to have banners from 1921 with the 2010 Big Ten logo. Either go current or go historical.

Sambojangles

March 5th, 2012 at 6:15 PM ^

Damn it, I think we should get a banner for the Final Four in '92. No, we *officially* didn't play, but we qualified, and that should count for something.

manchild56

March 5th, 2012 at 6:20 PM ^

does Duke, UNC, or Kansas put banners up for Sweet Sixteen, or Elite Eight? If they do then we should also. But if they don't then I would think we should follow their lead.

readyourguard

March 5th, 2012 at 7:32 PM ^

The Sweet 16 banners remind me of the banners hanging in the Glick Fieldhouse, commemorating the Big 10 football titles. Are your designs modeled after them?

Mr. Yost

March 5th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^

Don't you only get banners for the furthest game you reach in the tournament?

I don't mind getting Tournament Appearance banners, round of 32 banners, Sweet 16 banners, etc. However, it should represent the last game that was played. If you go to the Final Four, you shouldn't have a banner for every game leading up to it.

maiznbob

March 5th, 2012 at 8:13 PM ^

their all good except I'm not excited about the squashed block M. Brandon's a logo mentality. He should like most of the work you've done.

Picktown GoBlue

March 6th, 2012 at 2:01 AM ^

would be to be much more precise with the centering (for example, the M on the NIT banner was about 64 pixels from left and 80 from the right).  Don't wanna look like Staee....

I'd skip the Elite 8 and Sweet 16 and give up on the vacated banners.  I like the ideas of the logos from the time when they were won, but having consistent banners is also nice.  My preference, though is having a different kind of "Fab 5" (or more) to celebrate...

Div III North Park, Indiana, Div II Evansville, Kansas all with 5 (Kansas includes 2 from pre-tourney days, so keeps "NCAA" off of all of them)

UNC takes the Final Four logos from the winning years, which is interesting.  5 from tourney years, 1 from earlier.

Kentucky is pretty basic for their 7 NC's, plus Final Four appearances, for what is shown in Rupp Arena, along the lines of the OP's proposal.

Div II Kentucky Wesleyan has 8 NC's, but not sure if they have any banners hanging in their gym.

(x 11)

And Granddaddy of them all is UCLA with 11.  They don't do any banners other than NC's.