WIP: Birdseye

[RedKettle]

Good stuff. It appears you are successfully capturing the crowded-bridge charm. Between this update and the last few you can really start to feel the character of the Birdseye.

I like the scaffolding details, they add a certain life to the bridge. I also like that they give the eye a human-scale reference, which helps with the understanding of the project's grand scale.

Also, the decolines sound interesting!

[Lyandra]

Watching how this town develops is a treat. I really like the look of that bridge, the amount of details you put into your work is stunning.

[Wingshaw]

Thanks for those comments. RedKettle, I like your comment about the human-scale of the scaffolding. It's a good point you make.

[Wingshaw]

Howdy all.

I'm working on a flag for Birdseye, have made a few variations, and need help deciding which is best, and how to improve it. So I thought I'd ask for the opinions of my esteemed fellow cartographers. The image below presents the main options I'm thinking about. They were created rather quickly in Photoshop using stock images, and will subsequently be hand-drawn by me to give them a slightly less crisp look (and the fish will be redone).

The symbolism of the flag includes:
--the crown, representing the authority of His Royal Highness, Prince Edgar Terana, Regent of Birdseye
--the waves, representing the sea, and its bounty
--the white bird and the black fish, which are the emblems of the City, and denote mastery of the seas
--the blue shield (in some versions) may represent the sea, or sky, or both.

Suggestions and opinions are much appreciated.

THW

[darkseed2012]

The bridge in your city is the biggest and grandest feature, you should find a way to symbolize this in the crest. The eagle with a fish is awesome, but what does your city represent. The eagle is a powerful symbol of strength and freedom. If your city is wealthy you might want the color gold on the mantle, if it has a strong trade economy, maybe a set of scales to represent that. The bridge is a symbol of connection and I feel it shouldn't be left out. I haven't followed the whole thread, so if you have posted what your city's qualities are, trade, economic base and social values like culture and back story I've missed it.

I recommend to read a little about heraldry, which is the study or making of heraldic crests. I'm guessing you are using a European model for your city. The Irish have a strong system with many crests and a good amount of easy information about them. Some crests are based on a momentous event like a battle for independence or something about the founding of the city.

[madcowchef]

I'll vote for #6, more interest going on in it. higher contrast than the light blue.

[Jalyha]

Gold or blue mantle, shield part covered, smaller waves.


Like the ermine, though I was iffy for a bit, but I think it was just the watermark throwing me off >.<

[aquarits]

i am getting confused about it.
If you are talking about the flag why are you using the shield on it?
Usualy flags use the simbols of the society, economic or culture formation, skiping the shields that are used for heraldy reasons, for flags representing the heraldry shields usualy appears with small variations of primary colors, black or white, just to highlight in some events like wars for example.
check flags aroung the world:

even citys use flags wo shields, coz make no sense show for the others about a small group.
In other words, shields represent a particular group that you can identify almost with names and flags for a socirty group.

I lked the number 6, and i believe that you can work more in the flag formation using this way.

[Jalyha]

Lots of OLDER societies used either the crest or shield of the ruling society on their flags - regardless of modern flags.

And the smaller the region, the more detailed the flag is likely to be. Cities/Counties DO use shields on their flags, even in America (where they say "seal" instead of shield, and make it round, but it's there.

Furthermore, not all countries, or cities, or people, or even eras handled heraldry and/or flags the same way.

Ways of handling them certainly can't, then, be set in stone for a *fantasy* world which operates under completely different sociological factors.

[Katto]

Sorry aquarits, but Jalyha is right.

Cities/Counties DO use shields on their flags,...

Yes, one example is DO.

The larger the area/population the more abstract is the flag. Crests can also be, let's say "simplified" by heraldic rules.