New Squadron Logo/Patch

[Walkman]

Just showing off a bit-

Here's the new logo for Cache Valley Comp Sqdn.

The story behind the art:
Cache Valley is a small valley located in the NE corner of Utah. We're completely surrounded by the Wasatch Front of the Rockies. Pretty much the only way in or out of the valley is via one of the canyons, and you can  see the mountains wherever you are (in fact, I can walk 2 blocks east from my house and start hiking the peaks). It gets pretty snowy up at our elevation, and the snow stays in the peaks until late April, or May, hence the snowy look. We don't have a plane right now, but we're close. Most of our cadets are really interested in AE, and a couple of the SM's work with NASA, so the wings were the right image there.

Our motto is "Fortune Favors the Bold".

[SDF_Specialist]

Awesome patch. You can definately tell that it has significance to your unit. You shouldn't have a problem getting this approved.

[Walkman]

Awesome patch. You can definately tell that it has significance to your unit. You shouldn't have a problem getting this approved.

Thanks! Just got the approval today.

[Lancer]

Thanks! Just got the approval today.

Congrats Kristian! I told you that you didn't have anything to worry about! 

Can't wait to see a scan of the actually patch!

[pixelwonk]

Very nice work

[jeders]

Very nice work

Definitely.

[Pylon]

Awesome work Kristian!

Looks like vector art - wise way to go for all the applications you'll likely see with a squadron patch (embroidery, screening, etc.).  Very meaningful, simplistic enough design to not lose detail in embroidery or require complicated screens for clothing, recognizable at a distance, and uses a nice color pallete! 

Be sure to post a photo of the final patch outcome!

[Eclipse]

Nice job - one of the nicest / most appropriate I've seen in a while.

[PhoenixRisen]

I might be clueless on the subject, but how does one design a patch?  What programs do you use?  (For those not so Photo-shop-savvy, what would be the best to use?)

I'm in the process of helping charter a School-Program Unit at my school, and would like to get a head-start on this, if possible.

[LtCol White]

Outstanding design!

[Trouble]

That is AWESOME!

One more reason for me to want to move to Cache Valley.

[Walkman]

Thanks everyone!

Looks like vector art

I might be clueless on the subject, but how does one design a patch?  What programs do you use?  (For those not so Photo-shop-savvy, what would be the best to use?)

I'm in the process of helping charter a School-Program Unit at my school, and would like to get a head-start on this, if possible.

On the software side- I've used Adobe Illustrator for illustration and logo design for about 15 years. Vector-based software works better for logo design than Photoshop. It allows for better separation of colors and you can enlarge or shrink it to any size without losing quality.

There are a couple of free, open-source apps that you can use in place of Illustrator. Inkscape is probably the best known: http://www.inkscape.org/

If you want some guidance on the design process, feel free to PM me.

[alamrcn]

Turned out nice, Kristian! Usually someone on here starts picking apart a design for one reason or another. I'm glad it has been met with grande approval by the critics, heh - GREAT JOB!

I'm glad that "vectoring" was brought up, because I was just starting to inquire about that elsewhere. I'm not a graphics guy, but I play around with MS Paint and a More-than-I-need program called Paint Shop Pro. Most of my refinements are done with the magnifying glass and the pencil, drawing pixel-by-pixel.

I was referred to an on-line company at http://www.indiaeye.com/index.htm that will vector a "crude" crest or logo for $15 to $25 into one that is high res and more versatle. If that free program that was pointed to works with low-inpact learning, I'd be really happy!

[ update: DL'd the program but didn't find an easy way to vector a bitmap or increase its resolution   but there looks to be a lot of useful tools there if given the time to learn the program]

However, before I even read this thread I had intended on asking if anyone on CAP-Talk had the abilities to do this type of thing pro-bono for fellow members. I have no idea what kind of time or effort is involved in something like this, so I hope I'm not being silly in asking.

-Ace

[Hawk200]

That's a phenomenal patch design. Simple, but conveys what you want. The final embroidered one should be pretty amazing as well.

[BigMojo]

Excellent work! As a fellow designer I know the battles between pushing pixels, and making curves.

Nice job.

[ctrossen]

However, before I even read this thread I had intended on asking if anyone on CAP-Talk had the abilities to do this type of thing pro-bono for fellow members. I have no idea what kind of time or effort is involved in something like this, so I hope I'm not being silly in asking.

-Ace

I've got some skills with Photoshop and Illustrator, but they're not "mad." I'd heard of some programs that will convert line art to vector art, so after a quick Google search it looks like there's some options. If you want to go high tech (and high-price), Illustrator CS2 seems to have a built-in feature to do just that. Otherwise, there are some add-on programs out there you  might be able to use. I've got no recommendations for you, though there does seem to be an option within OpenOffice, so just for grins I'm downloading it.. haven't used it in a while, so it can't hurt to give it a shot.

[dogden]

Kristan,

It looks much better than the crickets!!! I was in the Utah wing until about a year ago. I was with Weber Comp then went to wing staff. Tell your group CC and the folks at wing I said hi if you see them

David

[alamrcn]

It looks much better than the crickets!!!

How about Grasshoppers?



BTW, Kristan - I said "hey" to Cadet Davis P. for you last night.

-Ace

[Walkman]

Tell your group CC and the folks at wing I said hi if you see them

David

You bet!

How about Grasshoppers?

The "crickets" referred to a former group of cadets. It was before my time, but they somehow got a reputation for being pesky bunch. They grabbed the idea of the Mormon Cricket, a particularly... hungry breed.

Our CC, most of the senior members and most of the current group of cadets weren't real crazy about the idea, so I did the new design.

[dogden]

Is Skilar Butler still the CC at cach valley? He is a really good guy, doing all of the CAP work as well as doing his AF duties. If you talk to Skilar please tell him to email me. david dot ogden at cap dot usafaux dot us.

Thanks