Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals’ history began in 1968 as the 10th member of the American Football League. Their first uniforms were rather similar to the cross-state Browns with orange helmets, sleeve stripes, and white jersey numerals and pants. The orange helmets simply stated BENGALS in a condensed san serif black type with a white outline. The wordmark helmets and minimal striped jerseys would last through the 1980 season. The following year, the Bengals would unveil a radical new uniform with tiger-striping on the helmets, shoulders, and pants. These uniforms would see slight modifications in 1997 when the tiger-striping was simplified for a bolder appearance and the TV numbers were moved up to the shoulders to accommodate a leaping tiger patch on each sleeve. In 2003, the team would wear black pants for the first time with their black jerseys, foreshadowing to another redesign the following season. The 2004 redesign was just as radical as its 1981 counterpart, replacing the tiger-striped shoulder stripes with tiger-striped sleeve caps and white side panels on the jerseys. The number font switched from block numbers with an outline to a condensed sans serif with a 3-D effect. In addition, the pant striping was tweaked to be more angular with a white section at the hip to blend into the jerseys’ side panels. In addition to the black and white home and away jerseys, an orange alternate was added. All three jerseys paired with white or black pants. My Bengals redesign seeks to evolve the team’s brand with a new charging tiger head logo placed below a sharp serifed typeface to create the team signature. The new tiger head logo also functions without the team name as the primary icon while an alternate tiger-eye crest, a striped-C, and the throwback helmet logo complete the logo set. The revised helmet sublimates the tiger stripes and places the tiger head logo on each side. The primary home jersey is now orange with white type to separate the Bengals from the orange helmets and dark jerseys of their neighbors to the north. Black collars, shoulder stripes, and sleeve caps with orange numbers complement the heavy use of orange on the jerseys. The white away jerseys feature the same black accents along the collar and sleeves along with orange numbers. The alternate jerseys are black with orange accents and type. The home, away, and alternate jerseys all pair with black or white pants. The throwbacks recall the Bengals’ two Super Bowl appearances with the classic 1981 tiger-striping on the shoulders and pants alongside the tiger-striped helmets.