Aug / Sept 15 Lite Challenge: Shields with Sigils and Mottos

[Coriolis]

My entry for this challenge is a set of six variations on a round shield with faction-specific motifs. Smaller versions of these shields could be used to mark territory or city locations, while larger versions could decorate the border of the map with a faction description, adding thematic and decorative elements.

Each shield is meant to symbolize the character and themes of a different group or faction. These factions could be any kind of group: schools, secret societies, regional powers, noble houses, whatever. Drawing inspiration from the noble houses of A Song of Ice and Fire, I've included a thematic motto to go along with each shield.

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The "Dutiful" faction is one of service, constancy, and unbreakable devotion. I see them as law enforcement, administrators of justice, and bureaucrats. The physical chain on the shield face could be both a symbol and a readily-available tool for securing prisoners. Note: "the Star of David chain" is not intended to be a reference to, or comment on, Judaism or Israel.

The "Imperial" faction is one of ambition, power, and dangerous knowledge. They're either at the top of their political ladder, or they're working very hard to get there. The flying dragon symbolizes their dominance atop the social pecking order. The snakes symbolize their refusal to submit to any other authority. The snakes' eyes could either be gemstones or some sort of magic device. The purple field signifies royalty.

The "Bezerker" faction is one of aggression, courage, and military strength. These are the foot soldiers, the regular army. The attacking ram on fire is meant to symbolize bravery in battle. The red field also signifies their role as warriors.

The "Hippy" faction is focused on the transforming power of something like education and/or religion. They try to "make the world a better place". The butterfly is meant to be both a symbol for the soul and transformation, while the blue field symbolizes their loyalty to their cause.

The "Phoenix" faction is one of redemption. This is a group that welcomes orphans, the destitute, and the disgraced, giving their lives some sort of meaningful and honorable purpose, like the firebird rising to new life out of the ash-grey field (which signifies grief).

The "Protector" faction is one of traditional feudalism. These are all about knighthood and chivalry. The rampant stallion is meant to symbolize their determination to defend their people. The gold field symbolizes generosity.

[Bogie]

Nice Work Coriolis, Welcome to the challenge!

[Coriolis]

Thanks! I had fun throwing these together.

I will probably do a bit of touching up here and there later. I've done sigil shields before, but this was a bit of a new shape for me, going for something less like a kite shield and more like a Captain America buckler. There are a few spots in the template where the beveling isn't as smooth as I'd like it, and the glow effect from the snake eyes doesn't look right when it stops at a hard edge.

[ChickPea]

These are really nice and I think they'd look fantastic on a regional map to depict territories. Great job!

[Coriolis]

I'm still refining these. The bevel and emboss tends to be a bit choppy around curves, so I did a little work with the baseline template and smoothed out the edges. I expanded the canvas to eliminate some of the hard edge effects in the collection image. I also blended the beveling forming the curved face of the shield to make it smoother These aren't obvious with the thumbnails, but compare to the original and you'll see what I mean.

I also did a bit of creative refining on the Bezerker shield, adding some splattered blood to it. Here it is in all its gory glory.

I'll be re-doing the others with the refined template, too.

[Barek333]

Perfect! You corrected the exact thing that bothered me a little on them before.This now really looks top notch! (maybe just do a softer and a bit longer shadow to loose the pixelation of it)

[Coriolis]

Thanks! That's a good idea on the shadow drops, especially if the shields are going to be used at a smaller scale.

I doubled the offset and size. I also did a bit more touching up at the top and left sides of the shield, where there was a slight, but noticeable straight edge at 100% zoom.

[Coriolis]

The Imperial shield has been bugging me a bit, so I gave it some more attention last night. The central dragon symbol is now a golden relief rather than just a painted dragon. These guys are supposed to be rich, powerful, and ostentatious, so it seemed like their central symbol should be just as fancy as their rim-wrapping snakes. The wings were a bit tricky, since they needed both convex and concave sections, and I had to do some smudge-sculpting to get the dragon's legs to look right. I may need to touch this up; I'll re-look it in a day or so.

I also gave the motto letters some relief, made the coloring of the shield a bit more vibrant, and re-did the drop shadow for the Imperial shield (those snakes require their own special shadow). Finally, I toned down the snake eye glow a bit.



I tried adding an eye glow to the dragon relief, but its eye is to small to get the same kind of effect. I might try drawing in a small gemstone instead, but the space is so small, that might not work either. I'll think on that.

I'm also contemplating what, if anything, I should do for the Hippy, Phoenix, and Horse shields.

[Bogie]

Very nice improvements!

[Meshon]

Oh cool, these are looking good, the additions you've been making are really defining the character of the factions. I'm interested to see what you do with the others.

Cheers,
Meshon

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