Minnesota Stars FC launched its 2012 home and away kits, produced by Admiral, at the well-attended Shine On event at Brit’s Pub Thursday night. Using the phrase “Everywhere we go, Dark Clouds follow,” the Stars 2012 away kits feature one of the most unique touches in the world.

Home

The event, attended by fans, league officials and VIP sponsors and emceed by Fox 9 chief meteorologist Ian Leonard, featured a screening of Episode 3 of the on-going “Shine On” documentary produced by local production company Brave New Media followed by the unveiling of the team’s uniforms for the upcoming season.

Stars defender, assistant coach and director of business development Kevin Friedland was instrumental in the design of both the home and away kits and sought to improve upon the team’s 2011 kit, which outsold the several previous seasons’ jerseys combined. To do so, Friedland took two custom-designed Admiral uniforms and added imagery to them to appeal to the team’s supporters.

The home kit builds upon the navy and gold motif the team launched in 2011 and adds light blue piping to reflect the changes in the team’s logo. Among its highlights, he kit features a woven Stars crest, an NASL Soccer Bowl champions badge, the scripted Minnesota state motto, “L’Etoile du Nord,” and—of course—a Nessie design on the bottom right of the front. The back of the jersey also features custom-cut numbering and lettering.

Away

The show stealer, however, was the team’s away kit, which uses navy, yellow and sky blue to accent a silver body. The away kit swaps the Nessie for the Dark Clouds logo and the scripted state motto for the text “Everywhere we go…Dark Clouds follow.” For 2012, the team will carry its fans on the road with it, but the tribute to the loyal supporters’ group doesn’t stop there. Every customized digit in the numbers features imagery from the team’s playoff run in 2011. Each digit uses a different crowd photograph within a thick navy stroke to show off and celebrate the best fans in the NASL.