Despite all the David Beckham gala events, the sad truth is that Miami is about as close to hosting a new MLS team today as the Heat is to contending without LeBron. It might well happen, but you sure can't count on it.
One local fan, though, was tired of all the negativity while Becks and city leaders arm-wrestle over where to put a new soccer stadium. So he put his design talents to use to mock up what our new franchise should look like -- and damned if it hasn't gotten even the most cynical local fútbol fanatic worked up about the new club.
"Since they're having such a hard time right now, I decided to do this so we could talk about something positive," Diego Guevara tells Riptide. "And it completely blew up."
See also: David Beckham Admits to Being "Cheeky," Appears Ready to Compromise on Stadium Site
Guevara, a native of Ecuador who's lived in Miami since he was 16, teaches typography and design part-time at the Miami Ad School and works full-time as a professional designer, including for major athletic clients such as CBS Sports.
But before jumping into a design for the Miami MLS squad, he's never tackled a team identity from top to bottom.
"I've never tried anything like this before," he says. "But I'm from Miami and I've loved soccer my entire life, so it was a project I cared about."
Guevara posted the result on his blog this past Tuesday. At best, he hoped to talk about the process in his ad class and show it to some friends. Instead, his Twitter feed has been inundated with hundreds of retweets and messages from Miami's soccer faithful.
"People from all over the country are tweeting me, saying, 'Let's do this!'" he says. "I did it out of love, to show my students and my friends, and it's taken on a life of its own."
It's easy to see why. The design is thoughtful and starts with a striking crest for the club:
Then he breaks down exactly where both the color scheme and the visual identity came from:
Then, of course, there are the jerseys:
And the full kits:
The full design, along with his reasoning behind the project, is well worth checking out on Guevara's homepage.
You listening, Becks?
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