The conservative columnist George Will once said football combines the two worst things about America: violence punctuated by committee meetings. As a designer who occasionally gets caught up in the fury of the game, I’d like to add graphic design to what’s wrong with football.

With the help of Skycam I spend as much time enjoying the color, patterns and graphics that add to the spectacle of the sport, as I do enjoying a deftly-completed pass. Now that the Yankees have won the World Series and the season shifts from batting balls to banging heads, I’ve been musing about NFL helmet design. For inspiration (and some truly bizarre helmet design), I visited the Art of the

Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in

New York. Created centuries ago, these designs (left) are more about shock and

awe than waging battle but are truly extraordinary.

Today’s high-tech helmet with its wireless headset and polycarbonate visor has come a long way from the padded leather ones of yesterday. It not only serves its essential protective function but is also a gleaming sign for a team’s brand. Yet in many cases the graphics are blunt and formulaic, usually involving slapping the team’s primary logo on both sides of the helmet.

This bilateral approach is sometimes successful for teams such as the Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles. Horns and wings usually come in twos making these symmetrical designs feel natural.

The Dallas Cowboys’ blue star on a silver field is crisp and a clear reference to the Lone Star state. As for simplicity, I guess the Cleveland Browns score highest. They use no logo at all but why do the Browns have orange helmets?