Print & Web / Royal Coat of Arms / Re-make

15 / 12 / 13

PRINT & WEB / OUGD504

THE ROYAL COAT OF ARMS.

RESEARCH.

One of the most integral aspects of the Celebratory birthday card is the royal ethos that it shown through the presentation and the royal crest of arms.

I decided to look into the history and origins of the crest to gain knowledge on the symbolism with in the crest as well as ways in which I could possibly update.

SOURCE -  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_(HM_Government).svg

'The main element of the Royal Arms is the shield which is divided into four quarters (see diagram). The three golden lions on a red background, symbolising England, occupy the first and fourth quarters. The Arms of Scotland, a red lion rearing on its hind legs inside a red border, are in the second quarter, and the Arms of Ireland's golden harp with silver strings on a blue background - are in the third quarter.

The lion and the unicorn supporting the shield represent England and Scotland respectively. They stand on a small frame called the compartment which sometimes incorporates the plant emblems of Scotland (thistle), Ireland (shamrock) and England (rose). The Compartment also has the sovereign's motto usually Dieu et mon droit ("God and my right").

Around the shield is a belt or strap with the motto Honi soit qui mal y pense ("Evil to him who evil thinks"), the symbol of the Order of the Garter. Above the shield is the gold barred helmet with the crest, a royal crown topped with a golden crowned lion.'

SOURCE - http://www.britroyals.com/arms.htm

It has been very interesting actually realising what the different charators and aspects of the crest are there to symbolise. The written aspects are also interesting when translated and make you feel more intone with the ethos that is actually being expressed through the coat of arms

A you can see that royal coat of arms are present through out the royal telegram so it s important for me to incorurate this into my products and aesthetics. 

There are plenty of examples and style of the Royal Coat of arms available on the internet, However I felt that it would be more appropriate for me to make my own so i can the adapt the visuals to the items i wish to be adorned with it.

It will also make it easier for me to adjust things such as form and colour when applying the crest to different objects.

There are many versions of the Royal Coat of Arms, I decided to concentrate on one of the simpler versions when starting to draw out the crest on Illustrator.

I started by locking the crest on to the art board and started to draw around the main aspects altering and stylising as I went.

I had to make sure that the same shapes and styles through out each aspects of the design for it to remain consistent.

I created the crest in the colour read first so that i could see each line. 

I decided to use the 'Baskerville Old face' Typeface as I felt it resembled the original type the most.

 I converted the Graphic to black and added some finishing details as well as adjusting the weights and strokes on some of the lines.

Even though this Coat of arms took me hours to recreate (due to my lack of skill on the illustrator software) However I feel that my abilities have improved due to the persistence I have needed to complete quite a complex design.

Now I have this Crest i can apply it and adapt it to multiple items whether it be printed or web based.

I would like to experiment using this crest with a few different printing techniques such as laser etching, foiling and maybe flock.