I'm always super into team branding and I've been so excited by the new opportunities that the custom field designs in DDSPF21 offer, so let's go ahead and jump straight into a tier list ranking of the designs displayed so far!
ISFL
S-Tier: Arizona Outlaws, Yellowknife Wraiths
Arizona's endzones look so clean, they're probably the best ones I've seen so far between both leagues. This is absolutely the best use of a secondary logo I've seen in a while, it works really well in combination with the primary logo on this field. AZ has one of the best looking green turf colors and I love the numbering and stroke used for yard markers.
Yellowknife absolutely takes the cake for grey fields from the three I've seen so far. Endzone is a bit over-designed, but I love how well their field connects with and builds on their branding. I do think it might be better with a more interesting number font, and with the font being black with a blue stroke.
A-Tier: Baltimore Hawks, Philadelphia Liberty
Baltimore didn't do much of anything to tweak the numbers or the turf color, but it's already pretty solid as-is. The center-field logo is well sized and the center and redzone yard lines look clean and cool. I'm a big fan of the use of the Baltimore flag in the endzones, and they picked a good font (very Ravens-esque). Wish they'd used an angular stroke rather than a rounded one though.
Philadelphia similarly chose to stick with the clean simple green turf, though they did customize their number text, which looks great and fits well with their classic endzones, which they've been using forever and I'm a big fan of. Also love that they used their "secondary logo," which is a way better than their primary version.
B-Tier: New Orleans Second Line, Austin Copperheads
Both teams used very straightforward grass designs, though NOLA could really do with turning down the TV static on their turf. NOLA's midfield logo is too big and Austin's looks way too pale and unfocused. NOLA gets points for using a custom number font (whereas AUS used the default option), though ultimately I don't care for the font they used much as the details in them are too small for the size that the numbers are on the field. NOLA did a great job with their right endzone, but I'm not a fan of the script on the left side. Austins endzones are inoffensive. The scale pattern is interesting, but it's a bit too small for the size and the endzone suffers from the same washed-out feel of their center-field.
C-Tier: New York Silverbacks, Colorado Yeti
I love the idea behind NY's field design, but the final product is just too busy. Picking a better number font, downsizing and re-centering the midfield logo, and opting for a turf with an alternating darkness pattern (like AZ's or YK's) would bring this up a lot.
Colorado's field is really well executed, but the design idea and the connection to their brand identity is a total miss for me. They picked a nice shade of grey, but nothing about it connects to the rest of their branding. They picked a great endzone font and I like the overall look, but I the use of the logo for the "C" is another big miss for me. The mountains are probably the best execution of a sublimated design flair, so they get points for that.
D-Tier: Chicago Butchers, Orange County Otters
Chicago is probably getting more points off than they deserve just because I think they have one of the worst brandings in the league. I wish they'd gone for a darker grey and toned down the field texture a bit. The number and endzone fonts are both really bland and uninspired, not to mention the centering on the endzones is all over the place. Also, if you're going to go for a grey field, I feel like you should commit to using black as your primary color on your dots.
I like the idea for going for a vibrant green turf, but it is a bit too neon. OCO picked a bland and unattractive number font and one upped that by making their endzones even more bland and unattractive. I really don't like the helmet on the endzone, especially if you're going to use an out-of-date revo helmet. This gets more points of than it deserves because I designed endzones for them last season that I think are way better and more fitting of the kind of simple and classic aesthetic that they seem to be looking for.
F-Tier: Berlin Fire Salamanders
I'm already not a fan of Berlin's logo whatsoever, and it looks even worse to me blown up to that size and but at 50% opacity. To make it even worse if you aren't a fan of Berlin's logo (or just bad design in general) is that they decided to slap it on the field 7 times. Look to Yellowknife if you want to see a good way to display your home nation's flag rather than slapping it over the whole endzone.
ISFL
S-Tier: Arizona Outlaws, Yellowknife Wraiths
Arizona's endzones look so clean, they're probably the best ones I've seen so far between both leagues. This is absolutely the best use of a secondary logo I've seen in a while, it works really well in combination with the primary logo on this field. AZ has one of the best looking green turf colors and I love the numbering and stroke used for yard markers.
Yellowknife absolutely takes the cake for grey fields from the three I've seen so far. Endzone is a bit over-designed, but I love how well their field connects with and builds on their branding. I do think it might be better with a more interesting number font, and with the font being black with a blue stroke.
A-Tier: Baltimore Hawks, Philadelphia Liberty
Baltimore didn't do much of anything to tweak the numbers or the turf color, but it's already pretty solid as-is. The center-field logo is well sized and the center and redzone yard lines look clean and cool. I'm a big fan of the use of the Baltimore flag in the endzones, and they picked a good font (very Ravens-esque). Wish they'd used an angular stroke rather than a rounded one though.
Philadelphia similarly chose to stick with the clean simple green turf, though they did customize their number text, which looks great and fits well with their classic endzones, which they've been using forever and I'm a big fan of. Also love that they used their "secondary logo," which is a way better than their primary version.
B-Tier: New Orleans Second Line, Austin Copperheads
Both teams used very straightforward grass designs, though NOLA could really do with turning down the TV static on their turf. NOLA's midfield logo is too big and Austin's looks way too pale and unfocused. NOLA gets points for using a custom number font (whereas AUS used the default option), though ultimately I don't care for the font they used much as the details in them are too small for the size that the numbers are on the field. NOLA did a great job with their right endzone, but I'm not a fan of the script on the left side. Austins endzones are inoffensive. The scale pattern is interesting, but it's a bit too small for the size and the endzone suffers from the same washed-out feel of their center-field.
C-Tier: New York Silverbacks, Colorado Yeti
I love the idea behind NY's field design, but the final product is just too busy. Picking a better number font, downsizing and re-centering the midfield logo, and opting for a turf with an alternating darkness pattern (like AZ's or YK's) would bring this up a lot.
Colorado's field is really well executed, but the design idea and the connection to their brand identity is a total miss for me. They picked a nice shade of grey, but nothing about it connects to the rest of their branding. They picked a great endzone font and I like the overall look, but I the use of the logo for the "C" is another big miss for me. The mountains are probably the best execution of a sublimated design flair, so they get points for that.
D-Tier: Chicago Butchers, Orange County Otters
Chicago is probably getting more points off than they deserve just because I think they have one of the worst brandings in the league. I wish they'd gone for a darker grey and toned down the field texture a bit. The number and endzone fonts are both really bland and uninspired, not to mention the centering on the endzones is all over the place. Also, if you're going to go for a grey field, I feel like you should commit to using black as your primary color on your dots.
I like the idea for going for a vibrant green turf, but it is a bit too neon. OCO picked a bland and unattractive number font and one upped that by making their endzones even more bland and unattractive. I really don't like the helmet on the endzone, especially if you're going to use an out-of-date revo helmet. This gets more points of than it deserves because I designed endzones for them last season that I think are way better and more fitting of the kind of simple and classic aesthetic that they seem to be looking for.
F-Tier: Berlin Fire Salamanders
I'm already not a fan of Berlin's logo whatsoever, and it looks even worse to me blown up to that size and but at 50% opacity. To make it even worse if you aren't a fan of Berlin's logo (or just bad design in general) is that they decided to slap it on the field 7 times. Look to Yellowknife if you want to see a good way to display your home nation's flag rather than slapping it over the whole endzone.
![[Image: xzfGZKP.png]](https://i.imgur.com/xzfGZKP.png)
![[Image: qWest.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/qWest.gif)
