The Barth Family Crest

Oh man- from the moment this assignment was posted, I was giddy beyond belief. But here I am, pulling my usual save-it-until-the-last-minute B.S!  And now I have too many ideas and not enough time! Blerg!

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PHASE 1: EXPLORATIONS & RESEARCH

For as long as I can remember my dad has been a very, very proud German. He even named our family dog Gunther Wolfgang Barth - you know, so we could really celebrate our German history. Then a few years back I was on Ancestry.com, collecting our family info and turns out we are French, French, French. Of course he doesn't believe me. Ha. 

I guess Barth was not actually Barthelomeu like he thought, it was originally Baert. It got changed when the first folks came to America. But in his defense there is a city in Germany called Barth. So for prides sake, I'll be a bit German for this assignment ;) 

I LOVE that our last name means "Bearded Man" and that our old motto, "Ad Alta" means to Summit. As a full fledged Cascadian and lover of the PNW, I can't see anything more fitting. 

I know crests and shields are all about symetry- but I kinda like the idea of having a few options with aspects, such as my mountains, break the symetry. Its almost family crest meets beer label. And since my family bonds over beer, home brewing and our home town Yakima (the hop capital of the world) - it seems almost fitting that it leans more beer lable. 

So lots of beer related elements - hops, beer, wheat laurels, etc. A nuclear symbol for my dad's life long job at Hanford- the nuclear site. Apple trees for Yakima. Toliet paper banners because my dad was always real cheap and thought we should be able to wipe with 2 squares. TMI, I know. Pine trees and mountains for the PNW. 

1. Breaking symetry with the mountain range. One might be a bit detailed. The other version is bit more modern with just thick strokes and clean white space. Not sure how to approach the trees on the second option. I like the beer design in the lower quadrant though. 
2. Again with the unsymetrical approach - this time I thought I could make the shield itself be "a bearded man." Great idea, but not really liking the direction. 
3. Beer pint glass as shield. Kinda digging it. Could work. 
4. Simple. Maybe boring?  A bit too soccer league, I think. 
5. I actually kind of like this really simple one. No banner. No laurel. Really clean/modern. 
6. I like my drawing better than the vector. I think I'll let this one die. 
7. This looks like a fancy Fiat or Abarth logo. My weird hybrid goat/bear/scorpion is... well just weird. 

I know I saved this til the last possible minute - but if any one had any thoughts - directions- opininions on this, let me know!  

I'll be uploading my Phase 2 - color & type explorations, crest finalization and some in situ looks - tomorrow night. 

(UPDATE) PHASE 2: COLOR, TYPE & EXECUTION

Meh. I liked the concepts and where I was trying to take this, but the final execution just wasn't exactly what I was looking to create. I think there is a bit of a style blend that isn't meshing, and the typography could use some love.

I really liked my Option 1 - but felt that the trees were too detailed for the mountains and that the icons just didn't fit. AND there was no beard!  So I went this direction. But overall, I loved this project and the thinking tha went into it. I'll continue to refine the "final" execution to be something that I'm happier with. But for now - here it is: