Family Crest

Passion Project

Design a Family Crest

Project Overview

THE OPPORTUNITY

Inspired by the work of graphic designer, Aaron Draplin, I challenged myself to take one of his courses offered through the online learning platform, Skillshare. The title of the course was "Logo Design with Draplin: Secrets of Shape, Type and Color".

The course deliverable was to design a family crest that included the following:

  • Your family name

  • Laurel and/or banner

  • Symbol(s) representing items meaningful to your family lore

  • Colors that represent your family (those colors can be black/white)

  • For fun, a meaningful family phrase or saying

DETAILS

Project Length: 2 weeks
Team: 1 person
Role: Project Manager and Graphic Designer
My Contributions:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

RESEARCH

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Discover & Learn

RESEARCH PERFORMED

Prior to the design being started, I called my Dad and he provided information on the Uher family. I researched and gathered images related to my family’s background:

nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_family_name.jpg
nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_country_of_origin.jpg
nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_city_state_country_of_relocation.jpg
nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_food.jpg
nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_work.jpg
nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_mementos_sayings.jpg

Strategize & Plan

PLANNING PERFORMED

After my family background was provided and I gathered some imagery, I was able to start planning the design. I started with the shape architecture which included the following: crest shapes, the sections within the crest shapes, and banner shapes.

nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_crest_shapes.jpg
nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_sections.jpg
nu_creativeoperations_project_page_family_crest_1500x1000_banner_shapes.jpg

Concept & Design

CONCEPT GENERATION

I explored various stages of the design. I utilized elements based on my initial research, the provided course resource, and further research (examples below).

  1. Shape
    I chose a crest shape and decided to section it off based on the design of Chicago Midway International Airport’s runways. I grew up on the south side of Chicago, near Midway airport.

2. Symbols
The symbols I incorporated within the sections of the design were inspired by my family’s tradition of making sausage (AKA "yaternicy"), our roots from Chicago, represented by the Chicago White Sox logo (south side) and the Chicago skyline, and lastly, my Great Grandpa’s profession of a milk delivery man, represented by a milk bottle.

3. Type
The type included my family name, the year my ancestors relocated to Chicago, and a phrase my Dad says to just about anybody that arrives after him at a party.

4. Color
The colors I chose to incorporate in the design were red, white, and blue as they are the colors of both the Slovakia and Chicago flags.

Final Design

The final design includes the following elements:

  • My family name: Uher

  • Banner: The banner features a phrase from my Dad (explained below)

  • Symbol(s) representing items meaningful to my family lore:

    • Aviation Wings: Represents flight (inspired by Chicago Midway International Airport)

    • Sausage (AKA “yaternicy”): Represents Slovakian sausage that my Dad’s family used to make

    • Chicago White Sox Throwback Logo: Represent’s Chicago South Side

    • Downtown Skyline: Represents the city of Chicago

    • Milk Bottle: Represents my Great Grandpa, who used to be a milk delivery man

  • Colors that represent my family: Red, white, and blue (This is the color scheme used in both the Slovakia and Chicago flags)

  • A meaningful family phrase: “Hey, You’re Late!”

    • This is a phrase my Dad says to just about anybody that arrives after him at a party