Cincinnati Reds City Connect uniforms: A Q&A on the details

When the Cincinnati Reds began designing their new City Connect uniforms, which they’ll wear on the field for the first time this weekend against the New York Yankees, Reds vice president of marketing and communications Ralph Mitchell thought about how the Reds were the only team in MLB with a red and black color scheme.

With the exception of some black drop shadow on the home white uniforms, the Reds were hardly using the color black much anymore. Between 1999 and 2006, the Reds used black as a bigger part of their color scheme. They wore a black cap with a red C on the road, and that hat was so popular with players that the Reds wore it at home as well. At the time, MLB told the Reds that this cap was one of the best-selling hats in all of baseball.

So when the Reds developed their City Connect uniforms, they were confident that the color black would give the hat and the uniform a bold, distinct and popular look.

“The City Connect program is meant to shake things up a bit in a good way,” Mitchell said. “We want to reach new audiences and inspire existing ones. They encouraged us to think differently and make this series unique from the rest of our uniforms.”

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Mitchell participated in a Q&A about the details behind, and the inspiration for, the Reds’ new City Connect uniforms.

Which detail of the uniform was the first one you established during the design process?

We let Nike know early on that we wanted to be looking forward. Cincy was the slam dunk for us. We had many conversations about it. Cincy, for us, was a way forward. It was a reference that people near and far, every time they refer to the city, it’s Cincy. It has a cool factor to it. That was something we decided on first and foremost.

How many different color schemes were you looking at, and how did you land on black?

If you look at our current closet, we have the home white and the road gray. We’ve got two red jerseys already, and that doesn’t even include what MLB and Nike call our limited-use jerseys like our Los Rojos jerseys. If you include that, we already have three red jerseys.

We’re the only club that has the black and red color combination. About a third of the league wears blue and red. We introduced blue into our style a while ago, but we don’t use it on the field. Back in the early days, there was some blue incorporated into the C logo. It was very short-lived. We’re the only team with red and black, so that’s unique.

What does the different, brighter shade of red bring to the jersey?

The accents of red are really important. Especially on a canvas of all black. What Nike asked us to consider was to use the “power of red.” I remember that phrase in an early conversation we had with them. The “power of red” really resonated with us. You don’t need a lot of a particular color for it to be impactful. This red is a more vibrant red. A wise man told me once that if you bold an entire paragraph, then none of it stands out. By bolding only certain words, it accentuates the point more. By putting accents of red in a field of black, it really pops.

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With the C logo that’s on the hat, what was the process of adapting and evolving from the wishbone C that you typically use?

This is something completely new. It’s a modern design that complements the rest of the uniform with those red accents. There’s just a few clubs that have a hat with a C logo. The classic wishbone C goes back decades, and it really hasn’t changed much in its shape and look. We love the modernized wishbone C. Nike captured exactly what we were looking for. We t think it looks really modern and cool.

(Mitchell later added this about the hat: “The new modern design (for the C logo) is the same proportion (width & height) to the existing C logo.”)

The “Juncta Juvant” saying and the Buckeye leaf on the collar, why were those the details you wanted to incorporate on the collar tag?

Both of those appear on the (Cincinnati) city seal and the (Cincinnati) flag. Junta Juvant is a Latin phrase meaning strength in unity. “Together we strive” was another phrase I wrote down. It was definitely inspired by the Cincinnati flag.

Was there any detail left on the cutting room floor that just missed making the jersey?

This was a really long process and an amazing journey. A brand transformation to this scale, there’s been nothing like this in my (25-year) career. There was a lot left on the cutting room floor. I don’t want to get into what we didn’t do. But there were many, many really good conversations. There was a concept share, brand positioning, all the great things that you go through when you endeavor on a brand transformation like this.

This new jersey isn’t filled with a bunch of Easter eggs and a million references. Why was that important to keep the focus on a few of the other details we discussed as opposed to overloading it with a bunch of details?

Nike allows clubs to interpret how they connect to the city in the way that they choose. Some clubs really wanted to do something literal with an iconic physical trait or landmark of the city. Some really leaned into their history. The narrative of late with the City Connect program is about honoring the history. But Nike will allow clubs to celebrate the city connection in ways that they want. For us, it was about culture, community, forward thinking and looking ahead for the city and the team. There are definitely inspirations throughout the uniform that apply to both the city and the team. It’s very much meant to represent both.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds' City Connect jersey: What to know about new uniforms