Laurel Wreath in Vector Format??

 
Trent
 
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Trent
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19 December 2006 23:43
 

Does anyone have a nice looking, wide laurel wreath charge in vector format?

I recently purchased the AG clipart, but the laurel wreath in that package is too small on the inside.  I want to put an open book inside the wreath and I have to shrink the AG book down to a size that is not appealing to fit it in the AG wreath.  Also the book charge in the AG art is not symmetrical.  If anyone has a symmetical open book charge, that would be appreciated as well.

 

I have to say that I’m very disappointed in the quality of the depiction of the animals in the AG package.  Does anyone else feel the same way?  I like the way the animals are drawn on that free heraldic clipart site, the one with about 3,000 charges.  I guess I’ll use those.

 
Linusboarder
 
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Linusboarder
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20 December 2006 00:10
 

there’s another good site out there, not as much stuff, but decent quality art.

Here

 

And Here

 
Trent
 
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Trent
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20 December 2006 00:26
 

I got into heraldry in October/November when I started trying to make a logo for my school’s chess club.  Attached is one of the early drafts.  I still can’t figure out how to get the image from my drive straight into the text window of my posts.

Would you guys take a look at the arms and give me some feedback?  I have another version that has a griffin’s head erased facing sinister, but it is too large to attach right now.  I’ve been working in Illustrator on the Mac and saving the files as .eps.  For some reason they are really huge.  300+ KB.

 
loaba
 
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loaba
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20 December 2006 00:34
 

Very useful sites, Collin.

 
Patrick Williams
 
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Patrick Williams
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20 December 2006 08:00
 

Trent wrote:

I got into heraldry in October/November when I started trying to make a logo for my school’s chess club.  Attached is one of the early drafts.  I still can’t figure out how to get the image from my drive straight into the text window of my posts.

Would you guys take a look at the arms and give me some feedback?  I have another version that has a griffin’s head erased facing sinister, but it is too large to attach right now.  I’ve been working in Illustrator on the Mac and saving the files as .eps.  For some reason they are really huge.  300+ KB.

 


Trent, that’s because you cannot post directly from your hard drive to this message board. You first have to post up to photobucket or the like and then from there to here.

 
Linusboarder
 
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20 December 2006 11:54
 

Obviously i like the Cheque, for two reason’s smile. I am not a fan of the book, because I more naturally associate it with a university/college (when you say school, HS? College?), I might go with something a little more iconic to chess, like a king or a knight.

This thread Would be a really good one to draw inspiration from, IMO. Our Prez, designed a CoA for his poker group.

 

I would also reference your school somehow in there. What are your schools colors? Mascott? (am am kind of assuming Blue and white, or blue and gold based on the design but i could be wrong).

 
Trent
 
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20 December 2006 13:58
 

Collin, my bad.  I should have said college.

(1) You are right.  The school colors are blue and white hence the blue and white torse and the blue field and white wreath in chief.

 

(2) The wreath also stands for victory, which the club stives for in all games.

 

(3) The book is a standard charge on university and college arms.  As you know it represents the importance of knowledge and study.  So on these arms it represents academic study in general and the study of chess theory (opening, middle and endgame) in particular.

 

(3) The chequy base represents the focus of the club and for our members it also represents the need to practice.  By practice, I mean playing with others under tournament conditions to keep sharp.  The overall idea is that the chief of the arms represents Theory/Study and the base represents Practice.  The motto will be something like, "Theory and Practice, Victory and Honor" or "Study and Practice, Victory and Honor"

 

 

(4) I think adding a another iconic chess charge (rook, knight, pawn, etc.) would be overkill, especially since the arms will have the words "chess club" above, below, or encirling then in the final version.

 

(5) The upper half of the gryphon is a nod at the school colors.  The golden lower half is just the traditional color of a lion.  It’s armed gules to represent the blood of the defeated.  It’s beaked Or because I like the contrast of a red tongue with a gold beak.  I’m not really a big fan of the crest at the moment.  I’m leaning toward using just the head of a gryphon looking sinister and downward which is the same side as the kingside in chess.

 
Linusboarder
 
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20 December 2006 17:49
 

First of all clarification.. my name is Colin, only 1 L (but pronounced like fallen, not Poland). wink

I don’t know what it is but to me there is something awkward about the azure running straight into the cheque. I can’t place anything specific on it (maybe some of the excellent artist’s on this site know what it is) but it just doesn’t look right to me. Maybe it’s just the per bend sinister, and it would look better per bend.

 

Even though you will have Chess Club in your logo somewhere, I would still put the chess piece in the CoA somewhere. IMO CoA’s are fundamentally about identification, decoration, and tradition and a chess piece for this purpose makes a lot of sense (even if it’s only in the crest). You can probably keep the book too though.

 

Does your school have a CoA, it might be worth it to somehow incorporate those into the design.

 

I was thinking maybe something like one of these would relieve the awkwardness and keep the symbolism you were going for.

 

Azure a pale reversed cheque Sable and Argent between in chief two chess knights and in base a book within a laurel Argent

 

Or maybe:

 

Azure on a fess cheque sable and argent between two chess knights argent, a book within a laurel proper

 

Personally I would drop the laurel and use it as the mantling. Also in the crst I might have the griffen holding a black or white king, and guarding the king of the opposite color (i.e winning)

 

Just my 2 cents

 
Trent
 
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Trent
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20 December 2006 17:57
 

Colin,

Sorry about the typo with your name.

 

Would you emblazon those arms you suggested so that I can see what you are talking about.

 

I don’t understand what you are getting at about the two fields touching.  Could you explain it again.

 
Linusboarder
 
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20 December 2006 18:42
 

Trent no problem with the typo, it happens all the time.

As for emblazoning them my best answer is maybe… I am leaving town tomorrow and will be without photoshop for about 2 weeks, so emblazoning might be a problem. If i get time tonight I will sure try.

 

I guess what I mean by running together, is i just don’t lijke the way a per bend sinister arms looks with 1/2 cheque 1/2 azure. Cheque is such a unique texture, i just don’t think it fit’s that kind of shield very well. Maybe it’s just me and others may really like it, I just feel like the two parts of the shield don’t really compliment each other well.

 

I like cheque as either the whole shield, like mine, or in an ordinary like Here

Here(Stewert, Stuart, Sprauge and Innes)

Here(Pacheco

señor de Cerralbo)

or here

 

I guess it could work okay if you had Cheque Sable and argent… on a Chief Azure…. I just don’t particularly care for the per bend sinister in this case, and I can’t quite put my finger on why

 
Trent
 
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20 December 2006 19:39
 

I understand now—its a matter of taste that you’re objecting too.  I thought you were pointing out a technical problem before.

I’ll check out those arms you listed, and have a good trip.  Thanks for the quick feedback.

 
Linusboarder
 
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21 December 2006 00:33
 

Here trent this is what I had in mind, or something similar

http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/aa726ae6e3.png http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/fc0bbfa884.png

 

Also i know why your images are so big. Your white space is HUGE in your image. I copy/pasted your .jpeg to Photoshop and there was enough whitespace with it to put the CoA on it 5 times at least. Is there a way to trim your paint space in your Mac program?

 
loaba
 
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loaba
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21 December 2006 00:43
 

How would the Knights look if they were mirror opposites, Colin?

 
Linusboarder
 
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21 December 2006 09:02
 

loaba wrote:

How would the Knights look if they were mirror opposites, Colin?


That would probably look good too

 
Donnchadh
 
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21 December 2006 09:07
 

why not a rook? i have in my Neubecker book several examples of Italian heraldry where a chess rook was used and they are all three very attractive.

 
Trent
 
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22 December 2006 23:26
 

Would one of you check my blazon for and emblazonment of the set of arms in the Heraldry album on the website below.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/trentm3/albums

 

Arms: Per bend sinister Azure and Chequy Argent and Sable, in dexter chief an open book within a laurel wreath fructed, all Argent.

 

Crest: On a torse Azure and Argent, a gryphon’s head erased Azure, beaked Or, langued Gules, and eared(?) Argent.

 

 

Question: How do I determine whether this particular chequy is Argent and Sable or Sable and Argent?  What part of the chequy field or square on the field do I look at to make that determination?

 

In the same album is the wide laurel wreath I want to use in the final version.  It does not have the fruit and it’s a simple 2D image.  Because it is wider I will be able to make the book charge bigger.

 

 

Man, got on this yahoo photo sharing site and I still can’t figure out how to get the images in the posts.  It’s driving me nuts.