theoldwolf | Coat of Arms - Order of the Couch

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Coat of Arms - Order of the Couch

Much back-and-forth over at The Confusion Couch about a coat of arms, a motto, something that will represent our camaraderie and flights of fancy.

Bmonk has given us a crest to work with; his description: "Black shield with a white couch, and a jagged green border. Above the couch a gold star. Green = Pibgorn’s color for her world. Jagged border (“dancetty”) for the dance of the fairies, but also to indicate confusion. Black for the darkness of the confused surrounding the couch, and also for the faithfulness of the couch crew despite being in the dark. The gold star for the “favorites”, but also for the enlightenment that eventually comes to us."

I took the liberty of gussying it up a bit, with a cauldron for a helm, signifying all the good recipes we share, and Pib and Dru rampant, because I like to look at them. So there. No other reason. Motto: Omnes me confundit - "Everything confuses me".

Here's a place to gather together any and all suggestions. No sign-in is required to post a comment. No idea will be considered foolish, or too loony. Comments will be screened, however, and may take until the next morning to become visible if they are posted late in the evening.

Once we have something that everyone is either pleased with or can live with, I'm going to see what can be done about formalizing it.

Ready? Go!

Threaded | Flat

love the girls facing in, love the fedora--don't care for the cauldron particularly --maybe the girls should be holding drinks? should there be a mug or other culinary association instead of cauldron--love the colors and the couch Escher-esque!

Colors are great. I can't decide about the girls seeing the chice. They look good both ways. The border seems too thin now. The star looks too thick but that really doesn't matter. The couch looks like a cake rather than a recognizable couch, Perhaps semi-circular open end up? I agree with humor over heraldic precision. I like the Fedora. I think it's OK the way it is, everything else is just aesthetics. I really have nothing else constructive to add.

that cartoon fedora is what I envisioned but over the cauldron, and perhaps pushed back, like a shamus would push back his fedora with his gat! The fedora to me is important as it signifies our effort at sleuthing out the twits and turns in the story arcs.

Of course, I also think it might be truer to Brooke's work if you kept the girl's poses but they were in their native plumage.

Of course a few minutes looking a various countries and states coats of arm might yield another idea or two.

A coffee cup might work in place of the cauldron, ie, "the girl in the coffee cup"

Just brainstorming here, I still think having a critter 'rampant' as part of the design would be good. Even perhaps Maurice and/or Luciano flaning the cauldron on a more proportionate scale to the cauldron.

Suggestion for the headwear:
Add a lid to the kettle and place the headgear upon the lid... there can still be stuff bubbling out the side where the ladle handle keeps the lid from sealing the top, and the topper could be any of the prior suggestions or possibly a Chef's hat.

I do think that picking either the helm from Suzerain or the Fedora from the current arc will tend to date the result. If we have something that is couch-related, that might stand the test of time better.

Also, There's a little area below the shield and above the banner... maybe a couple squirrels??

Like everything except the pot on top.
Udder-wise its a keeper.

I like it, Chris.

margueritem

The couch does look sorta like a funky cake... it's definitely not the final, but I wanted something strange. It's strange, alright. o_O

Great suggestions, keep them coming. My voice is but one...

Good comment about the fedora being arc-specific... on the udder hand, Nat's been in two arcs now... and yes, the fedora looks better with a drawn one.

Keep in mind, what I put up is nothing more than a prototype.

Edited 2009-05-01 05:53 (UTC)

TheSkulker here: Although the title is Pibgorn, Dru has had equal billing. The first thing that I missed in the original was the red for Dru. Even in her black patina she favors red dresses. IMHO, I associate red with Dru, not black. I like the red & green border and at about 3/4 of the original size it would work well.

The last image no longer looks like a shield to me: the border is way too small and the shape, to me, evokes shovel not shield. The earlier aspect ratio is to be preferred.

I like the idea of a (toned down), fedora on top of the cauldron with a lid and ladle. The images and symbols should be of the couch community, related to the comic but not specific to any one or two arcs. The cauldron, couch, star and fedora are all very symbolic of the OTC. The fedora is a good symbol of our "detectiving" and is more than just Nat's headpiece. As someone suggested putting it on top of the cauldron with a lid and at a rakish angle, toning it down a bit and shrinking its size might look pretty good. The cauldron is a symbol of our sharing and mutual support. The couch, of course, is the centerpiece of our "Raison D'Etat".

I like the girls facing in.

The couch needs to evoke couch and the last one doesn't. Trying to think of ways to escherize the couch. (Thanks to whoever verbified his name!) Will work on it. The star looks like it ought be excherizeable, but it would have to be an open star, not solid as in the "favorites".

Question: For what is the final product to be used? (I am ssoooo careful now to avoid "dangling participles"!) I ask as it implies the level of detail that would be possible. If the detail were possible, perhaps conventional couch images placed on a mobius strip would work.

If possible perhaps Maurice on the fedora or Pib's shoulder, a squirrel standing on hind legs with front paws on Dru's leg, and something to symbolize Brooke himself (I'm thinking TALL), would be nice. And a question mark!

FWIW.

Next iterations.

Based on the latest batch of fine commments:

a) Fixed the shape of the shield
b) Re-incorporated bmonk's original, elegant design, reducing the size of the border by about 1/4
c) Repaired the proportions.
d) Provided an option with a covered cauldron as the helm with a fedora as the crest.

The more devices I try to work in, the more cluttered it looks. I'm thinking at this point, keep it simple.

Huck your next load of comments in... I think we're making good progress.

Edited 2009-05-01 17:51 (UTC)

lincolnhyde here - like the last one best - the one suggestion made above not included here is a semicircular couch, facing up - also, Dru in her "plumage" (I understand that you're working with existing images)

This is lookin' good. The herald in me can't get around the color bordure and field but the artist in me likes it -a lot!
Dru au-natural might be better than the red dress but either one is cool.
Ladies facing the shield, perfect.
In the final the fedora can rest on the top of the shield, the brim obscuring some of the device and the the cauldron rest on the hat, not hover above.
"Omnes me confundit" is still my favorite motto.
Excellent work!

Motto (I think) could be: "Sum tam confusus."

I like the looks now -- KISS -- but there (ideally) should be a strip of white between the black and the border. Proportions look good. And the contrast of each supporter against the border on that side is good too. Only one real grip, in fact: can we get something more appetizing in the cauldron? Spaghetti, or Chocolate/coffee froth or something?

Story Teller again. I think we are definitely homing in on this! Okay, the fedora above in place of a helm, the original cauldron placed beneath the couch. Still holding out for the more generic and applicable "I am so confused!" motto. i love the idea of the girls in their native plumage, slightly embracing the shield.

On the cauldron, perhaps place it above the couch and the gold star beneath...? Easier on the composition, maybe not as obvious what the star is for.

This message was made with 100% recycled electrons.

Story Teller here: Loved the Escher couch, but at the scale this will mostly be viewed at, it won't look right.

Over and out.

Focusing only on the shield for a moment, here are two options for either moving the cauldron into the field as a device, or replacing the cauldron with something yummy. I chose brownies just as an example, but it could be anything.

The lovely ladies facing toward the shield look better to me with the microphones, otherwise they both appear to be missing a hand.They "should" be facing the shield. However, facing away from the shield, they look HOT! And they support the shield muchmuch better. I don't recall seeing a device where the supporters faced away from it. I'll have to check into that.

Now I'm supposed to concentrate on work? Yeah, right!
Saskfan

lincolnhyde here - that last shield looks loverly - I especially like the enhanced contrast with the white brownie plate. An Escher-esque star was suggested at one point; not sure how much detail would be visible.

I like what you've got here:
a) Fixed the shape of the shield
b) Re-incorporated bmonk's original, elegant design, reducing the size of the border by about 1/4
c) Repaired the proportions.

I don't care for this... it looks too contrived. Particularly the pot it looks like a photograph, needs to blend with the other art style.
d) Provided an option with a covered cauldron as the helm with a fedora as the crest.

The more devices I try to work in, the more cluttered it looks. II'm thinking at this point, keep it simple. I agree on this too, Why do we have the star? I cannot remember what it has to do with OTC.
I do have a thought about Pib and Dru... Pib has short hair and short plummage while Dru's is all long... it looks unbalanced to me, I'd like to see Pibs hair longer and Dru's plummage shorter.
I'm not crazy about the hat maybe because it is so big perhaps if it were smaller? I like the thought of it being on the cover cookpot possibly... cocked to one side? or in stead of a star... and then again I'm inclined to the chefs hat since we have some incredible cooks....
We must have a couch but how to draw it. Dang Escher for not being a memeber!

I always envisioned the fedora cocked back or to the side over a bubbling cauldron, then at a glance the bubbling would look like hair under the hat.

Can't you find and orthogonal or 45 degree view of a section "L" couch. That would be somewhat more discernible as a couch.

My $.02, I'm not fond of the hat or any other headwear as they seem to match just certain story lines whereas we are always confused no matter what story line we are in. Concerning the cauldron I agree with another that it looks to "witchy". How about a red fondue pot that were so popular in the '70's. It used to be the way we would have parties and invite our friends over where everyone would bring a food item and that seems to be what you were trying to represent with the cauldron. I do like the rest of the design and would like to thank you for taking the time to do it.

Crossed question marks in place of the star ? I concur. The cauldron should clearly show food or at least a strong evidence thereof. Otherwise it looks like a nondescript container. The previous cartoony looking cauldron looked best. If not a cauldron, like some suggest, maybe a microwave.. I know, starting to sound corny. **bmonk's** original, slightly reduced border looks great.

The comment with the microwave reference was from Gweedo.

Excellent comments all.

At this point I'm turning it loose to the OTC... you guys come to a consensus and let me know. I'll do a mockup and see about getting an official one done.

I post as kaylisdragon at the pibgorn list....

From KalahariNight:
For whatever it's worth, I really, really like the version that pops up when you go to this comment page - The one with only the couch and the star within the shield, green and red dancetty border, and with the fedora above, and the cartoon pot with bubbling green food above that. Simple, clean, and contains all needed elements but nothing more - poifect, IMHO.

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Coat of Arms - Order of the Couch

favorites

OTC Heraldry

Suggestion from Mfcoace follow up

Re: Suggestion from Mfcoace follow up

Crest - (from paciii7223)

coat o arms

Coat of Arms

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Coat of Arms - Version 3.0

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Herldic Phuddy-duddy again

Re: Herldic Phuddy-duddy again

Next generation of comments

Re: Next generation of comments

The Right To Keep and Bear Coats of Arms

Re: The Right To Keep and Bear Coats of Arms

Couched Statements

Re: Couched Statements

Two shield options

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mor observations from mfcoace

couch arms

COUCH CREST

COUCH CREST

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That is excellent

Re: That is excellent

I'd say keep this one

Re: I'd say keep this one