Helmet of Diamond Jungle Heat

The Dodgers revealed brand-new batting helmets with their house opener yesterday. The matte finish is nothing new, obviously (the complete N.L. west has gone matte), but the “LA” logos from the helmets are worth a closer look. They’re increased off of the helmet layer, and had been created by a 3D printer. The slideshow above provides a great sense of just how it seemed.

I experienced a special on this story — you may get the fundamentals in this ESPN piece, that was published just like yesterday’s Dodgers/D-backs game got begun. For those who haven’t see clearly currently, We strongly recommend starting indeed there prior to going any more or commenting.

Below are a few details I didn’t use in the ESPN piece:

• To my shock, Dodgers gear manager Mitch Poole said he promises to possess team’s catchers use the raised logos on the getting helmets. That seems like seeking difficulty, because the horizontal band of a catcher’s mask will constantly be massaging contrary to the raised logo design. At the least, it’ll get dirty; at worst, it’ll come loose. Then utilize an appartment decal for catchers (or no logo whatsoever)? But Poole said he would like to try it with the raised logo design. I believe which will end poorly, though it appeared to last good yesterday:

• Poole stated one of his biggest problems with teams making use of matte helmets is they’re still utilizing their old shiny logo design decals, generating just what he views as a matte/glossy dispute. The Dodgers’ manager of graphic design, Ross Yoshida, explained he seems exactly the same way. So among their huge priorities with this specific task was to ensure that the finish associated with raised logos matches the matte finish for the brand-new helmets.

• At one-point the Dodgers had been considering utilising the matte helmets aided by the 3D logos yourself, and sticking with the shiny helmets and standard logo decals on the road. In the end, though, they decided to use one collection of helmets.

• As we’ve talked about prior to, the Dodgers actually have three distinct “LA” logos — the main one on the limit (which has soft, notably rounded serifs), usually the one within the MLB design Guide (with crisp slab serifs), and one to their helmet (which is wider as compared to one out of the Style Guide). The Dodgers considered with the cap version, with its gentler sides, for brand new raised helmet logo. Ultimately, though, they stuck using helmet version. So the new mark is a 3D type of what they’ve been using on the helmets for pretty much half a hundred years.

• My story talked about that the raised logos on football nose bumpers are made from plastic and cast from molds, as the Dodgers are utilising synthetic logos produced on a 3D printer. Some additional background on that: The Dodgers considered going with rubberized, but cutting a steel mildew turned into fairly expensive. If synthetic logos look good and are usually well-received, the team may spring for a mold and go with rubber logos in the future. But for now they’ll stick to the 3D-printed plastic since it’s less costly. (it might seem, as I performed, that a business such as the l . a . Dodgers wouldn’t have trouble spending a couple of extra thousand dollars on a project such as this. But because it had been explained to me personally, “We all have actually our budgets to remain within, ” and therefore was that.)

• professional Helmet Decals, the vendor that supplied the raised logos, is the identical company that supplies the Mets’ raised tangerine helmet squatchees. The company’s owner, David Sulecki, in the beginning thought the exact same process used to make the small tangerine domes could also be regularly create the Dodgers’ lifted lettering, but he ran into two problems: (1) That process just permits a glossy finish, maybe not the matte finish that the Dodgers wanted. (2) The “LA” wouldn’t have projected aside far enough to provide a beneficial three-dimensional result. So he scrapped that idea.