It’s been three days of 2am showers and late night kitty feedings. I’ve been working fast and hard on a logo design for the husband of a fellow knitwear designer, Jennifer of Magpie Knitwear Designs. This was truly a labor of love.

Jennifer contacted me last week on Ravelry with a request for a logo design, a surprise gift for her husband Steve, a Commander in the United States Navy. Her husband recently started dabbling in homebrewing and he wanted a logo to represent the beers that he’s going to create. Steve came up with a fabulous name, “Three Sheets Brewing,” a double entendre which is both a reference to being inebriated and to old world navies (a “sheet” is a rope that’s tied to the corner of a sail and if they’re loose, the sail flaps in the wind and the ship will go off its course out of control, kind of like being inebriated).

Jennifer also mentioned he liked rope trim, he’d love the insignia of his current rank which is marked by a silver oak leaf pin, and that he had a love for all things old world.

Also mentioned was that Steve has held command at sea on the USS Avenger the second oldest wooden hulled ship still in commission with that experience was marked by a special gold star/anchor pin. I chose to include it on the pennant at the top of the sailboat as a last minute touch. I also managed to score a copyright free, high-quality image of the flag of the United State blowing in the wind and a vector image of a compass rose. What luck! I love the Internets.

Through several back and forth conversations with Jennifer, I came to understand that Steve had roots in the Puget Sound area, specifically Vashon Island. In formulating the design for the logo, I had come up with the idea of using a map for the background (and  so did Jen, simultaneously!). Steve suggested we go with an old chart of the water in the area around these islands and Jen managed to locate one that was copyright free. I used Illustrator’s “live trace” feature to create this to be as life-life as possible. It’s what also makes the file size a beast!

Other important details to Steve was the use of royal or navy blue for the ribbon, gold lettering for the text, as well as having the sails of the ship full of wind. I tried to throw in as many small details as I could to make the sailboat as authentic as possible, even putting in some translucent “sheets,” or ropes that are flapping in the breeze on the other side of the sails. But the addition of the wheel was a last minute item as I felt there was too much negative space around the the sides and top of the design. It needed something to fill the space and be interesting, so I went with a wheel.

I can’t say it enough how this project was a labor of love. There were so many connections that hit home for me on this. My father – not my step-father who passed away three years ago – but my biological father was a life-long E9 in the Navy. I didn’t see him that much growing up but would sometimes be treated with visits from him when he was in port and in the area which was few and far between. He always had such great stories to tell. I also made a connection with Steve having roots in a coastal region as I’m from the Jersey Shore – not that Jersey Shore town, but a few towns over. (There’s nothing like living on or near the water to really tie one’s self to a region). And, both of us have a love of craft beer, with my husband a home brewer himself.

This? Was a dream job.

From Jen:

“Working with Amie on this logo was an outstanding experience. She was incredibly responsive to our requests and inputs, and the result is a logo with an amazing amount of meaning to my husband and is better than we ever could have imagined.”

 

Tags: beer, design, homebrewing, illustrator, live trace, logo, magpie knitwear designs, Navy, old world, sailboat, three sheets brewing